What Weapons?

Here’s the list of weapons I have been formally trained in for stage combat:

  • Sabre Fencing
  • Quarterstaff
  • Unarmed Brawling
  • Rapier & Dagger
  • Smallsword (French, Scottish, Italian)
  • Eastern Martial Arts Fusion (Kung fu with dramatic throws)
  • Longsword (Italian and German traditions)
  • Martial Arts Weapons (Katana, Escrima/Kali Short Stick)
  • Broadsword & Shield (Large shields and bucklers)
  • Case of Rapier (two rapiers)
  • Rapier & Cape/Cloak
  • Environmental (Found Weapon)

Plus, I’ve studied the following real martial arts:

  • Wing Chun (including pole: long staff)
  • Shotokan Karate
  • Judo
  • Bartitsu (19th century combination of savate, cane fighting, scientific boxing and jujitsu)
  • Jeet Kune Do
  • Krav Maga

If your show needs a weapon or style that’s not there, I will research it. I have done that successfully for:

  • Ancient Egyptian fighting using khopesh, staff, spear: There is no modern school of Egyptian fighting, and historical accounts don’t record how they used the weapons we know they had, so I had to “fill in the blanks”
  • Wolf-man society: The director of Macbeth wanted a savage tribe that revered the wolf, and wanted their fighting style to match. We decided that bailing hooks would better symbolize the rip-and-tear of wolf bites compared to anything claw-like.