Bring it!

One of our tasks as actors, arguably the prime task, is to commit. “What am I fighting for?” is a more passionate re-phrasing of “What’s my intention?”. The purpose of the re-wording is to remind the performer that it’s not enough...

Importance of Cool Down

After an intensive day of filming last weekend, I was reminded of the importance of cooling down. When I got home after fighting on set for several hours, I took a hot bath with Epsom Salts and then did various self-care activities for almost two hours. These...

review: Line Learner (app)

There’s several apps out there for helping you to learn your lines, but Line Learner is my favourite. It’s $4.59 and incredibly good value. Even the free version, Line Learner Lite, is extremely useful and will give you a sense of how the paid app works....

Beginning the #FightLife!

FDC’s National Workshop begins tomorrow! How are you feeling on your way into the workshop? I hope you’re brimming with excitement, and are ready to adapt to any and all curveballs. I know I’m excited and I totally wish I could be there with you!...

Approach to learning

Always come from a place of curiosity. Yes, we want to get every detail down correctly. But it’s too tempting to be hard on ourselves, particularly in the intensity of a rehearsal or workshop situation. Too often we think, “I should be able to get...

the Kicktionary

Who’s taking Theatrical Martial Arts (Eastern Martial Arts for Stage) this summer? You’ll want to watch this video: The Kicktionary by Eric Jacobus   Not that you’ll be asked to do each and every one of these, but it’s good to have an idea of...

100 no-equipment workouts

Oftentimes, our obstacles to working out regularly include the following: we don’t know what to do we don’t have access to a gym or classes we don’t want to or are unable to purchase exercise equipment we think we don’t have the space to work...

Preparation Time!

Hello friends and colleagues! The summer is well upon us, and with it, the stage combat workshop season. I hope you’ve been doing all your prep work: eating well, keeping your joints healthy, keeping an eye on your alignment, getting into fighting shape…...

Soapbox: Retractible Knives

Inspired by a theatre company’s request for retractible knife recommendation: In fight direction circles for stage, retractible knives are generally considered extremely dangerous and unnecessary. It’s one of those things, like contact slaps, that most...