by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 20, 2014 | Cross Training
Video overload today. Forearms do a lot of work during hours and hours of swordplay. The most common complaint after fatigue (solution: do your cardio!), is sore and tired forearms. Not much time left, but get started on building that strength. Check out all the...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 19, 2014 | Self-Care
There’s a tendency among actor/combatants to over-extend the shoulder joints. I know several people in this field with rotator cuff injuries, and I suspect that improper shoulder alignment has a lot to do with that. Here’s a video of some of the standard...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 18, 2014 | Cross Training
Your feet are your stability. They are your first line of communication with the floor, but so many of us spend all of our time in shoes that don’t allow us to feel the floor. For this reason, I like to start many of my classes with a foot warm-up. After...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 17, 2014 | Get Physical
You can’t always feel when you’re doing it, so pay attention to how the two feel different once you start getting corrections in class. In the meanwhile, these habits can form because of strength or flexibility issues. For strength, you’re looking at...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 16, 2014 | Rehearsal Methods
I know they’re not scheduled during the workshop, but be sure to do a cool-down or have a personal cool-down routine. It’s two weeks of long days. Give your mind and body some cues that it’s time to rest, recuperate and relax. Maybe it’s a...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 15, 2014 | Self-Care
We all have different bodies and so we have different needs (you’ll hear me say this ad nauseum). You’ll find that your body reacts to physical work differently than the people around you. There is a group warm-up scheduled every day of the workshop, but...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 14, 2014 | Get Physical
The countdown is on! Have you started to physically prepare for the workshop? No? If you’re doing nothing else, just get working on your cardio and start looking at your glossary (Don’t worry about trying to memorize it, word for word. Just get familiar...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 13, 2014 | Best Practices
Some like to arrive on the eve of the workshop, but I like to give it an extra day. It gives me time to get settled in my new “home”. I can find the grocery store, scout out a massage therapist and a yoga studio, test out my route to the location, and get...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 12, 2014 | Cross Training
Many people who come to stage combat have not studied martial arts and very often they have never been in a fight or in a sparring/fencing situation. So that you can play the force and structure of a hit — on both the giving and receiving ends, you’ll do...
by Siobhan Richardson | Jun 11, 2014 | Glossary
So you have in your hands the FDC Glossary. Yes, you will take a written test on the information therein. Especially if you have trouble with written tests, please remember that we want you to pass. The test is based on information that is in the glossary and is...
