Have you ever wondered how movies and plays make battling on stage so cool and realistic looking? I recently went with my theater class to the first ever Maine Theater Conference. There were five schools at the conference: Leavitt, Morse, Cheverus, Bonny Eagle, Mt. Ararat and Brunswick. The conference was held at USM at Gorham where we had access to the theater area and cafeteria. Each student had the opportunity to take three courses throughout the day. I went to three, but I am only going to focus on stage combat.

Before I start describing stage combat, I must tell: you do not try this at home. We learned about four punches: two in distance (close up) and two out of distance (far away). The first thing we did was to learn about proper stance. You have your feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, one foot pointed towards your opponent, and the other pointed out at about a 90 degree angle to your other foot. This sounds more difficult than it actually is. First, you prepare your punch. For out of distance punches, you stick your arm out with your arm just slightly bent. Make a fist (thumb over your closed fingers so not to break your thumb) and, making sure to have eye contact with your partner, slowly punch forward and down, aiming for the jaw. For in distance, prep with your fist raised to about eye level, and position right next to your face. Then, slowly get eye contact and then for this punch, flick to an object (the instructor told us to pretend there is a leprechaun sitting next to your opponent and then try to knock his hat off with your punch). Then slowly, as to not hurt anyone, aim for the object. This is the quick, overview of all he taught us. Again, do not try this at home!

Now you have the basic overview of how people perform stage combat in plays and movies. I would like to thank Mark Bedell and his wife Jaclyn for this great teaching. Before you attempt anything serious, I would encourage you to check out Bedell’s fight school; Maine Academy of Staged Combat and/or their Website www.Fight-Director.org for classes or info. All in all, the theater conference was loads of fun and I look forward to seeing more participants and going back for more instruction next year in the wonderful art of theater.