Stage Combat Workshop
Jason Spielbring
October 15th& 17th
Safety First!
Never ever ever ever do this in a public place where the people around you don’t know that you
are practicing stage combat.
Do not put your hands out when falling
Always make sure you use eye contact with your partner before you move forward with a strike
Make sure you are at a safe distance by having one partner extend a fist and the other partner
meet the fist with a “hang loose” sign extending from the chin
Make all of your targets visible
Take off all jewelry and things from pocket
Definitions
A knap is the hidden sound made to sell the strike to the audience. A knap can be used by the
person in combat or by an ensemble member close by.
“No, No, please don’t hurt me” is where you position your hands in the middle of your abdomen
(remember the triangle of the shoulders and the hip bones) to make the knap. This is so the
audience doesn’t see the knap happening.
Superhero complex is when you don’t use your whole body to strike. Make it a convincing strike.
Knaps:
Full hand – using 4 fingers to slap against the soft spot on your palm
Two fingers – Using 2 fingers to slap against the soft spot on your palm
Contact Knap – Slapping your hand against something like your leg or your chest
Slaps:
Normal across the face slap – prepare by bringing right arm up to about eye level, swipe at a 45
degree angle
Backhanded slap- Prepare by bringing right hand down across body and swipe upward at a 45
degree angle across your body
Things to remember:
Make eye contact with your partner and the target before you move
Keep your target in a spot where your partner can see it
No spaghetti arms!
No superhero complex!
React to the action!
Always use your right hand to slap
Punches
Jab – One quick punch to the face
Roundhouse – One punch across the face, aimed at your partners jaw and lips, fist is lined up
with collarbone and swings across your body
Uppercut – One punch directed up towards the chin, swing right hand down and straight up as if
you were going to punch them in the chin—make sure your hand follows through past your
partners head.
Cowboy – C-clamp with left hand and arm extended (like your holding your partners shoulder),
punch with your right hand angled towards your left hand like you arm punching them across
the face. When your right hand reaches your left hand open the palm of your left hand and as
your right hand passes your left, make a knap by opening your right hand out of the fist and
slapping the open left hand, and carry through with the punch with your right hand closed in a
fist.
Things to remember:
Eye contact with partner and target before you move
Hold your stance with two feet spread apart and knees slightly bended, hold fists in front of
chest with right first slightly in front of the left fist
Restore after each punch by going back to the beginning stance
The knap for a punch can be a contact knap or a hand knap (depending on what sound you
want)
Falls
Backwards fall – step back with dominant leg and bend knee, other leg should be straight, lean
forward with your body so it seems like you are going to sit down, bend forward with your arms
in front of you until gravity takes over and you fall backwards. Roll backwards having each part
of your spine touch the floor in a line.
Fainting fall – Stand straight with your eyes up, bend your body in a c-shape towards the side
you are going to fall, bend more and more until gravity takes over and slide your arm out as you
fall to create a nice cushion for your head
Things to remember:
Do not put your hands or arms out. That is how you break a wrist.
During the fainting fall, don’t fall onto your knees
If your backwards fall isn’t smooth enough, try bending forward more deeply
Choking
Choking – to choke someone, make eye contact with partner, put hands up to partners neck,
making sure your thumbs aren’t in their trachea. To be choked once your partner places hands
on your throat, hold their wrists with your hands with an upside-down C and push their hands in
towards your neck. Person choking should be pulling their hands away from their partners neck.
Things to remember:
Make the force between you and your partner equal. There should be an equal push and pull
force.
Hair Grab
Hair grab—If you are the one grabbing the hair, use your right hand to reach up and grab the
persons hair. Right before you actually grab hair, close your first so it just looks like you grabbed
hair. The person whose hair is being grabbed will grab your wrist with both their hands and pull
down. The force on your hand on their head will keep it in place. Drag your partner wherever
you please. When you desire to release, pause, bring your partner towards you a bit and then
release them by throwing them backwards.
Things to remember:
Don’t grab any hair
Make the pause and release deliberate so your partner knows when to release their hands from
your wrist.
Kicks
Kick to the face – The partner being kicked will kneel down before the person doing the kicking
and place hands slightly extended out from the stomach. One hand should be directly over the
other hand, both palms facing down. Hands should be a few inches apart from each other. The
partner kicking the other partner will point their right foot and kick their partners hands with
the flat part of their foot as if they were kicking a soccer ball. The force of the kick should cause
the partners hands to smack together making a knap. The partner will react as if they were just
kicked in the face.
Things to remember:
Don’t back out at the last second before kicking your partners hands
Take a jump before with the foots your not kicking with to make it seem like the kick is going to
be very forceful
When being kicked in the face, roll to the side and then backwards after the impact.
