Tim Weske

The art of swordsmanship goes way beyond the sword. Creative choreography is key in making a fight sequence that is appealing and exciting to an audience. Getting away with clanking of blades together and figuring it out in editing, has become a main stay of cinema swordplay for quite sometime now. The fact is that the sword fight is not about the sword, it is about a moment in the life of the character wielding it. Creativity through confidence- confidence through training, training by a proven professional who specializes in the field. I would never have a carpenter fix my plumbing. Swordsmanship and choreography come through constant training by the specialist. Constant improvement on his or her craft. You can not learn sword choreography from a book, you can only learn how the body moves by moving bodies, and you can not be creative when you are insecure. You know how hard it is to dance, now try and do it with a sword in your hand. The author wrote the sword fight in his script as a specific tool, to establish the characters and the situation, and to move the story. Unfortunately, often times, the sword fight is just put together at the last minute on the fly, or with a click-clack-tally-whack approach, instead of a sequence of events that happen as a cause of the sword fight. When that happens, the art of choreography is now gone, and the sword fight is reduced to, just a sword fight, instead of something special.

Choosing a teacher

Actions speak louder than words. There are those people out there who think that they know this craft just because they know what end of the sword to hold. They are self proclaimed sword masters. They get their knowledge from a book, and as far as understanding creativity of a fight, they have a lot to learn. The sad part about it is that you do not know anything, or very little, about sword work and so you have a tendency to listen to their rehearsed lines and fall for it. Many times when the student gets caught up with one of these people they will have a tendency to stick with them and slowly be brain washed into the idea that their way is the only way, and that all others are wrong, phony, etc. The real sad part about this is you learn bad habits, and develop a bad attitude.

Look for:

• Not being able to explain why a certain physical movement is correct or incorrect.
• Do as I say not as I do attitude.
• How does the instructor move?
• How do his/her students move?
• What is the attitude of the class?
• People in charge making excuses.

As far as asking for their resume and credits, don't bother. Anyone can tell you anything. Check www.imdb.com for example. Type in their name and see their professional credits. Look at www.stuntplayers.com and do the same. Look up industry references on these web sites and see who they think would recommend them and their work.

Ask questions, and if there is no answer, or a non-descript rambling, or just an outburst from the teacher. I would think twice about where I am. Be honest with yourself, the hardest thing to say is NO. Actions speak louder than words.

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SwordPlay's list of credits

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For More Information Contact: SwordPlay
(818) 566-1777

Tim Weske is an active voting member of the World Stunt Awards

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