Please Don't Hit Me

I loved this class. I found myself counting on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get me through hard weeks, knowing that I'd have this class as a bit of a catharsis from stress. The atmosphere of it--as well as my love of the subject--was a wonderful thing to be a part of, being able to listen to music and focus in on physical performance for an hour was a very helpful commodity for me. I'm leaving this class with the knowledge that I'll perform well at any fight call, and with the confidence in my foundation that with the right amount of work, I'll be able to perform up to any expectations in the professional world when it comes to fighting on stage. I'm very appreciative for what I've learned in this class and this semester, and think it'll prove integral to my training going forward.

From this class I've gained a better grasp on the way my body works, and the way I need to treat it to perform well. On days or weeks that I hadn't eaten well, I was slugging and un-attentive in class, which inhibited the determination I had going in to perform well. I'm confident going forward that I'll be able to perform well in any fight call, something I hope is frequent in my future work, as I hope to pursue a lot of Shakespeare. The awareness and comfort with my body that I've gained from this class--along with the fundamental stage combat knowledge--are things that I'll take with me for the rest of my career and life.

I love this fight, and think it's an excellent example of broadsword combat. It showed some really interesting technique and options, having one of the fighters with their hands bound. I think this fight showed well the fatigue that comes in a broadsword bout, and how that can effect your performance.

Thought I'd share one of the most iconic rapier fights of all time. I've watched this video several times over the course of the semester, and every time I try to focus on a single thing--footwork, sword movements, eye contact, anything--I'm impressed and left without criticism. I hope that with a lot of work over my life, I'll be able to perform on this level.

I felt this was a helpful look into the terms used when handling rapiers, with a note at the bottom specifically pertaining to stage combat and taking care of the weapon.