Some guys like to shoot hoops

Not anyone I know, mind you, but there must be some guys out there who like that sort of thing. Me? Me and my friends like to swing swords at each other. Now I always tell folks when they ask me about my sword fighting gig, “No I am NOT an SCA fighter. I’m an actor” This means that most of what I do with a sword is choreographed, much like dancing. I do not set about to hurt my partner with a sword. There is a variant of what we do called “free form” this is un choreographed sword work, improv if you will. While we are limited by the types and numbers of blows we can throw, there is no pre-planned chorography. The potential for injury and stitches is very high. This form of sword play requires huge amounts of training and trust among fight partners to do properly and safely. Move wrong, mis read a cue from your partner, or just not respond in time and it is going to suck to be you. Conversly, done well with a fight partner you trust and it is way too much fun.

The other day at practice, after all the armor was put away and students safely shuffled off the practice court, Galahad and I took to doing a bit of high speed free form. More about blowing off stress than writing a show stopping bit of choreography, we took to dueling with our wooden kendo swords. Kendo sticks allow us to strike faster and not worry so much about some of the details but rather focus our energies on working fast and moving faster. We were soon joined by a fellow swordsman, Jester. He, well he is what you might call a killing machine. This guy is fast, amazingly fast. The really amazing thing is that even with his deadly speed, and he is probably the safest person to work with. Tambo took some footage of Galahad and me taking on Jester in 2 on 1 freeform. Note how we get our asses handed to us to wear like hats.

Yes, at one point there I am trying to use Galahad as a human shield.

It goes with out saying, don’t try this at home kids, we are trained professionals.