What Is Stage Combat Training Classes Online | Acting Combat Training for Beginners

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION – What are Stage Combat Training Classes Online or Acting Combat Training for Beginners? That’s what we’ll answer in today’s video.

Hi my name’s Dillon Wilson with CBT Stunt Alliance. Train Hard. Perform Easy. We help actors, stunt performers, filmmakers and content creators learn professional stunt training for film, TV and live action performances.

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Ok so we get a lot of questions about… stage combat training acting, combat training, people who are, you know, for beginners and everything. Some who are interested or actually, they’re in theater or they wish to transition in the film or they wish to get in the film and tv, yet they want to start training in something and they don’t know where to go, how to go by doing it. So they, you know, they always hear about stage combat, training stage combat. So we’re gonna share with you our thoughts and experiences on stage combat and how you can leverage it to accomplish your personal goals.

 

 

Stage Combat Training and Acting Combat Training Question 1: What is stage combat training or acting combat training?

And what it is, is a specialized art form, that’s what it is, it’s an art form or a performance art form where people learn how to do fight choreography. The fight choreography tends to be, uh, it’s by choreography and, and we’ll say falls as well. Fall in reaction so it’s not just you know, fighting and stuff so they learn things like you know, slapping each other, punching each other, you know. Also, very common to learn different sword styles, you know, uh, things that they can use to perform specifically on stage, not for on camera. That’s a lot different. So that’s what stage combat and acting combat training is.

 

 

Stage Combat Training and Acting Combat Training Question 2: What’s the difference between stage combat training and fighting for film and TV?

There’s two things go you got stage combat training and what we refer to in the industry is fighting for film and tv or you know fight choreography, specifically for filming tv. Well with the stage combat or uh, acting combat training, you’re playing to what is referred to as the fourth wall. That’s the audience. So everything you do, plays to let’s say, the fourth wall was that way, right? Everything that we would do has to play to that direction. And it doesn’t matter what the other, you know, 75% of directions, what they see. It’s the only that one direction, the fourth wall. And the fourth wall is the audience, you know, sitting in their seats.

The um, where fighting for camera for film and tv is completely different because the audience is 360 degrees, right? You could have, you know, one to four cameras around you and so you have to be aware. So in the training, you have to develop a 6th sense for where the camera is. So if you’re gonna be in the midst of a fluid flow fight scene or action scene or something, you have to be always aware of where the camera is so you’re always playing to the camera. And this is again, one of the fundamental differences between stage combat training and, and fighting film tv.

I’m an experienced stunt coordinator. I’ve had plenty of actors come to be on projects, and he said, ” Oh, I’ve got stage training. ” I’m like, okay.

And it’s been my experience, it hasn’t worked well for them, transitioning from film and tv, right? And it may just be because I didn’t practice very much either, you know. yet people who said that they were martial artists or had taken actual, more so I would say the people who had taken fighting for firm and tv were able to pick up the fight learning fight, fighting for camera much easily. Yeah. maybe someone who practiced a lot more, you know?

Uh, with stage combat training would’ve been more professional has been. My
experience over many years that most people who’ve done and haven’t done fighting for, for uh, film and tv, they weren’t able to pick it up.

The other thing is, uh, with Stage combat classes near me, Stage combat classes online, Stage combat for beginners, stage combat and acting combat, there are two sides to it. One is the actual choreographed fighting portion. And the other is the acting, you know, the, uh, still instilling character and emotion. So because they’re performing for a live audience, there’s not gonna be a bunch of different cuts and different angles. And the stuff of the fight, it’s just one angle, right? It’s that, you know, it’s one long take when you’re performing on stage, right? You can’t call cut and start over again and get more coverage. So what’s the other thing is that the performances were crafted with that in mind. Where filing tv, you have to, you’re choreographed. Where the camera angles, and where the DPs gonna be positioned is all part of the choreography.

Well, this is a good thing now for, for stage combat training because they emphasize more of your, incorporating your acting in the performance during the fight, uh, the fight scene. Where that is not always the case in fighting for film and tv. It’s very common for stunt performers to be in the midst of a fight, they developed a serious kind of face like this. And throughout the whole fight, this is pretty much where they are. Many of them tend not to be actors and they have zero acting training. So they don’t really, a lot of times, and if you watch even some of the fights you’ll see it, you just to be punching to get a serious look in their face and that’s what they’re doing the whole time while they’re fighting as opposed to being able to deliver a compelling emotional performance.

So this is one where it’s good because with stage combat training and acting combat training because you’ll learn how to incorporate and deliver a, a much more compelling performance that connects with the audience. The audience is right there and you’re getting feedback in real time. Wherein on the film and tv set, there is no feedback. The only feedback is from the stunt coordinator and the director. That you can’t really calibrate it with the audience.

Something else is sometimes, in stage combat training and acting combat training, they make contact. Again, the audience is there, right? so it’s, it’s not always easy to make, to make to sell strikes so they just go ahead and make contact. Wherein film and tv, uh, we’ve actually never made contact. If we do, it’s rare and this is a stunt coordinator, uh is telling you to do it and it’s usually to the body. And it’s usually pads and stuff on the body. And it’s because the fights tend to be a lot more involved in film and tv, than, than on stage.

Uh, the other thing is with stage combat training, Stage combat classes near me, Stage combat classes online, Stage combat for beginners they have to make their own sound effects, you know. They call it, uh something called napping. You know, they’ll slap their thigh or their chess or something so they’re slapping someone and they’re, in film and tv we have something called foley. It’s a post production sound, it is all added in post-production, it’s not on set, we don’t have sounds on set. So post-production will add all the ( punch sound ), you know, sounds, you know, imposed. yet when you’re actually in print during a principal photography, we’re just throwing punches and stuff and there are no sounds, right? yet you can’t do that with the stage combat, with stage combat with a live audience so they’re slapping someone. It’s, right? or, it’ll slap your thigh. or like this. And they call this napping.

And again, it’s a skill where, you’ll not, you’re not going to use that at all in uh, in film and tv. That’s purely for stage and again, it’s because they’re performing and getting feedback in real time from the audience.

So again, different skill sets, you know, whether that’s a great thing or not. I would say it isn’t because if you’re thinking about going into, into film and tv because you’re never gonna use that and you may actually train in bad habits. yeah for a theater, it’s actually perfect.

So the thing is if you want to do theater only, stage combat training or acting combat training is for you because it’s theater. It’s a live audience, you know, again, there’s one take. Everything’s in real time. You know if you want to do film and tv, fighting for camera, you know is what you want to learn. And there are workshops around, you know, where you can take fighting for camera. And usually, after even a few workshops, you have the, you have an understanding of it.

Now, ideally, you find classes or instructors who can teach both. So if you find, because the one benefit with stunt combat training classes is that they’re more plentiful than fighting for camera workshops. Because so many universities in their part of the theater department will have a stunt combat. You know, uh, class or something and it’s just more popular so you can find more of this. Which is why a lot of people train in them especially when they wish to go into film and tv because it just you’re just more of them around.

So if you’re even searching, you really want to do theater and you’re thinking about film and tv, search and find for instructors who teach both. because there are some that do. There are some that that they’ll tell you on their website that they’ll teach both, you know. Stage combat training, acting combat training and for theater and film and tv. Because they will be able to share with you the things event that I covered a bunch of other stuff more obviously on how to play to, you know, one camera, two cameras. three or four camera shoots.

So these are some of the key differences between stage combat training and fighting for film and tv.

 

Stage Combat Training and Acting Combat Training Question 3: What specific skills do you learn in stage combat / acting combat training?

A lot of it tends to be European martial arts. Where you may learn, you know, single sword, rapier and dagger, quarter staff, ah.. broadsword, you know, knife, any knife and even unarmed combat. Which is good if you don’t know anything else because it’ll, it’ll get you started and you’ll have some type of understanding. Again, this is from the perspective from someone in film. The issue is that most productions don’t call for those skills sets. So in other words, you’re learning how to use rapier and dagger, you know, um, and other like you know, single word and stuff, those styles, you know, even fencing, you know rapier, rapiers and things.

There’s not many productions that call for it. This is like a pirate movie, you know, which they have some once in a while, you know. How often do you see pirate movies. So those, that type of, that style of fighting. And, and, there’s many excellent European uh, martial art styles without without question, yet, specifically in stage combat, they tend to stick to just you know, the swashbuckler rapier and, and dagger type thing, you know, and single sword with a lot of, the the schools. And you know, it just isn’t a lot of demand for that outside of theater. Look at what’s on television and look at what’s in movie theaters. That’s not really what, what, uh most productions want.

So in film and tv, you know, it’s still a log of the it’s unarmed combat too, yet it’s it’s more stylized . Like that’s why it’s better if you’re training in some style of martial arts, some type of striking art, you know, whether it’s muay thai or capoeira, you know, one of the many, you know, uh uh american kickboxing, you know, kung fu, you know, different styles like that, karate, you know that teach you how to strike and everything.
And you know the same thing with weapons learning different styles of weapons, whether again, it could be a bunch one of the the mini styles of African martial arts. They have a lot of the weapons bladed arts, swords, and spears and such or the asian martial arts even Filipino martial arts.

These things have are more in demand across the board. Not just in film and tv, even in theater as well. Because if you have a foundation in these styles and everything I mentioned, they’re more applicable to theater than the other way around. So everything I mentioned works not only in film and tv but also theatrically. Whereas uh the European martial arts has taught for stage combat, purely for stage combat and, and they’re very stylized on that how many productions are going to call for the use of rapier and dagger, right? So it’s like, it’s it’s it’s still plus if you want to get started. It gives you a foundation and that’s really what it is because there’s so many of them available, you can, you know, you can learn how to use a sword. How to use a dagger because you may not know how to use that. The fact that you know how to use a broads or use a quarter staff. It gives you something, you know, um, if you practice, right? And that’s that’s the main thing. I’d say that’s probably one of best training things you need to add to your skill set. You have to keep practicing. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of people that that we’ve encountered who had stage combat training were not good because they didn’t, they never really practiced, right? Where the people who, you know, trained and fighting for camera tend to practice more. And so their, their skills you know, were sharper.

So those are just some of the skills that that usually get with stage combat training and acting combat training. And again, if you’re going to do this, you got to make sure you set a a schedule to practice to maintain the skills that you learn.

 

Stage Combat Training and Acting Combat Training Question 4: Can you effectively learn stage combat / acting combat training online?

Uh, the answer is a resounding yes, especially because of the pandemic, many people started making, turning into online classes to learn. And what they found that it’s much easier as they eliminate travel time, tolls, gas, parking. And you’re just literally focused on being able to train and you just learn and so much more plus they’re in a comfortable environment, their home, their backyard, or something. Where they can learn and not be concerned about all the other things that you’re concern about. You have to travel to a place.

One of the other cool things is that oftentimes, you can even earn a certification depending on where you go on, the base of the amount of hours that you train. Oftentimes, around 30 hours, give or take. And you get a basic certification as well which is good for your career because you know when you’re talking to productions, whether they’re the at theater, you know, a producer in theater or production in film and tv, it does count. That does mean something, not the to stun coordinators yet to ahh producers and directors it does mean something when you, you can send in a certification saying that you’ve had , you know. This this organization certifies that you’ve had this type of training, it does mean something.

Also, the only issue though when you’re doing it is having a practice part. So there are several you know ways you can about uh addressing that and one is literally, you can practice with people on zoom, right? or on Whatsapp or something like as long as you can see them, you know, you can throw punches and stuff at them. And they can just react if they throw punches on their screen and you just react to it. So the people that you meet as long as you have a way of meeting other people in the class. That’s how you get your training partners. You don’t have to always be there in person and practice it. Just you see a punch coming across the screen you just you just react to it. You see kicks and other stuff too. So you can actually get the training that way. Plus you can use um, we call them stunt dummies, fighting dummies and stuff. There’s easy way you can improvise those to train with so you can get good training regardless of where you are in the world, uh stun combat training classes online.

The other thing is, there are even books that you can buy on stage combat training and they’ll illustrations but they break down step by step so you know what to do. The only downside with that, and the books, the books aren’t very much either. They uh. they probably cost 20, 39 bucks 20 to 50 bucks on average you know for the books.
The only downside is is not as easy learning from a book because it’s a static page. It doesn’t move. You got to turn the page and then you see this and in one picture the person is doing this, the next picture the person is doing that and it’s it may not be as easy so video is definitely much easier to learn from. So the cost of the books like like we said were like 20 to 50 bucks. The actual cost for the stage combat class vary.

It can be anywhere 26 dollars per hour for a group workshop so you might like you know, 10 15 people in there and they’re all paying 26 bucks to 250 bucks for maybe a two day class, like a Saturday and Sunday type thing. or even more you know, they may have uh, you know a curriculum that spans several months and they’re hunting hundreds and hundreds of dollars for them. So you just have to check around and find out what works best for you. Yet all is affordable specially you know, if it’s something that you really feel in your heart that you want to do.

Now another option for you is that we even provide you know professional stunt stage combat training and acting combat training. Both for people who want to be professional stunt performers for film and tv and even people who wish to be in theater OR do both which a lot of actors tend to do, you know. They always have something going if they’re either you know, booking something on film or tv or even theater. And our classes are are very popular. I myself, am a uh experienced stunt coordinator, second unit director. So the classes that we teach, you get the that perspective, you know. So everything you learn works perfectly for any type of shoot that you’re going to be on. The uh, the classes are you know online, they’re you know, they’re video, pre-recorded videos where we break down step by step what to do. Unlike in a live class, the instructors teaches it and you pretty much get it and if you don’t you might be able to ask one or two questions. if you still don’t get it then you know, they got to move on with the class because they’re they’re teaching 15 other people other than you, right?

The great thing is with the videos, you can just rewind them and if you need to look at it 20 times to get it, no one’s upset with you. You don’t get on anybody’s nerves, all right. You don’t even feel squeamish for asking. You just rewind the thing. And so all the things are, all the techniques and things are thoroughly explained and broken down and everyone loves them.

Plus on our online training, our classes, you get a certification as well. You have to pass an online quiz that’s you know. Our, our, uh it’s called the cbt stunt alliance online action university. And you pass an online quiz with each course that you take and there’s a video final exam where you actually, you know, record with your camera phone, the things that you learn in the class and we grade you. And once you pass, then we actually issue you a certification and we actually put you in one of our directories as well so production can go to our directory and verify your credentials.

The other thing which is, makes the training really good and singular is that you know, the we provide on going support. So there’s, there’s uh our private online social community so you can get to network with them, bunch of other hundreds of other people around, we’re actually thousands at this point from around the world who have also taken the classes. And that’s where you get your training partners, you know. Sometimes, it may be in a local area, you can meet up with them and train or you just set up times like like a game on zoom or facebook or something facetime. And you can practice, right? And also, when you have questions, you can upload videos and say hey how’s my form look and we said, okay you do turn your foot this way, move your hand like that and you have the ongoing support of experienced stunt coordinators and fight choreographers helping you.

Plus you get premium email support. So if you ever have questions you just email them in and you have somebody answering questions for you all the time. So you’re not in it alone. That’s one of the things with some of the stunt combat training online is that it’s just essentially just like a dvd. And that’s it. With ours we know that you’re going to need this support. Especially as you’re getting, going and all these things are are included. And our classes start just 99 dollars.

That’s it. 99 dollars and you’re, we’re talking four to six months worth of training. All pre-recorded and then you, you progress at your own, at your own, rate, you know. And this design, we designed this to be a resource to last about your entire career because there’s so much stuff in there. You may not need it for six months, it is there. Two years from now, you got a role coming up, you’re auditioning for, it’s there.

We know what you need and so that’s how we built it.

 

Closing:

So there’s a lot of actionable information for you about Stage combat classes near me, Stage combat classes online, Stage combat for beginners. Make sure you like this video and smash that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on any future content. And if you have some other tips that you’d like to add. Or if you have some ideas you’d like for us to cover in future videos, leave them in the comments below.

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Again, my name is Dillon Wilson, with CBT stunt alliance. Train hard, perform easy.

Don’t miss our next video where we share another pro stunt training tip. See you next video.

 

Frequently Asked Questions about
Stage combat training and Acting combat training, Stage combat classes near me, Stage combat classes online, Stage combat for beginners

Q: When studying Stage combat training and Acting combat training, does it take a long time?

A: No. You can train as little or as much as you want. To get a certification many schools have a minimum amount of training time (i.e. 30 hours)

Q: How much do Stage combat training and Acting combat training cost?
A: They vary from $26 per 1 hour session to hundreds of dollars for longer courses. Stage combat classes online tend to cost less.

Q: Are Stage combat classes online good for learning Stage combat for beginners?
A: Yes. Because it helps you to get a foundation in the art form. You have the benefit of having videos that you can watch as many times as you need to learn how to do it.

Q: I searched for Stage combat classes near me and martial arts schools came up. Should I contact them?
A: Yes. Many actors and stun performers also training marital arts. It’s best to talk to them and ask them what they offer.