Movie/Martial Arts Monday: Remake, Redone, Redeux

I was recently perusing the movie news and it looks like there's a couple of notable remakes of classic combat-themed dramas coming our way.

First off is the latest version of Alexander Dumas' The Three Musketeers. This time, director Paul W.S. Anderson (helmer of the Resident Evil film series) is calling the shots for Musketeers Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans), along with Musketter wannabe D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman). The film isn't due until October, but a trailer recently was released online and before certain films.

Trailer for The Three Musketeers (2011): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvHqXkUZaS4

I didn't read the actual novel until about six years ago, and was quite surprised by the complexity of the plot with its multiple characters, backstories, intrigue and conspiracies. I was also quite surprised how bawdy it all was. Like many, I had always assumed that the tale of the Musketeers was a simple tale of escapism.

There have been, of course, many, many, many film versions of The Three Musketeers. Almost too many to count. However, my personal recommendation is definitely the critics' favorite, director Richard Lester's two-film opus The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). Lester and his producers the Salkind Brothers (who later made the Christopher Reeve Superman films) essentially split Dumas' massive novel into two feature-length films, which allowed for a greater degree of the voluminous plot to be included.

Trailer for The Three Musketeers (1973): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thJiAITu1-4

Somewhat like the recent Lord of the Rings films, Lester's films were sumptuous productions with great costume design, a massive cast (which included Michael York as D'Artagnan, as well as Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee as the Musketeers' enemies Cardinal Richieieu and Rochefort), and sword fights by the great William Hobbs. The films also indulged in the novel's ribald, bawdy comedy, featuring equal parts sex and slapstick.

Also coming soon is the samurai adventure 13 Assassins, directed by Takashi Miike. The film is a remake of a 1963 film by director Eiichi Kudo, about a band of samurai who decide to take on a corrupt lord to prevent his ascent up the ranks of power.

Trailer for 13 Assassins (2011): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeEq1qR8qiw

Miike is mostly known for his disturbing and ultra-violent films that cross the line between drama and sheer horror (such as 1999's Audition and 2001's Ichi the Killer). However, he is also acclaimed for his precise control and attention to detail. 13 Assassins is a bit of a change of pace for him, paying tribute to large body of work that is the samurai film genre, as well as famous directors such as Akira Kurosawa.

I know I'll definitely be there in the theater for this one.

Shout Out Saturday

aaaaannnnnnd I'm back

So other than me really failing at posting weekly, things in the Fight Jam world have been going quite well.

Our last Jam was Street Fighting where we took a look at how to make some of our standard unarmed choreography extra messy, unexpected and vicious. I think we all came away with a few bruises from that one. And an extra thanks to Michael Anderson for stopping by and sharing some of his "field research" on the subject with us.

Our two year anniversary Jam is coming up on April 20th, so be looking for details on that.

Also on 4/20 there will be a remounting of last summer's highly successful production of Reefer Madness produced by the Brown Paper Box Co.

Details:

Studio BE, 3110 N Sheffield

7pm AND 9pm

Also, Studio BE is BYOB!

For those of you looking for something to do next weekend, there is an awesome looking dance show happening at Ruth Page on the 1st and 2nd

Babes with Blades all female production of Romeo and Juliet also opens this week at the West Stage in the Raven Theater Complex

For those of you needing to renew in broadsword and/or rapier dagger, there's an SPR happening in Wisconsin on April 9th taught by DC Wright and adjudicated by Chuck Coyl. If you're interested please go here for more information (if link is not actually helpful let me know and I will do what I can).

Think Tank Thursday: Street Mentality

Thankfully, many of us have not needed to develop the protective mental shell that is a "street" mindset.

We are sometimes asked to portray characters that have needed to do so, however. This can be a very difficult task if you did not grow up looking over your shoulder every day. At some point, after seeing violence touch your friends and family, you either have to give up and let it consume you or build a wall, make a decision that tells everyone, "I won't let anyone kill me without me killing them first, no matter what."

This mindset trumps any training and just about any weapon. People with this mindset can take intense trauma and injury and keep pushing to either survive or last long enough to take the other person out. It is now a key mantra taught to our military and law enforcement heroes, "You aren't dead until you are dead." Keep pushing until you black out and absolutely can't push anymore.

That is street mentality. Even when defending you are attacking. It is a mindset that you will prevail no matter what. You walk a fine line with being cocky. Cockiness, however, involves thinking you will win easily or won't be hurt. Cockiness involves underestimating and disrespecting violence. Street accepts the nasty, the shit, the hurt. Street embraces the firestorm and uses it.

The next time you are called upon to portray a "street" mentality focus on the ideas. Physicality alone will look forced and fake. Focusing on "No matter how much you hurt me, no matter how much blood I may lose, no matter how much training you have, or what weapon you choose, I will endure it, I will chase you down, and I will win" will inform and influence all you need.

Greg Poljacik

Martial Arts/Movie Monday: Reflection in the Wake of Disaster

Hi Folks,

Catching up with this week's Monday post. For those who have enjoyed my bits of movie and martial arts trivia, apologies for all those weeks where I have failed to get something up. Some weeks prove more distracting than others, and unfortunately this one was particularly harrowing.

I'm sure everyone has watched the terrible news from Japan about the earthquake, tsunami and ensuing aftermath. Luckily, I have been able to track down the majority of my friends and they are fine. My immediately family is in Hawaii, and luckily the effects of the tsunami were largely mild there.

This unfortunately leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to write down on a day like today. Talking about my favorite Jet Li film or fighting techniques feels a bit too trivial; almost improper.

But even at a time like this, I think I've found something that is both appropriate to the day, and in keeping with the FJ spirit of things.

Fighting arts are inseparable from the cultures and history that spawned them. That doesn't mean an American can't master karate or someone from Mexico can't become a great boxer (history has proven that). But to fully appreciate any fighting art, you really do need to know about the people who created it. How did they live? How did they eat? Were their lands steamy and tropical or "foggy, raw and dull" (to quote Shakespeare). Were there a lot of usable metals around, or did they have to depend on wood and rock?

The fighting arts (and fighters themselves) of Japan have been admired and feared for centuries, both the real and the fictional.. I can think of very few people who have heard stories or watched movies featuring calm and focused samurai warriors or stealthy, silently-moving ninja and not thought, "Hey, that's really cool."

The thing is, where did that come from? That steely resolve, the dispassionate look in the eye when facing down an opponent, knowing full well that it could mean the killer might become the killed.

It came from living on an island chain full of rocks and rough waters (especially to the north). It came from ever-present threats from the land itself in the form of earthquakes and droughts, and from the sea in the form of tsunami and seasonal typhoons. It came from a relative shortage of arable land compared to the bounty we have here in the U.S., resulting periodic shortages of food and the accompanying social unrest.

In some ways it made the Japanese a tough lot. They ended up being dominated by brutal warriors who ruled by the sword and didn't really take kindly to others (I think it's funny when people dream of living in ancient Japan; they never assume that they might have been a peasant or servant). But it also instilled a sense of grace; of appreciating (and fearing) nature. It led to development of ways to discipline the spirit, calm the mind and toughen the body.

Is it any wonder that the Hagakure, the seminal volume on the way of the samurai, suggests that one should daily contemplate their own death, being riddled with arrows, torn apart by dogs or dashed upon rocks? It wasn't about morbidly obsessing on death like a goth teenager - it was about accepting that life is ALWAYS precarious, and in that, one should be appreciative.

It is interesting to note that for all the bloodshed and brutality, the samurai-dominated culture of Japan also bred some of those most delicate art forms imagined: calligraphy, flower arrangement, bonsai. Many of these were practiced by samurai themselves, not just effete aristocrats.

Sure, there is a dark side to all this, as the events of World War II can attest. A hard spirit can breed brutal actions, and I have no words to forgive that.

But on the flipside, I cannot help but admire the stories I have heard from Japan this weekend of orderly evacuations, very little looting, and people struggling forward as they have always struggled.

There are no more samurai in Japan today. They've receded back into myth, legend, comic books and TV. But there is still some of that old spirit there. And I have faith the country will bounce back.

On a final note, for those wishing to make a donation in support of the people of Japan, the Japaneses American Service Committee (JASC) of Chicago has set up a relief fund. Information may be found on their homepage (http://www.jasc-chicago.org/).

In addition, for those in the suburbs or willing to travel, the Aikido Shimboku Dojo in Lake in the Hills is hosting a relief fundraising seminar on Saturday, April 16. Lisa Tomoleoni Sensei and Marsha Turner Sensei will be teaching classes from 10:00am to 5:30pm. Beginners welcome. For more information, go to www.aikidoshimbokudojo.com.

Think Tank Thursday: Breathe or Die

There are many things that will keep you safe while performing stage combat. The most important is to Breathe.

This may sound elementary but pay attention to your breath the next time you are in a stage fight. In our attempts to add tension or to focus on parts where we are unsure we direct energy away from breathing for a  temporary boost.

The obvious is that you need to breath to keep doing physical activity. Hold your breathe long enough trying to look intense and eventually you will become light headed or pass out. Neither is good on stage.

Lesser known are the other sacrifices your body makes to compensate. The following information is paraphrased and based off of the facts in the book "On Combat" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. For more details on the effects definitely read the book.
Controlled breathing can keep your heart rate down during activity. Under normal physical stress a normal elevated heart rate isn't a bad thing. We simulate emotional stress from violence. Most of the time our heart rate escalates before we have even begun to fight because of the emotions of the scene.

Under this type of stress the body starts shutting systems down to defend itself. Once you pass 115 bpm you start to lose fine motor skills. Fine hand movements and parts of speech begin to break down. Past 125 bpm you start to lose larger muscle coordination/accuracy. Past 175 bpm all hell breaks loose. At that point you are basically a clawing, grunting, animal.

If you don't breathe your heart rate jumps up a lot faster. Keep control, keep your heart rate in "mellow yellow" between 115-125 bpm. Breathe or Die.

Greg Poljacik

The Sunday Special - Taking One to Tango

When I moved to Jolly Ol’ England I worried that my combat skills might begin to lapse with lack of training opportunities. Fortunately, I’m at a theater department where there is never a shortage of stage combat. But when I first started considering this grad school, I began to think about how I would maintain my training and that question has stayed with me through my time here and just recently I’ve really started exploring it.

Individual training for actors is difficult, and this extends to actor combatants. Unlike musicians, dancers, and singers actors don’t have a traditional set of scales or drills to practice our craft.

Actor combatants, on the other hand, have an arsenal of techniques that they can drill ad nauseum. But those various cut and footwork drills are just that, drills. Doing scales and drills work one half of the actor combatants muscles. The actor part, the creative part must be accessed as well.

The question then becomes – What is the best way to explore and train creatively without a partner?

This isn’t (entirely) a rhetorical question.

One possible answer to this question I belive lies in the area of Martial Arts. Many martial arts employ a Kata in their training. Kata is a Japanese word that translates literally into ‘Form’. In martial arts a Kata is a detailed choreographed pattern of movements. In the stage combat world the closest thing to a Kata that we have is the Skills Proficiency Test (or equivalent). However, SPTs and SPRs, unlike Katas vary from teacher to teacher, sometimes even created for individual students. I believe this approach is partially incorrect.

Now, I don’t believe that all of stage combat should have a universal form or kata; in fact the individuality should be applauded. But what I have been warming to as a concept is creating a very specific and personal fight or kata that gets worked and reworked year after year so that it gets perfected over time. These Katas can then be taught to students, perhaps adjusted a little here and there to reflect the martial artist performing.

Therefore, I have begun to create my own individual Katas based on SAFD SPT requirements. They will begin as individual choreographed pieces and eventually become SPT and SPR fights to be taught. For those wondering what the difference this is between just creating fight for a SPT, the simple answer is that there isn’t one except, perhaps, with loftier goals in mind.

As I continue my exploration, I will be sure to keep you all informed and updated with my progress. Until then, I’d love to hear what techniques and ideas that you all have discovered for personal training.

Ta from the Motherland!

Text Tuesday: Emotional Contagion

By Elaine Hatfield, John T. Caccioppo, and Richard Rapson

Have you ever noticed that some people are able to "infect" others with their emotions? Some can make a whole room melancholy, others have a catching laugh. People can be uplifting by just being present and others can extremely despiriting.

This book explores the scientific explanations as to why these events happen. Through experimentation, anecdotal evidence, and brain imaging/study the authors are able to compile interesting theories involving group behavior and emotion in the masses.

Although it sounds like a dry take on an interesting subject, this book is well written and very easy to read. Some sections get technical and if you aren't hip to the psychological jargon it will be tough to slog through but those moments/sections are few, however.

Theatrically this book is a true gem for our understanding of how the audience reacts to the material we are presenting. It highlights how an audience member may influence others around them or how/from where the audience gets its primary information.

Being able to anticipate where, when, and how an audience will react will greatly empower you to present the most effective material possible. This book gives information towards figuring those things out. It will also illuminate how you ate influenced emotionally in your own life and may provide personal benefits you weren't expecting.

Greg Poljacik