Customer Reviews

Swashbuckling: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art of Stage Combat & Theatrical Swordplay - Revised & Updated E

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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I have been performing and choreographing staged combat for about tewlve years now and have read several books on the subject. For a beginner this is definately the best place to start. Mr. Lane does skimp on the hand fighting to focus on single sword techniques, and presents as fact a few professional judgements with which I would disagree. The amount of space devoted to the katas seems to be filler. These are all minor points. The book is a good solid base to start from and all fight directors should have it in their library, and all beginners should consider reading it.

"SWASHBUCKLING" is a well thought out, easy to understand book (lots of clear, step-by-step pictures help). Anyone interested in theatrically-oriented swordplay should buy a copy. As the author of "The Art and Science of Fencing," "The Inner Game of Fencing," "The Encyclopedia of the Sword;" and the editor-in-chief of "Fencers Quarterly Magazine," I recommend this book.

An excellent book for people interested in stage combat, or beginning students who are just getting involved. It's based on the SAFD methods, and covers the basics of unarmed, single rapier, some rapier & dagger, and broadsword. There's just enough background history to explain where everything's coming from, but without making your head spin from too much information. Excellent warm up and stretching routines, some single person kata like forms for the various weapons, and plenty of excellent photographs.

As a beginner in the stage-combat area, I found Richards book excellent as it covers all the areas I needed to know about from historical information, to warmup exercises thru to sword and unarmed techniques. It can never replace a qualified teacher, but it certainly makes for a good foundation. A must for anyone starting off in stage-combat, and also a necessary addition to any actors library.

As an active stage combatant and member of a fight-based comedy show, I found Lane's book exceedingly easy to read, concise in explainations, and enjoyable. After a number of years in this business it is possible to develop a devil-may-care attitude to "basics" books, yet I found numerous points in this book where I reconsidered and/or restructured my thinking. I have incorporated many of his fine warm-ups into my work, both for myself and for instructing others. When asked what single book a beginning combatant should purchase, this is the one I always suggest.

I am an SAFD actor/combatant and have just recently purchased this book. Even if your a beginner or an experienced combatant, Richard Lane's book is sure to help. Easy and interesting to read, this book give great step by step forms to practice on your own (rapier, broadsword, and some hand to hand), as well warm-up techniques, stretching and guidelines for working with others. A great book. Anyone interested in stage combat (especially rapier) should own this book!

It is important to remember that no book ever written will adequately prepare you for participation in stage combat. Though stage fighting is choreographed down to the instant and is tightly controlled, it remains very risky. Many actors have been hurt very badly participating in supposedly "phony" combat. Do not attempt to participate in stage combat without either taking a course with an SAFD-certified coach or ensuring your fight choreographer has done the same.

This book, however, is one of the most thorough primers available. You cannot learn stage fighting from this book, but you can use this book to prepare yourself for what's coming when you study with an SAFD coach. This book gives you instruction on postures, motions, workouts, acting attitudes, and more to get you started and get you in the right way of thinking and moving, preparatory to studying with a certified coach.

One attractive quality of this book is the amount of space it dedicates to unarmed combat. I have encountered many coaching texts that place all the emphasis in their material on fighting with weapons, especially swords. Unarmed combat, when mentioned, is primarily a sidelight. This isn't wholly unfair, since sword fighting is very difficult and involves many integrated skills; sword fighting without wounding or risking a wound to your opponent or yourself is all the more difficult. However, unarmed combat-fistfights, barroom brawls, catfights, and even physical gags in low comedy-require more skill than many people seem to realize. If you throw a punch or kick a foot at random, somebody's going to get hurt, possibly very badly. This book begins to teach readers how to brawl or tangle with somebody unarmed, make it look like it hurts, and walk away unscratched.

All in all, this is a superior book on the skills of staged combat. To repeat, this book will not teach you how to choreograph or participate in a stage fight. No book can do that. If you try to stage a fight without either SAFD-certified participants or an SAFD-certified trainer, injury is all too likely. However, as a side to more strenuous coaching, Richard Lane's "Swashbuckling" is one of the better primers available to you.

Swahbuckling is the ultimate guide to stage fighting technique and basic swordplay. In words and in pictures about 400 of them, it covers everything an actor must know and everything anactor must do to give a dynamic and convincing performance as a stage combatant. Founde and executive director of the Academy of the Sword, Richard Lane is one of only 25 instructors of stage combat certified by the Society of American Fight Directors

Although I bought this book for a friend who directs, I looked through it myself when it arrived. I was very impressed by the fact that the author brought you through from basic "beginner" preparations, then progressed to the more complicated moves. It was as if you were taking lessons in a conventional classroom with a personal instructor. Directions were concise and easy to understand, especially accompanied by the plethora of photographs, giving you a clear visual of the instruction being conveyed. I also found it interesting that the author saw fit to interject some historical background into the lessons; it helped to set a mood and mindset in the imagination of the reader and spiced up what otherwise could be dry reading (as with many "how-to" books).
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in directing for stage in theatre or for training for Renaissance faire.
(P.S. - my friend loves the book!)

With this newly updated edition, Richard Lane has made a great book even better. Whether your an actor, director, or fight choreographer, this book provides an extensive overview to the types of stage combat to cover every situation.