Nick Gillard -- Not a Swordmaster

To Shadow_Of_Evil. Where can I see some of your work? I am also a martial artist with choreography experience so I am curious.

Realism in movies is good. In the attacking and reacting to hits. It is the stunts that help sell the movie, not just the fighters. Stunts as in people falling properly and reacting to hits. Even the best fighters look like crap on film if their partners don't react right, that is just a sad fact. Sad for the stunt man when he is fired . If the fighting is compleatly realistic it won't sell though. Like the butterfly twist in AOTS was well placed, so that was good.

Bruce Lee did a good job of this. Most opponents he took down in one attack, or a few (reality), and then waited for the main bad guys for the longer fights (not as realistic). He had a good combonation of the two.

An acception might be films like Seven Samuri by Akira Kurosawa. It is one of the best movies ever made, period. The fights were very realistic. But it is the directing and acting that makes movies like that, not just the fight scenes. Not to say his fight scenes weren't good, they were great. Think of it like E.T.. Directing made that movie huge, not just the alien. Now if someone did those exact fight scenes and Kurosawa didn't direct it there is a good chance it would join the ranks of old martil arts flicks no one remembers.

As far as Ryan and Dorkman, I enjoyed the fight. It was entertaining. Keep up the good work guys. I should add Escrima to my fight when I make one. The art of hitting sticks against sticks.

The original topic, yes you almost always need some experience to be a succesfull choreographer. He said he doesn't know why people call him a master, not that he isn't a swordsman. A creative person can do good things with a little experience.

And the Escrima thing is a joke, it is a lot more then just banging sticks. Could call it the art of partners smacking your fingers, ouch =/.

 

And the Escrima thing is a joke, it is a lot more then just banging sticks. Could call it the art of partners smacking your fingers, ouch =/.



-Spiff

 

"And the Escrima thing is a joke, it is a lot more then just banging sticks."

What is it about Escrima that is a joke? Just curious because I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Peace

 

Speaking of the original subject matter, I caught ole Ryan W fighting with Nick in one of the ILM camera shots up on Hyperspace the other day...*sniff
and I remember when he was just a wee lad fresh to the bizz,...Congrats Ryan! Glad to see you are doing great things in my absence.

-FX

 

Shh.

 

What is it about Escrima that is a joke?

He was joking when he said that Escrema was "the art of hitting sticks against sticks".

 

Awe C'mon Ryan,...
Don't be shy about it,..Did Hayden carve ya a new one.

-FX

 

wait... WHAT?

 

yep,..it's true.
-FX

 

What part of "Shh" don't you understand.

 

FXMan are you deaf or stupid? Because you seem to be one of them. He said shut up about it ok?

 

Whoah whoah. No need for hostility. I should've used a wink. I'm just trying to keep this on the DL.

 

FXMan are you deaf or stupid?

Man, this guy's practically BEGGING to be hired at LucasArts.

M. Scott

 

What is it about Escrima that is a joke? Just curious because I'm not sure what you are talking about.

He was joking when he said that Escrema was "the art of hitting sticks against sticks".

That pretty much answers the question. In case you don't know what Escrima is, it's a Phillipino (<---hope I spelled it right) art of stick fighting. You practice with other opponents by hitting the sticks together in a rythmic pattern. It is a lot of fun with a good partner too. Anyways the whole it was a joke was in case someone came in who knew what it was and thought I was serious about it only being banging sticks against sticks, hehe.

 

To see a good example of an Escrima fight watch Kiss of the Dragon. To see a similarly good Tonfa fight (a.k.a. nightsticks) see "My Father the Hero" (a.k.a. Jet Li's The Enforcer).

-Spiff

 

Man, this guy's practically BEGGING to be hired at LucasArts.

Why?

 

Hey Ryan, What's this I hear about a sword fight? Did you win?

 

Man, this guy's practically BEGGING to be hired at LucasArts.

No I was just trying to tell him to keep things quiet as I happened to spot this to and I contacted Ryan to make sure it was him before blabbing it about, and he told me to keep it to myself so I did but then Mr FX here doesent seem to have that curtosy.

 

To see a good example of an Escrima fight watch Kiss of the Dragon. To see a similarly good Tonfa fight (a.k.a. nightsticks) see "My Father the Hero" (a.k.a. Jet Li's The Enforcer).

I don't care for Jet Li's movies that much, but those fights are decent. I liked The Enforcer till he yoyo's his son around the room.

The Perfect Weapon with Jeff Speakman has good stick fighting too.

 

"In case you don't know what Escrima is, it's a Phillipino (<---hope I spelled it right) art of stick fighting. You practice with other opponents by hitting the sticks together in a rythmic pattern.

Actually it's called "FILIPINO" and is an art from the "Philippines". There are three names associated with this Filipino art, Arnis from the northern islands, Escrima from the central islands and Kali from the south. The word Escrima is Spanish and means "skirmish." The history of Escrima is the history of occupation of the Filipino islands by the Spanish.

It is much more than a style of banging sticks together in a rhythmic pattern, I can assure you. I have spent most of my life traing in the art of Kali. You are speaking of the energy drills used to teach flow and angles through sensitivity. Escrima, Kali, and Arnis cover a full spectrum of weapon and empty hand combat.

Peace

 

Hey Junfanman...can you explain the style of Kali to me? One of our main guys for our fanfilm is actually a VERY skilled swordsman and fighter in one of the phillipino martial arts but I can't remember what it was called. He was showing me his 2 sword fighting techniques a while back to help me and my trainer figure out choreography that best suited him.

He moved ALOT like a crab, very low and constantly moving side to side and in and out, sliding his feet on the ground and hardly even taking his feet from the ground at all. Does this at all ring a bell when you think about Kali?

 

and he told me to keep it to myself so I did but then Mr FX here doesent seem to have that curtosy.

Yeah but FXMan is Ryans boss at LucasArts you see

/Z

 

"Hey Junfanman...can you explain the style of Kali to me? One of our main guys for our fanfilm is actually a VERY skilled swordsman and fighter in one of the phillipino martial arts but I can't remember what it was called. He was showing me his 2 sword fighting techniques a while back to help me and my trainer figure out choreography that best suited him.

He moved ALOT like a crab, very low and constantly moving side to side and in and out, sliding his feet on the ground and hardly even taking his feet from the ground at all. Does this at all ring a bell when you think about Kali?"

Hi Shadow, here is pretty good explanation of the Kali, Arnis, and Escrima systems.

To answer your second question, yes that is somewhat a correct analogy. The type of footwork and stance is really a direct reflection of what the terrain and geography was/is like in the Philippines when this system was in development. The muddy-sloped landscape required a low center of gravity stance. The footwork resembles a triangle in shape. The lines of the triangle represent the diagonal movement back and forth and side to side. This is because of the need to zone or move to what is called "zero pressure". This means to stay out of reach of your opponents weapon or attack. Angling and zoning allows you to stay in range to launch counters.

There is another system that closely resembles a crab in movement and stance, it's from Indonesia...Pentjak Silat...another great system.

If you want to see some Kali in action, check out SPY WARS (shameless plug). In the fight scene you will see 8 Count Sumbrada, Heaven 6, 3 Count, Verticle Gunting, Horizontal Gunting, and zoning and stripping. I do believe it is the only fanfilm with REAL Kali, Escrima and Arnis techniques.

Peace

 

Yeah but FXMan is Ryans boss at LucasArts you see

Used to be. He left for another company a little while ago.

 

Yeah but FXMan is Ryans boss at LucasArts you see

He is? I dident know that.