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                      XENA'S FIGHT SCENES
                 Special to the e-mail WHOOSH!
                         By PtahOpener
                 Copyright 1997 held by author
                          1190 words
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Sword (and of course, staff) fights are a mainstay of
the action sequences in XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. Most
actors are not trained martial artists and so receive
very brief instruction in the use of weapons. Through
the use of editing, camera angles, and "blocking" even
someone of limited training can be made to appear very
skillful. 

Blocking is a method of editing where long shots are
interspersed with extreme closeups making it appear as
if the actors were really making contact and doing
damage. A long shot will show Lucy Lawless swing her
sword at a stuntman. She misses by a mile but the miss
is edited out and instead a closeup of someone getting
run through is edited in. 

The "pass-blow" invented by John Wayne and Yakima Kanut
makes use of camera angles to lend the appearance of
actual contact. With the camera behind the stuntman,
Renee O'Connor swings a punch (or staff) that misses by
a foot. The stuntman reacts and because of visual
foreshortening it appears as if Gabrielle has a
roundhouse like Evander Holyfield (or Graciella
Casillas for you kickboxing fans). 

In order to speed the training time an actor will learn
a few very basic moves that can then be combined into
an almost unlimited number of combinations. Add in a
couple of fancy spins or twirls and you have a
cinematic melee machine. One martial art that is
particulary suited to this type of training is escrima. 
The escrima influence can be seen in almost all of the
melee weapon sequences in XENA.
     
Kali is the mother art of escrima (eskrima). It is
named after the Phillipino goddess of war. She is not
quite the same as the Hindu goddess Kali. Escrima
(fencing) is also known as arnis or arnis de mano
(techniques of the hand). There are numerous methods of
escrima named after the various islands, instructors,
and emphasis on technique.

Escrima is primarily a striking art although use is
made of joint locks and throws as well. The student of
escrima starts out learning the basic principles with
weapons, usually sticks, and then can apply them to
empty hand techniques. Low kicks are common as they are
the fastest and most efficient kicks. Escrima is very
fluid and flexible especially when compared to Japanese
Karate. There are not really any set stances or forms. 
It is pretty much "whatever works". Individual style is
developed in sparring and actual combat.

The basis of escrima is the fact that there are only so
many directions an attack can come from regardless of
the weapon used (barring firearms of course). Imagine
your opponent standing directly in front of you. Now
picture a plus sign (+) over him. These are four of the
attack "angles". Top to bottom, left to right, right to
left, and bottom to top. Next picture a multiplication
sign (X). These are the next four angles. Upper right
to lower left, upper left to lower right, lower right
to upper left, and lower left to upper right. The other
three angles (for a total of 12) are a straight thrust,
a thrust coming from the left, and a thrust coming from
the right. As you can see no matter what you are
attacked with it will have to come close to one of
these angles. If you know the defense for each angle
you can handle any attack. Likewise your own attacks
will follow one of the angles. The angles can occur at
any level. A horizontal strike to the head or the knee
will follow the same angle just at different levels.

Attacks with weapons follow several patterns. The
circle, the figure eight, and the fan. The circle is a
simple spinning of the weapon that sets it up for
another strike on the same angle. The figure eight
follows through the strike to allow you to come back on
another angle. The fan is simply bouncing the weapon
from one angle back around to another with a twist of
the wrist. Double weapons are common but if only one is
used the empty hand is referred to as the "alive hand".
This hand is held close to the chest and used for close
attacks and defenses. It can be flicked out in a strike
or used to check your opponent's strike. There are two
zero pressure areas to a strike. The first is just
before the weapon begins to move. By simply placing
your hand against your opponent's, he cannot strike. 
The second is at the end of the swing. If you dodge a
blow, when your opponent reaches the end of the swing
you can place your hand against his and keep his hand
from returning. These are brief checks used just to
delay him while you strike with the other hand. A prime
target for strikes with your weapon is the hand. In
Kali this is called "defanging the snake". A snake with
no fangs is harmless. Likewise an opponent who cannot
hold a weapon is also harmless.

Defensive footwork follows a series of triangles. 
Depending on what angle the attack is coming from you
may either move away from it or into it along one of
the footwork angles. The idea is to move into one of
the zero pressure areas and position yourself for a
counterattack. Blocks can be make with sweeps or
"wings". With a wing you lay your weapon back along the
arm and catch the attack. Each block will be along one
of the twelve angles and the idea is to then flow into
a counterattack. Inside or outside wristlocks, called
"vine" or "snake" disarms, are also used. You do not
hang on to the wrist. It is just a quick twist to
wrench the weapon out of your opponent's grasp. You may
simulaneously take the weapon and use it yourself. An
outside lock applied further up the arm can be turned
into an elbow or wing lock.

Although different weapons will have different
characteristics that you must become familiar with, the
angles of attack and defense will remain the same. The
basic attributes of the weapon will be heavy or light,
long or short, flexible or stiff, straight or curved,
and bladed or not. The empty hand is then just treated
like another weapon.

A couple of the training techniques are "de cadena"
(the chain) where you practice moving through a series
of techniques and "sinawalli". Sinawalli is a drill
where two partners move through a series of attacks and
defenses with double sticks. It can be very exciting to
watch. Dan Inosanto (as Sticks) and Steven Segal did
sinawalli in the bar fight scene in the movie OUT FOR
JUSTICE. When Xena practices with two swords (as in
HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (#35)) she is doing de
cadena drills.

Because escrima is still used actively in combat it
remains a devastating martial art. The useless is
automatically discarded and only the efficient remains. 
It also makes for some very exciting fight scenes in
our favorite TV series.