Stage Combat

As some of you know, I am an actor. Most of us have had physical movement training of some kind so we can be more aware of our bodies while in front of the camera or on stage. Yesterday, while in acting class, something particularly interesting happened. I was doing a scene with a fellow actor in which we were in a argument. Nothing was rehearsed so neither of us knew if the fight would get physical. He is about 6'2" and probably 170 lbs., so in terms of size of weight, he was much bigger than I am. Towards the end of the scene on the first take, the actor lunged at me and put a bear hug around me. Instinctively, I immediately went into a 弓步 (Gōngbù) and did a 推掌 (Tūizhăng). And he was pushed backwards, powerless, like a rag doll. A look of shock spread across his face. He wasn't expecting me to be able to push him off so easily. He tried again and ended up with a similar result. I didn't realize what I had done until the teacher mentioned after our scene that my Shaolin training is really paying off. She saw that I had complete balance and control of the situation because, physically, I was immovable. That physicality completely described the relationship between the characters beyond what mere words can be said. It was utterly instinctual. She loved it. The class loved it. I loved it.

It's not very often that we get to use what we practice at the Shaolin Temple. It's not 1200 A.D. where there are still warring tribes and we must fight to defend ourselves every day. These days, the guy/girl with the bigger gun usually wins the fight. It was really nice to know, that other than being a pretty art form, the training is based on real applicable uses. For me, oh lucky me! I get to use it on stage or in front of the camera every day!