Pages

Sunday 3 May 2009

Fights - on the page and hitting the floor

Did you know the fight scenes we are used to seeing on television or in films are not realistic? As well as being choreographed, they are unlike real fights in three other ways:
  1. It is clear what is happening
  2. There is plenty of action
  3. The combatants stay on their feet.

Real fights invariably end on the ground, as the fighters close in on each other and grapple, and one or both lose their footing. Once on the floor, not much appears to be going on. It's all quite undramatic.

My fight advisor, who wishes to remain nameless, tells me that disciplines like boxing or kick-boxing are not much good in the real world, as they only work while the fighter remains upright.

So both the fights at the end of Catch a Falling Star are desperate, no-holds-barred wrestling matches on the carpet. And here is a clip showing the superiority of Jitsu over lesser martial arts (the black disc is there to conceal the identity and shame of the loser):


2 comments:

  1. Fascinating stuff Lexi. I saw a street fight break out a couple of months here in la Coruña. I say break out. It was more a couple of drunks shouting at each other, then one of grabbed a chair and waved it around, then they both backed off. I think they were waiting for onlookers to pull them apart, but no one did! Then they both sort of realised they didn't want to get hurt.

    Movie violence and videogame violence is more like dancing than anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sensible drunks. I can't remember seeing a fight for ages - then it was just a few brief punches between irate motorists.

    Choreographed fights - the death of Mercutio in the ballet Romeo and Juliet is terrific if well done. And I like the duel near the start of Pirates of the Caribbean, preposterous as it is. And all the Errol Flynn stuff...

    ReplyDelete