Is the readiness all? Revisiting martial arts in actor training

Abstract

The article provides an overview of the problematics of martial arts in actor training. Its first section explores the complex meaning of the widely used and discursively constructed notion of ‘martial arts’ and underscores that it refers to a whole spectrum of approaches and techniques that are present also in actor formation. The article’s central part includes a brief historical background and lists the principal formats in which martial arts manifest themselves in actor preparation. Further, it catalogues some benefits of using martial arts in actor development as identified by their proponents. Finally, it raises doubts and queries related to the subject in question. In order to complement (and counterpoint) this panoramic view, in its final section the text focuses on two aspects of taijiquan (tai chi) which the author finds especially pertinent to actor training but which are usually omitted in related discourses. The first concerns the combat dimension of taijiquan which provides a toolbox of techniques which help the awakening of creativity and the reinvigoration of spontaneity. The second centres on taijiquan’s meditative potentiality that may nourish the process of self-discovery and unsettle a mentality oriented towards effect rather than process.

Keywords:

• actor training
• martial arts
• readiness
• self-discovery
• taijiquan

Acknowledgements

I would like to cordially thank Paul Allain for his invaluable help in many aspects of the work on this article, and Laura Wayth for her assistance in accessing some source materials.

Notes

1 Zarrilli published profusely on the relevance of martial arts, including South Indian kalaripayattu which he mastered, for actor preparation. On his achievements in this field see, among others, Kim (2016) and Kolanad (2020).

2 Martial art studies are advanced within a vibrant milieu of academics, scholars and practitioners who gather around the biannual open access Martial Arts Studies journal edited by Paul Bowman and Benjamin Judkins and published online since 2015.

3 Robert Dillon has advocated that stage combat should be perceived as a fully-credited martial art, suggesting that ‘stage combat, as a theatrical martial art, the first truly theatrical martial art, benefits both actor and non-actor, both the actor who will fight many fights and the actor who will never fight on stage’ (Dillon 1994, 17).

4 There is extensive literature on stage combat history and techniques, including many handbooks and professional journals, The Fight Master being one example. Furthermore, since the 1970s many relevant organizations have been established internationally to uphold the quality of the craft.

5 Another distinctive example comes from the popular West Sumatran folk theatre tradition of randai which is strongly interrelated with the martial art of silek. See Pauka (2011).

6 Delza (born Sophie Hurwitz, 1903–96) drew inspiration from Wu style taijiquan which she learned in Shanghai from 1949–51. She started to teach it in her dance studio in New York as early as the beginning of the 1950s. In 1961 she published the first book in English on taijiquan. See Judkins (2013).

7 Perhaps the most influential course was the Asian/Experimental Theatre Program founded at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Adolphe C. Scott in 1963 and run by him until 1979 when, on his retirement, he passed its direction to Zarrilli (who developed it until 1999). On the programme see Scott (1993) and Zarrilli (2002b).

8 Diana Looser in her fascinating essay not only provides insight into how ‘the Japanese martial arts were reinvented following their introduction to the West’, but also explored the various ways in which women at the beginning of the 20th century ‘used performance to resist patriarchal institutions and definitions’ (Looser 2011, 3). On the dissemination of taijiquan in the US, see Frank (2006).

9 A good example is Yang style taijiquan master Zheng Manqing (1902–1975), who in 1964 moved with his family from Taiwan to New York where he opened his studio, welcoming many members of the artistic milieu. See The Professor documentary film directed by Barry Strugatz (2016) and its informed review by Douglas Wile (2016).

10 It bears noting that the fascination with Asian martial arts on the part of representatives of the post-WWII experimental theatre corresponds with an equally strong interest in boxing by theatre innovators of the first half of the 20th century. This issue was thoroughly illuminated by Italian theatre scholar Franco Ruffini in his 1994 book Teatro e boxe (see edition in English Ruffini 2014).

11 It should not be overlooked here that the originator of contact improvisation, Steve Paxton, based this movement dialogue and dance form on, among others, elements from his aikido practice.

12 Perhaps influenced by this approach Grotowski did not perceive taijiquan as – in his words – a ‘regular martial art’ and allowed himself the following comment: ‘this form very easily gets aestheticised, and a kind of narcissism appears’ (Grotowski 1997).

13 See the compilation of voices advocating martial arts in actor training on the blog and elsewhere in this special issue. Significantly, students’ opinions are missing since until now, related research has excluded their responses and views. This should be amended in future examinations on this topic.

14 Although martial arts are not devoid of an aesthetic dimension, this aspect appears primarily as a side-effect of striving for harmony and precision in the renderings of forms and techniques. Surely, when martial routines are performed for demonstration reasons, their aesthetic side may come to the fore.

15 Christel Weiler in reaction to Kapsali’s discourse commented: ‘it is less the technique, the movements, poses and gestures as such, and more their use and way of transmission that renders them ideological’ (2019, 169).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Grzegorz Ziółkowski

Grzegorz Ziółkowski is professor of theatre and performance at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Alongside his latest book, A Cruel Theatre of Self-Immolations: Contemporary Suicide Protests by Fire and Their Resonances in Culture (Routledge, 2020), he has published monographs in Polish on the work of Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski. He has also co-edited special issues of Polish Theatre Perspectives (Voices from Within), Performance Research (On Performatics), and Contemporary Theatre Review (Polish Theatre After 1989). From 2004–2009 he worked as Programme Director of the Grotowski Centre, later Grotowski Institute, in Wrocław. From 2012–2017 he directed theatre explorations in the framework of the Study ROSA and the Acting Techniques Intensive Seminar ATIS. He has practised Yang style taijiquan for more than 25 years. www.grzeg.home.amu.edu.pl.