Right... so... Spring!

OK I kind of fell off the wagon here. My bad – I got so busy with everything that I forgot to tell folks what everything was.

So, let’s begin with a quick review of the TAD Gear Fast Pack EDC I scored for myself in February. As every day carry bags go, this is a big one. Every day carry indeed, and I feel quite confident after jaunting around with this mammoth on myself for over a month that I’ve got all the every day I need. Hell, I could easily weekend trip with this bag, and an overnight hike with this puppy would be an easy matter. 1800 cubic inches. That’s a big bag.

Some key features I love:
Endlessly modular – this is covered in PALS webbing and MOLLE compatible with pretty much whatever you want to throw at it. There’s even a beaver tail with a sleeve that rolls out, meaning I can comfortably carry a rifle (which I don’t have) on the outside, or – more practically, any long, narrow tool/item I do own.
Tough – made of mil-spec denier cordura nylon, this isn’t flimsy. Strong straps with compression fittings on both ends, a removable waist belt (also swimming in PALS webbing) doubles as bandolier if I want to run light,
Nifty features - Internal hydration bladder ready which yes, adds a lot of weight, but sure beats a swinging canteen. Or adds to it.

To sum up – check this guy out – it’s worth every penny: http://www.tripleaughtdesign.com/Equipment/Bags-And-Packs/FAST-Pack-EDC

I love me some TAD. If I lived in San Francisco, I’d be jumping through hoops to work for them.

Now on to the more interesting stuff – fight choreography!

I’ve wrapped my work on John Doble’s “To Protect The Poets” which runs through this weekend – it’s an interesting show, but I’ll stay away from reviewing it, and stick to the work I did, which I’m actually quite pleased with. At the end of Act 1, the police officers who are the main characters have apprehended their first suspect in a brutal 2 man rape/homicide – they know he did it, and they’ve got evidence to prove it, but they need to get the details on who committed the murder of a young woman.

Where I step in is the two officers are playing the oldest game in the book – good cop/bad cop to elicit the confession they want. “Bad Cop” named Bear is knocking our Suspect around a little, in a clear but apparently permissible show of force. For this, I went with one simple cross body jab, moving upstage, which I was very happy to see the performers master quite well, and looked real at a distance of 3 feet since it comes explosively by surprise from Bear.

Next up were a few threats of more violence but no contact, though things get exponentially more harsh by the end of the scene. “Good Cop” named Jablonski or “Jab” has gotten everything he needs, Bear’s left the room, the camera’s off and Jab rides one over the edge. A solar plexus strike, followed by a kidney hit that breaks a rib, all in rapid succession (oh and… the suspect is cuffed). This is all topped by Jab throwing an arm across the Suspect’s throat, reaching down between his legs and crushing his… well… as Jab says later, “I made sure he’d never do it again.”

Having never choreographed a sterilization by brute force before this was a new one for me, but as it turns out, it’s not all that tricky. There was a lot of screaming from the suspect, and a lot of uncomfortable shifting from the fellas in the audience. Guess it works.

That’s that for recent decent fight work, I expect to be on a brief hiatus for a bit – I’ll be onstage again in May in Retro Production’s show “Dear Ruth” a charmer of a comedy from the 1940s. No combat, but good fun and I’ve snagged a fun little role with a great cast. If I’m lucky I’ll have a snazzy Army Air Corps dress uniform to rock out in too. Yay.

Oh and I’m making great progress on the new fighting knife I’ve been making for myself – not a prop, this baby has a good edge. I’d like it to be a great edge, but I’m still learning. I’ve got enough leftover steel to make a nice prop piece once I’m done with the real one, so we’ll see where that goes. Images shortly...


If the timing pans out I’m going to spend some time with Vamp Cowboy’s founder Qui Nguyen this summer while he’s in NYC. I'll be trading some knife skills for some of his extensive martial arts experience. Summer of 2011 still looks pretty open though – keeping my eyes open for the right gigs. There’s rumors of some Shakespeare around – and I wouldn’t be adverse to getting a crack at another Crystal Skillman show in Brooklyn, if I can score the audition. But for now, I’m free and clear after May. Drop me a line if you want some nastiness staged. I haven’t been able to do a solid bloody fight lately. I'm itching to try a few new tricks.