Globe and Mail 11/21/06: Fight Director Simon Fon

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Fight director Simon Fon
Freelance fight co-ordinator, 39, Toronto

I was first exposed to stage combat in 1987, in my first year of acting at York University. Then I got a job with Canadian Stage, and I did a fight scene with an actor named Philip Akin. "Go away for an hour, then show us what you've got," the director told us. We hammered away at each other using a shield and a jo, a long, wooden staff. When we came back, the cast gave us a standing ovation. After that, I was asked to be the assistant fight director on the film The Swordsman, and to play three villains. You'd be surprised how many shows have a fight director, even to choreograph a few punches—just to make sure everyone's safe, and to help tell a good story.

I have a black belt in Woo Gar Mo Sut, a free-form martial art. I have my firearms certificate, my certification from Fight Directors Canada and my instructor's permit—I teach 10 to 25 hours a week. I've also been given the title Fight Master, so I can test others.

I train daily, sometimes at a park, but mostly at my friend's downtown studio, the Rapier Wit. On Monday nights, anyone can come to an open fight night—it's like a fight club for fight directors and practitioners. My favourite style now is Filipino knife—a deadly form of close-quarter, offensive fighting. I've used it twice, in two productions of Romeo and Juliet.

This year, I've done about 80% theatre, 20% film and TV. Other years, it's been exactly the opposite. In film and TV, the money is outrageous—but sometimes it's fair for the work you do, because you have to build the fights on your own time, plus train the actors. On the TV show Mutant X, I got to double for one of the leads for a season, doing a combination of karate, kung fu and judo, as well as stunts.

Recently I did a play called Generous, which features a six-minute fight over a bucket of chicken. To build a fight, I go in with a few ideas. Then I ask the actor to lead off with their initial gut reaction, and the fight begins. The big buzz is the creation. When the ideas start sparking and the moment works for the first time, it's fantastic.

BY THE NUMBERS

20: Hours of rehearsal to stage a two-minute fight
4: Number of Fight Masters in Canada

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