I have been training, performing and teaching stage and screen combat for over 30 years.

I started when I trained as an actor and fell in love with the physical work and the endless possibilities for storytelling.

Since then I trained under some of the best teachers in the world, and gained teaching qualifications with the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat (BASSC), the British Academy of Dramatic Combat (BADC) and the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). I also underwent training and assessment as a fight director and was admitted to the Equity Register of Fight Directors in 2008.

I have been lucky enough to be the stage combat tutor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (School of Acting) since January 2003 and I still teach there on the Foundation, BA Acting, MA and MFA Acting programmes as well as session with the Stage Management Degree course.

I have taught classes and courses all over the world (almost!) including USA, Israel, Germany and Ukraine. My greatest joy is helping others discover a love for this art form, helping them tell truthful and powerful stories and seeing them achieve things they possibly never thought they would be capable of.

I have also written a couple of books.
‘Stage Combat: Unarmed’ (published by Nick Hern Books) is available now in most bookshops and online. It covers many of the techniques required to safely perform an unarmed fight on stage and comes with on-line video content.
The second book, ‘Stage Combat: Armed’ covers all the techniques for fighting on stage with the rapier and dagger, and is also published by Nick Hern Books.