Good news for any Issaquah residents who have ever watched fight scenes in “Star Wars” or “Pirates of the Caribbean” and wished that they could duel — they will soon have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn how to do so from a Hollywood star himself.
Adrian Paul, who starred as the sword-wielding Duncan MacLeod, the lead role of the hit T.V. series “Highlander,” is taking his bountiful experience with sword-fighting and sharing it with those who don’t work on a Hollywood set through his company, the Sword Experience. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Sword Experience will come to the Pickering Barn in Issaquah as part of its 2016 national tour.
Over a four-hour period, the Sword Experience will teach students how to fight as if they were learning on the set of a film. At the end of the evening, pairs will perform a fight scene from the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film “Kill Bill,” which starred Uma Thurman as a sword-savvy assassin. The Sword Experience always ends with acting out an iconic film or T.V. duel, having in the past used famous fights from “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars.”
“The Sword Experience is to give [people] practical knowledge of sword fights,” Paul said. “In reality, most sword fights are similar, like martial arts. I teach the rudimentary aspects of it … what it would be like on set.”
The Sword Experience was officially founded in April, and has since gone around the world to locations such as Chicago, Illinois, London, England and Stuttgart, Germany. Paul chose Issaquah for the Seattle stop on the tour because he said the atmosphere of the Pickering Barn fit the film from which the fight scene comes.
“It had an interesting location,” he said. “I wanted to put [the Sword Experience] on a set that reflects the fight we’re going to be doing.”
Having worked as both an actor and a fight choreographer, Paul has 25 years of experience and hundreds of sword fights under his belt — about 200 during “Highlander” alone. Of course, with that many fights come the inevitable injuries, said Paul, which is why the first half hour of the workshop is dedicated to safety.
“I teach … safety above everything else,” Paul said.
Luckily, there is no chance of any limbs getting sliced off by accident; all the participants fight with wooden bokkens whose shapes Paul said “mimic a lot of swords,” such as katanas and even light sabers.
The Sword Experience has incorporated fights from “Star Wars” into its workshops in the past, as Paul said that the choreography of a sword fight and a light saber duel is “exactly the same thing.”
Paul teaches his students that the fights they see on screen are very different from the actual duels in which people have engaged throughout history to defend their honor.
“The difference between movie [fights] and reality is … it goes on” in movies, Paul said. While the goal of an honor duel was to harm one’s opponent as fast as possible, movie duels are drawn out for several minutes with every manner of wild stunts, all for the purpose of entertainment.
“You want to keep this going rather than go in for the kill,” Paul said. The participants learn just 10 moves, but these 10 are enough to extend the fight.The aspiring duelists first learn all of their moves separately, and are only put together after this.
“You have to keep your distance, move your feet … look at targeting, how strong you strike,” Paul said.
And as always, one of the key elements of a sword fight is respect.
“You have to respect your opponent, respect your weapon,” Paul said. “It’ll either save your life [in a real duel] or make you a lot of money [on film].”
Paul said that one of the most challenging aspects of sword fights for him is developing his character at the same time that he is handling a blade.
“You become the character … a sword fight is a conversation,” he said, explaining that a character’s personality traits need to show through in a sword fight as much as they would in a dialogue scene. In order for this to be done effectively, he said “you have to know [the fight] backwards and forwards.”
On the set of “Highlander,” Paul trained in the art of dueling under Bob Anderson, who also choreographed the swordsmanship in “Pirates of the Carribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “The Princess Bride” and “Lord of the Rings,” and was the stunt double for Darth Vader in the fifth and sixth episodes of the “Star Wars” films.
“Highlander” ran for six seasons and 119 episodes between 1992 and 1998; Paul also starred in the fourth and fifth Highlander films in 2000 and 2007. Paul believes that “Highlander’s” success lies in the variety of aspects to the show.
“It had history, romance, human emotions and action,” he said.
Next up for Paul is an upcoming show that he “can’t talk about now,” as well as future Sword Experience dates in Lakeland, Florida and Salem, Oregon. Additionally, Paul will continue to be busy with the charity he founded in 1998, the PEACE Fund. PEACE stands for “Protect, educate, aid children everywhere” and has helped children in need in countries such as Romania, Hungary, Haiti and El Salvador.
The Sword Experience runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Pickering Barn, located at 1730 10th Ave. NW, Issaquah. Tickets to participate cost $295 each, and include the four-hour workshop, a personal photo with Paul, a photo certification signed by Paul, and the wooden bokken used in the fight. Spectator tickets cost $50, or $30 as a guest of a participant. Participants must be 18 or older, or if between ages 15 and 17, must have parental consent. Tickets can be purchased at https://swordexperience.nbblticketing.com/event-view.php?c=&event=18.
Hollywood actor and fight choreographer Adrian Paul instructs a participant of the Sword Experience in Stuttgart, Germany. All participants fight with wooden bokkens, which they get to keep as souvenirs. Photo courtesy of the Sword Experience
