Right: Moriah (Laurl LeSabre) left versus Angus (John Moore) right. Picture by Kevin Patrick, Salen Faire "Dayze of Olde" 1999

When I asked my seven year old son, Skye, what he wanted to be when he grew up he answered , "A knight." Not a doctor, or a lawyer or a policeman -- a knight. He was dead serious about it, as though it were a perfectly normal occupation to pursue. Like any parent, I hated to think of the day when his bubble would burst, when he'd realize knights weren't exactly what today's universities were turning out. But Saturday afternoon would come and we'd find ourselves in front of the TV, escaping to worlds where mystical knights carry magical swords or Hercules battles the gods and Xena defeats an entire army with the help of a few frightened villagers. It's powerful stuff. And it's weaving itself all across the planet in the form of entertainment, both participatory and passive. Theme parks, Renaissance Faires, Medieval Markets and period movies are cropping up all the time. If you think I'm joking take a look at the popularity of The History Channel or check out the number of historical re-enactment groups. No more worry about a child's dream of becoming a real life knight being an impossibility. He can do it!

More and more people are trading in the corporate life, dissatisfied with the commercial driven options the 'brand' world is offering and turning to the thrill and excitement of fantasy and times past. Since time travel, either forward or back, isn't an option yet, participation in the past becomes an attractive break. The lure of the past -- beckoning to you. You might call it escapism, but for some the escape turns into the life. It's real. For some, recreating, teaching others and performing the past is their life. So is the case with Dameon Willich, founder of the Seattle Knights.

Left: Daemon Willich, Founder of Seattle Knights. Picture Courtesy of Specialty Images.

Willich has spent most of his life riding horses both professionally and for pleasure. He's also an artist, cartoonist, writer, actor, fight director and director. His designs for Magic, The Gathering cards are well known. In the late seventies he tried to combine horses into the Society for Creative Anachronisms. It didn't work well. He tried again in the eighties, and again, it didn't work out well. So he decided to start his own Seattle based group and do jousting and equestrian games. One thing led to another and the next thing you know he had a group of trained professionals, horse and foot, which just keeps growing. "I enjoy watching people learn, and I love learning things myself. It's very rewarding when you see people grow. That is why our motto is: Education through Entertainment!,'" Willich says.

Willch started training people in 1988, but didn't start the Seattle Knights until 1992. Today the Seattle Knights combine excellent equestrian skills, high-energy acting, and choreographed stage combat using real steel weapons. Knights wear a variety of armor, including chain mail, leather, and full plate; and display a variety of weapons including broadswords, axes, and staves. The fifty person show troupe is 60% female, unique in itself. In addition to performing with knights in armor and damsels in distress the Seattle Knights have a full array of alluringly-clad male and female warriors, elves, trolls, unicorns, and other creatures of fantasy. The Seattle Knights have performed in movies, television, charity events, schools, faires and festivals, science fiction and fantasy conventions, and parades.

The Seattle Knights also offers an academy to learn skills. Over the last seven years they have trained about 300 different people, of those 67 have reached "Knight" level, of which 22 have reached K2 or K3 levels. Willich is the chief instructor, although several other K2's are teaching now also. But just what is required to be 'Knight Level' in the Seattle Knights?

The pat answer is "a lot of hard work," says Willich. "Knight level is achieved when a person demonstrates a consistent ability to choreograph complex fights for themselves and others with a variety of weapons, and they have the use and control of those weapons. This includes fighting in armor and unarmed combat. The list of weapons include sword, sword and shield, impact weapons (axe, hammer, mace), pole arms (staff, spear, poll axe, glaive, bill, bardiche), greatsword, morningstar flail, and the most dangerous of all -- DAGGER. These are used individually or in combinations depending on the shows requirements. Not all 'Knights' are proficient with all weapons equally, but they do know how to use them, and how to build exiting choreographed fights that include them. This is about showmanship, and safety," he continues. "Not about what is the best way to actually trash someone. The last thing is the ability to do freeform' stage combat with any of these weapons, and make it look convincing. That's about as close to the real thing as we ever want to get."

Right: Rowan (Darragh Metzger left Versus Geleah (Rena Stone) right. Picture by Keven Patrick

The academy offers five levels of training classes. Not all students that start the Academy finish. Willich notes there is about a 50% drop out rate in the 100 and 200 level classes. " Playing Xena is harder than it looks! Many discover that it's a lot of work, and they decide after a few sessions to quit. Those that make it past the 200 level usually stay in." The majority of students that finish the 300 level are able to teach basic stage combat comparable to most college classes. Those that finish in the 400 and 500 levels have an education equal to most current fight directors. Although SK fights in the round, they teach point of view for stage and camera, so that the students can apply their skills to a variety of venues.

As for the training program, it is probably one of the most all encompassing programs in the field today. Willich, has studied with many other systems, including SAFD, AASSCC and BAFD. "Most of the other systems are taking the later rapier moves and applying them to the sword work of the earlier centuries. We work in just the opposite direction. We teach students to know how to fight in a variety of styles and time periods, finishing with Renaissance dueling with the rapier and dagger. For those few that want to go further we also teach cavalry sabre and Napoleonic combat styles.

"One of the other major differences between SAFD and SK is that we fight in distance. That means that if I were to throw a blow at you and you didn't move or block, the blade of my weapon would actually overlay the target. SAFD fights are out of distance, so that even if you just stood there the weapon would never touch you. The same approach is used for 'in line' attacks. SAFD has the student pull to the side or off target. SK is always on target, in distance, and therefore makes the illusion more believable. Granted, if you only have a week to teach some ditz actor to do a fight, you probably don't want them in distance or on target. They would be too dangerous to their fellow actors. But for those that do have the time to learn, or are in the profession as actor combatants, SK is a better way to go. Especially in the faire circuit where you're usually performing for a crowd 'in the round'. That means that no matter where the audience sits the illusion will still be great!"

But there are even more differences between other systems and SK. Willich focuses on teaching the student to think of the overall action, not just the individual part in the fight. Also, they're trained to be fight directors not just fighters. They end up being able to build fights in a variety of different styles, so that each show will be different. "If you watch, in most of your TV or movies, the fights all start to be the same, even though the people that are doing the fights are supposed to be from different backgrounds. One of my favorites to pick on is Xena, because everyone is an Oriental martial artist. Even though a few are supposed to be Greeks! A fight should be built based on the character, not on what the fight director thinks looks cool, or is the favorite move of the month. Sometimes simple is better. But this is show biz, and in order to compete, you have to keep wowing the audience.

Left: Dark Moriah (Lauri Lesabre) versus Geleah (Rena Stone). Picture by Kevin Patrick "We study actual historical texts so that a Knight can build a fight in the style and with the weapons for a set timeline in a set geographical area," Willich explains. "A 3rd century Roman Centurion fighting a Germanic tribesman is not going to do the same type of fight as a 15th century French Knight vs a German Landsknecht. The weapons and fight style change everything about how you approach the actual choreography. Basic stage combat is movement. It's all about learning to coordinate your body and the area that you are working in. At that stage it's much like dance. You learn the actual strikes and counters or blocks of a system. But all combat, stage or otherwise, is based on movement. If you're not there, your opponent can not hit you. Displacement of the target, as well as recognition of the target, is crucial. The basic thing to remember is Œmove first, block second!' Many times you're only using the blocks to get the sound effects, or to position yourself for a better move.

"We work with real swords, weapons and armor, instead of special built stage blades or aluminum ones. And all of our armor is real, 16 gauge plate, not plastic, and real mail -- none of the knitted stuff. You have to train in armor in order to be able to move in armor!" However, Willich admits, "Most of my students spend the first twenty hours of class time learning to move and to attack or defend with wooden weapons. For those that can afford a horse we also teach equestrian combat, jousting and falls. This is for people that are looking to work in the movie/television field or they may want to go and work at some Texas Ren Faire! "

Does it beckon to you? The SK website, www.seattleknights.com, is full of additional information: different types of performances you can expect from the Seattle Knights, the troupe that makes up the Seattle Knights (by character or actor name), pictures, location and descriptions of academy classes, an events and performance schedule, how to contact SK to perform at your own event and more. The year 2000 schedule is already in full swing. You'll want to recheck the website frequently for new performance schedules.

As for me, when I pull myself away from the computer for a Xena break with Skye or watch him duel shadow opponents at his practice in the backyard, I rest assured. Knight he will be. I know where to send him. Battle On, Sir Skye.

About Author
Cynthea Cameron is a freelance writer and the editor of Renaissance-Central.com. When she's not writing, she's shooting longbow, playing with her wolfhound or deciding which exciting place in history or happening she's going to visit next. She welcomes your questions and comments. cynthea@renstore.com