The Movie Stunt Class Concept ~or~ Girl, What the H--L Were You Thinking?

We have a long history of movie making at Martial Artistry Shaolin Kung Fu and Chinese Wushu. From promotional videos of our exhibition and competition teams in action back in the 90’s -

to James “Sparky” Esparza’s full length cheesy-chop-socky flicks in the 2000’s,

 we’ve been filming since the school opened its doors.


However, the idea of a structured class that incorporated the completion of an actual finished product film was new to us. As I searched on the internet for anything similar, it appeared that the concept was entirely unique: either the idea had never occurred to anyone else, or no one had been able to figure out how to make it work. Either those, or such a program was the best kept secret of teh intra-webs.


I began to see why as I started work on the class concept. Oh, the actual bulk of the class was simple enough - how to sell a hit, camera angles for stunt work, the nuts and bolts of making a not-real fight look real yet stay safe - especially in the hands of mostly raw beginners. The true challenge -- the one it appeared no one else had ever attempted -- was how to take 20+ people, teach them how to develop a character, how to have that character be reflected in their fight choreography and -- biggest challenge of all -- take all 20+ of those characters, and on the spot write a viable script that made each and every single actor a star, not just a bit player.

Promotional poster for the Movie Stunt Class.

I would have to do all this, and not have it interfere with the stuff I get paid to do. This seemed pretty much impossible, so naturally, I couldn’t wait to attempt it. Martial Artistry’s Movie Stunt Class was born!

And absolutely no one was going to learn more from it than me…