Classes Offered: 2025 Class Schedule
Click the link below to see last year’s class schedule.
the schedule may change to adjust to workshop and student needs.
Basic
Ideal for beginners or those looking to build upon their basic skills, Foundational courses provide the essential techniques and principles needed to progress in stage and screen combat.
Open
Open courses welcome all experience levels and are perfect for students eager to expand their training. These classes often explore specialized skills such as Fighting for the Camera, Tumbling and Rolling, and Martial Arts traditions from around the world.
Intermediate
Designed for students with a solid command of a specific weapon style, Intermediate courses require prior completion of a SAFD Skills Proficiency Test (or equivalent) in that weapon, along with at least 50 logged training hours. These classes build on that foundation to refine technique and performance precision.
Advanced
Reserved for highly experienced combatants, Advanced courses are intended for those working at a professional industry level. Students should have logged over 100 training hours in the weapon style and be prepared for intensive, high-level instruction.
Join us in November to learn from these world class instructors!
2026 Teaching Staff
ASHLEY h. WHITE
Ashley H. White (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate artist, whose passion lies within storytelling. As a playwright, Ashley recently enjoyed a hit run of her original work, Imposter! Hypocrite! Tartuffe! (based on the play by that one guy), at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth. Her previous devised pieces include The Forever Quest at Cry Havoc and A Room For Vincent at Union. She is currently under commission with Bishop Arts Theatre Center to pen a new play based on Ibram Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning, set to debut in early 2025.
She is also an award-winning director, fight and intimacy director, and teaching artist, with international credits and decades of experience creating theatre. As a director, she has helmed numerous productions, each incorporating significant play and a pursuit of creative risk. She is a certified Intimacy Director with IDC Professionals and has worked across the U.S., in addition to film and television, where her intimacy coordination work can be seen on Amazon, The CW, Paramount+, and other networks and studios. An accomplished Fight Director, she is also a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Ashley is a sought-after educator and the creator of The Cycle of Consent—an approach to building and navigating safe creative spaces.
Ashley is the recipient of five DFW Critics Forum Awards for Outstanding Direction, as well as special recognitions from the Critics Forum for her fight and intimacy work. She is a proud member of SDC and has received nominations for the SDC Zelda Fischander and SDC Barbara Whitman awards for innovation in directing.
Ashley serves as the Artistic Director of Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, TX, and is available for projects locally and regionally.
Ashley is the Artistic Director of Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, TX.
For more information go to www.ashleyhwhite.com
Andrew dylan ray
A-Ray (he/him) is an actor, director, fight director, motion capture performer and educator who works from coast to coast. He is a Certified Fight Director and Certified Stage Combat Instructor with the Society of American Fight Directors that holds a BA in Theatre from The University of Kentucky and an MA in Theatre from Louisiana Tech University where he studied performance and stage movement and currently teaches acting and directing. He also teaches stage combat at the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Institute. On top of that he teaches stage combat and directs fights in New York, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Florida. He also spends time in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Wisconsin and New York working as a motion capture performer and fight coordinator. He is one of the lead motion capture performers for the Agents of Mayhem, We Happy Few, Saint’s Row and Borderlands video game franchises. He also works as a motion capture actor for Penn and Teller.
brandon sterrett
Brandon Sterrett (he/him) is a theatre professional and teaching artist with a wide range of theatrical experience. Along with teaching theatre for over a decade, he has been a director, fight director, and actor for stage and screen. Brandon is currently an Theatre Instructor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He holds an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University.
He has served as an artistic advisor on multiple new-works within the movement theatre style (e.g. Galatea, Prism) and in 2010 he produced his first original collaborative work, Inspiration. The level of specificity and body-text connection required by the classic and movement theatre styles inspired his thesis on cross-disciplinary performance and non-text based theatre, which culminated in a produced exploration of the ancient myth surrounding Jason and Medea (details below). In the 2016 he debuted his collaborative production of Medea Myth (details below) in both Richmond, VA and Dallas, TX. He also had the privilege of joining these two styles in a single performance as the Monster in the new work Frankenstein: Dawn of a Monster at VCU in 2015. Brandon has worked extensively as a fight director in various productions between 2011 and to this date (Julius Caesar, Wait Until Dark, Equivocation–AD, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Andromache, Comedy of Errors).
For more information go to www.brandonsterrett.com/
Leraldo Anzaldua
Leraldo Anzaldua is an Actor, Motion Capture Performer for Film and Video Games, Anime Voice Over Artist and Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors. Theatres worked: Indiana Repertory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Prague Shakespeare Company, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, and more. He is a voiceover talent of over 100 characters with Sentai Filmworks with most prominent roles including: Ken/ G-1 -Gatchaman; Takashi- High School of the Dead; Ralph- Halo Legends, Noda- Angel Beats, Kei Tsukishima – Haikyu!;Ryo Kurokiba – Food Wars! and Yuta Togashi – Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions. With Funimation: Largo – One Piece and many more. He has many titles currently on Netflix, Hulu and Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. He has been a motion capture performer and fight director with Sony Pictures in Tokyo, Japan. He has been a Motion Capture Fight Director & Talent for video games in Stockholm & Uppsala, Sweden.
He has received a Master’s Degree in Acting from the University of Houston. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Movement and Stage Combat with the Dept of Theatre, Drama & Contemporary Dance at Indiana University.
Skye Bronfenbrenner
Skye Bronfenbrenner is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and works as a fight, intimacy, and movement director for theatre, musical theatre, and opera. She serves as Associate Professor of Theatre Arts specializing in Movement and Theatrical Intimacy at Northeastern University, NYC and she holds an MFA in Theatre from the University of Houston. Her fight, intimacy, and movement credits include Torera (off-Broadway, WP Theatre), Vanessa (Williamstown Theatre Festival and NYC Heartbeat Opera), Intelligence (Houston Grand Opera), Jesus Christ Superstar (Goodspeed), and Drunk Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to name a few!
Samantha kaufman
Samantha is an intimacy director, fight director, and actor. Based in Chicago and works internationally. Samantha is a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. A certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. Regionally, Samantha has worked with theatres such as Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Prague Shakespeare Company (Czech Republic), Cleveland Play House, among others. SamanthaJKaufman.com
Patrick Kelly
Patrick is a professional martial artist, fight choreographer, stunt coordinator, and performer. He also serves as the Director of the Indiana University Martial Arts Program.
He has worked on the Stunt Team for the television series Vikings, Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla and the upcoming Amazon series Bloodaxe. He has served as Stunt Coordinator for several feature films including So Cold The River, the award-winning Runner, We Strangers and The Duel, starring Dylan Sprouse. He has designed and performed action/violence for music videos and docu-dramas, including I Am Patrick, starring John Rhys Davies.
As a theatrical fight choreographer, he has designed violence for multiple stage productions including Romeo and Juliet, Julius Ceasar, Star Cross'd Lovers, Titus Andronicus, The Great Gatsby, Deathtrap, Misery, The Da Vinci Code and To Quiet the Quiet, directed by David Anspaugh.
In what spare time he has Patrick enjoys cycling, hiking with his pack of dogs, kayaking, reading, and sleeping... when the coffee wears off.
David Miller
David Miller is the founder of Sellsword Arts, he has fenced for over 20 years, performed stage combat for over a decade, is a Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, has a Master’s in Theatre with an emphasis in Stage Combat, and completed training at the United Stuntmen’s Association International Stunt School.
He teaches workshops around the world in both Stage Combat and Historical European Martial Arts.
He is passionate about bringing historical techniques into the world of stage combat and is endeavoring to share new and innovative practices with the world.
www.sellswordarts.com
Tom Ringberg
Tom Ringberg is a fight director, stunt coordinator, anrmorer, and certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, as well as a certified theatrical firearms instructor and proud member of SAG-AFTRA. He has choreographed and directed violence for professional companies, educational institutions, and opera productions across the country, including Minnesota Opera, The Firefly Players, Chameleon Theatre Arts, and numerous high school and community theatre productions. Recent credits include Robin Hood, The Play That Goes Wrong, Macbeth, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Romeo and Juliet, Tosca, and She Kills Monsters. As the owner of Rogue Action Dynamics, Tom is passionate about telling stories through dynamic, safe, and emotionally driven stage combat for theatre and film.
Daniel Savage
Daniel Savage is the head jiu-jitsu and submission grappling coach at Fox House Martial Arts in Austin Texas. He has over 16 years of experience in the arts and has spent over a decade as both an instructor and active competitor. His goal is to make high-level jiu-jitsu safe, inclusive, and accessible to everyone, regardless of background or experience. He hopes students leave his classes with an appreciation for the art and the skills to be safe, thoughtful training partners.
Mol Wilson
Mol Wilson (they/them) is a Los Angeles based stunt performer and motion capture actor. They love training and learning from their colleagues. They work as a MoCap Specialist for 18th Edition Creative, as well as with The MoCap School Hollywood. Their stunt and acting credits include Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Bosch: Legacy, Paradise, The Book of Boba Fett, and 9-1-1.
Emily Norris
Emily Norris (she/her) is a Fight Director, Teaching Artist, and Actress based out of Central Kentucky. She originally comes from Lexington, Kentucky where she earned her Bachelor's of Arts in Theatre from the University of Kentucky. Emily has acted, taught, and fight directed all over Lexington and the surrounding areas. She then moved to Louisiana and earned her Master's of Arts in Theatre from Louisiana Tech University and worked in the area for two years. She holds the rank of Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and is certified in 8 different stage combat weapons disciplines.