A six day intensive training covering safety, technique, performance and an external examination, offering a three year professional certification in Longsword from the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat.
April 7-12 2026 | £605 (discounts for students and former SFS students available – contact shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk for details)
It’s time to fight like your fantasy favourites with Longsword. From Lord of The Rings to The Witcher to Game of Thrones, this is the sword of heroes.
A professional certification course over six days, encompassing technique, choreography, performance, scene work and the exam itself, you’ll test your craft through some of the highest-stakes moments in storytelling.
You will:
– Gain practical, hands-on experience putting performance into action with the longsword.
– Learn how to use the sword for both attack and defence, and use every part of the sword as a weapon – from pommel strikes and quillon shunts to half-swording and takedowns. Learn how to manipulate the weapon safely and convincingly in a performance context, through a wide range of techniques and applications using consent-based and trauma-informed practice.
– Understand how to play characters who exist in a medieval world and risk their lives for what matters to them; how movement, body language, voice and expression all affect a performance that requires life or death stakes and kinetic intention.
– Rehearse a choreographed fight sequence and set it to a piece of text, to perform as a scene with full intention.
– Industry Recognized Certification Opportunity: when undertaking the course, you will have the chance to take an externally moderated Fight Performance Exam with the British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat, the longest running and most rigorous stage combat certification body in the UK. If you pass, you will be able to add your certification immediately to your Spotlight upon qualification, valid for three years.
Accredited course: earn 10 HE credits when passing this course.
For further information, please contact rob.myles@gmail.com, call 07989 387048 or visit https://www.rcs.ac.uk/courses/stage-combat-certification-longsword/.
