The day I clashed with lady blade...and lived to tell the tale

It’s not every day that you get to cross swords with that nasty old rogue, Richard III – especially in the guise of Harry Tudor, the future Henry VII of England. And yet here I am, in a rehearsal room in the bowels of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, doing just that. Of course, I’m not really Harry Tudor – I’m the editor of The Lady. And nor is my opponent the real Richard III – he is actually being played by a rather lovely young lady, known in the trade as Kombat Kate.

Kombat Kate, you see, is a theatrical ‰fight director. She choreographs ‰fight sequences for stage and screen and trains actors in all manner of martial arts and weaponry. And as ‰fight director for the Globe’s much-anticipated new production of Richard III, starring Mark Rylance, she is now taking me through the ‰final, fatal clash between Bad King Dick and his nemesis, Harry.

The weapon du jour is the broadsword. About 3ft long, broadswords are beautifully balanced and lighter than the real thing – ‘in Richard III’s day, you’d use them to hack and slash at your opponent until they were exhausted, and then deliver the fatal blow through a weak point in their armour’ – but a handful nonetheless. Kate, however, wields hers like a cheerleader might their baton. She is devilishly quick, precise and light on her feet.

‘Of course, there are crucial differences between this and the real thing,’ she says, ducking a blow that comes rather too close to her head. ‘Most importantly, the idea here is to miss your opponent, not hit them. It is just an illusion.’

Which is perhaps the hardest thing to get your head around. As she takes me through the carefully choreographed movements – a chop, a chop, a slash, a parry, then a croisé (‘imagine you’re flicking a drop of water off the tip of your sword’) – I have to remind myself that we are essentially performing a dance, not settling the Wars Of The Roses.

‘Don’t grip the sword too hard,’ she says. ‘It’s about being precise, gentle. Don’t tense up.’

But then despite playing the role of Richard, who, of course, meets his sticky end on muddy Bosworth Field, Kate is doing a rather fine job of killing me. Every one of my misplaced attacks invites an improvised counter from her. In the real world, each invariably would be fatal, and each could have brought about a rather different end to this most monumental of historic clashes.

‘Richard may have a withered arm and a hunchback, but he is canny and cunning,’ she warns. I am duly warned. As I finally begin to find my swing – ‘You’re a natural,’ she flatters politely – the clash of steel on steel is certainly evocative. Even in a featureless rehearsal room, battling among a melee of plastic chairs and discarded water bottles, I can begin to imagine the Battle of Bosworth Field raging around me. In fact, as we are crossing swords two weeks before the production opens at the Globe, Kate still isn’t quite certain how the fight between Richard and Harry will end. ‘The fights have to be choreographed from scratch,’ she explains. ‘They have to be true to the story and the characters involved in them. During the fight, Richard is seeing the faces of those he has killed – and Mark [Rylance] and I are still working on how to dramatise that as part of the sequence.’

It is inspiring stuff. But isn’t training Richard III, battling away with broadswords and battleaxes, and choreographing brawls – as she has done for Coronation Street – more of a man’s game? ‘There are about 40 fight directors in the UK, and only two of them are women,’ she says, making to decapitate me with a swift, roundhouse slash. ‘So, yes, I suppose it is. But that doesn’t mean the actors don’t listen to me.’

Which is hardly surprising. Kombat Kate – aka Kate Waters – is well trained in judo and all manner of medieval weaponry. She may be slight, and utterly charming, but I wouldn’t advise anyone get on the wrong side of her. So how did she get here?

‘I had done a lot of dancing and judo as a child, but I always wanted to be an actor,’ she explains. ‘So I took an acting course at Middlesex University. I had never held a sword in my life, but part of the course was stage combat – and I loved it immediately, so I began specialising in it, training under an expert called Jonathan Howell, who teaches stage combat at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.’

Kate is now one of the country’s most respected fight directors and has worked on countless high-profile productions. It’s clear she adores every slash and parry of it.

‘The job is largely creative, but it is about being a good teacher, too. You have to be able to dream up the choreography, but you also have to be able to instruct the actors you are working with. You must respond to their abilities and needs. Otherwise, people get hurt.’

So has she ever been hurt? ‘Not badly. Not being hurt is obviously an important part of my job.’

And the best swordsman she’s faced? ‘Probably Rory Kinnear. I choreographed him in Hamlet. He performed over 100 times, and never made a single mistake. Mark Rylance is a natural, too – even one-handed, with a hump.’

And with that we cross swords – and I die – for a last time, before bidding each other a Shakespearean ‘adieu’. I can only hope that our next bout is on the Globe’s main stage, under the watchful eye of The Bard himself.

Richard III is on now at Shakespeare’s Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London SE1: 020-7902 1400, www.shakespearesglobe.com/theatre

Kombat Kate’s Top Tips for Lady Knights

1 Think like a puma – it’s all about elegance, speed and efficiency.

2 ‘The eyes have it!’ Good eye contact is essential when you’re crossing swords.

3 Think of your weapon as being the natural extension of your arm.

4 Both physically and mentally your power and strength come from the centre of you.

5 Never miss an opportunity for the perfect lunge – or a good, friendly lunch afterwards.