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THE MARTIAL ARTS OF MIDDLE EARTH
(Cont'd)
SFI: What martial arts styles did you draw from in developing the fighting arts of the Elves? And are there
other examples we see in FOTR?
TW: The design process was not really a matter of borrowing techniques from real-world fighting styles.
Having determined a series of very specific "key points" about a given character type's posture, weapons, armour, tactics
and so-on, the techniques essentially created themselves.
SFI: What key points did you define for the Elves, and what other examples of techniques arose from those
points?
TW: It's great that martial arts-oriented viewers seem to latch on to the Elves. Basically, the Elves were
beautiful. Every aspect of their culture reflected a refined sense of aesthetic beauty and wonderment. They were
completely attuned to their environments. It followed that, as warriors, they would be superbly balanced — grounded
from
the waist down, light and free from the waist up. Although they were capable of linear movement, their style was based on a
spiraling action — circular, gliding footwork patterns, deflections rather than blocks, slices rather than thrusts or
strikes. Also, because they are immortal, they've spent decades or even centuries perfecting their martial arts — they
can
do things that human swordmasters could only dream of.
SFI: You know, what you've just said is highly reflective of their own artwork. Some Elvish art bears
resemblance to the Viking Urnes style, which seems to convey an unceasing graceful flow... nothing blocky, nothing abrupt
— everything is orderly but organic, not forced and artificial, but very harmonious with nature. In the film, the Elves
certainly appeared to have fought with the same approach as they have towards their art.
TW: That's a very apt parallel. There's a connection with Art Nouveau as well, I think. The shape of the
Elf sword exactly follows the "line of beauty."
SFI: Even their stately poise before their upward cut, Tony?
TW: Yes. Having established their essential "aesthetic," everything else followed — posture,
transitions
between postures, gait, gestural motifs, specific combat techniques and tactics. The same held for all of the different
cultural fighting styles. This is true for the Orcs as well.
SFI: Now you must also have created a style of fighting characteristic to the more chaotic and
undisciplined Orcs. The Orcs were bred long ago from mutilated Elves. Their walk and their fighting seem angular, jabbing
and twisted. Perhaps this utter lack of grace in fighting and movement signifies their "fall from grace"?
TW: The Orcs were extraordinarily diverse, but they all shared a set of common referents — as you
noted,
the idea of being twisted, off-center, and warped in every sense. My over-riding concept for their fighting styles was that
they basically stole and "cannibalised" techniques from more refined and skilful warriors, in the same way as they (the
Orcs) came by their weapons and armour. Orcish combat is like a grotesque parody of skilled disciplined combat.
SFI: There is definitely a very comprehensive approach to character design, it seems. So tell us what were
the factors that led to the fighting styles of the race of Men?
TW: We haven't seen the Gondorians, Rohirrim, etc. in mass combat yet, so I'm afraid I can't talk about
their styles in any detail. (The Two Towers had not been released yet at the time of this interview. —ed.) For
the benefit of the historical swordsmanship crowd, though, we did make extensive reference
to certain of the old combat manuals, and part of the design process included full-contact sparring. That's not to say that
we were attempting to present the historical styles per se, but they were used as reference.
SFI: So perhaps not the Gondorians, but the Men who fought alongside the elves? And did they fight in
formation with those Elves at the beginning of the movie?
TW: I wasn't directly involved in those scenes.
SFI: No problem. But could we ask the same question regarding Aragorn?
TW: The fighting styles were designed for cultures rather than individuals. Aragorn's fighting style draws
from the designed style, but it's essentially his own thing, a reflection of his personality and the situations he has to
face.
SFI: I see. The reason why I asked is that Aragorn apparently speaks Elvish (Quenya). I had wondered as a
result of what you said earlier if Aragorn might have gleaned from the Elves' martial arts during his time with them.
TW: That was actually discussed. I think the consensus was that although he's an exceptionally skilled
warrior, he's only human, and Elvish swordplay only really works for Elves. I imagine that he would have gleaned something
from them, though — maybe some techniques or tactics, maybe more in the nature of emotional focus. The Elves can
meditate
in the midst of carnage.
SFI: So, on the opposite end of the spectrum of races of beings of Middle Earth, what were the defining
points of how Dwarves fight? They mostly use axes and hammers, right? (Perhaps with exception to Thorin wielding the sword
Orcrist, but that was in The Hobbit.)
TW: I wasn't involved in designing Gimli's style, only those that were employed by the cultures we see in
mass battle — Elves, Orcs, Moria Orcs, Uruk-hai, etc.
SFI: I see, you were responsible for developing an entire culture's style rather than that of an individual
character. Given this, we see Saruman develop an army of Uruk-hai for the Dark Lord. Were the Uruk-hai more refined or
deadly in their approach to war than the regular Orcs?
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