Bale (BatfrUHgggggggtHeath Ledger

(Joker) trained in the Keysi Fighting Method.

ma
the Best Fights of the Franchise!
by Jeff McKissack
I, It was an instant box-office
success. The same will no doubt be true when The Dark Knight is released on
July 18, 2008. Evident in both films is an animalistic fighting style used by the
title character, an art that's supposed to transform Batman from a comic-book
icon Into a more believable person. The martial arts behind that transformation
is the Keysi Fighting Method.
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Batman Is Back!
When Batman Begins was released,
it was obvious that director Christopher
Nolan had redefined the movie franchise.
but the comic faithful knew that the switch
marked a return to the original, darker
character of Batman. Among other things,
we witnessed the figh! training of Bruce
Wayne prior to his adoption of the aveng-
ing alter ego- Elements of ninjutsu were
apparent in the League of Shadows,
which explained much of his stealthy na-
ture and theatrics, but when it came to the
actual combat, viewers were treated to an
art that had never been committed to film.
The sheer brutality of what was shown left
martial artists wondering. What fighting
style is that?
Interestingly, that reaction was also
what the casting crew experienced when,
during their search for the self-defense
system that would best suit the DC Com-
ics icon, they came across the Keysi
Fighting Method.
"I wanted to take it back to a grubbier
place, a place where you feel the punches
a bit more and you're actually a bit more
concerned about the violence on-screen."
Nolan said. "There's been a lot of very ex-
cessive use of wire work in martial arts and
everything to the point where violence los-
es its threat because it's become dance-
likeand we've become comfortable
watching it that way."
Stunt coordinator Paul Jennings also felt
the pressure. "The greatest challenge was
to find something new and unique to Bat-
mansomething that was identifiable with
Batman and was almost animalistic and to-
tally functional for the fights," he said.
Fight arranger Dave Forman echoed
those sentiments: "We were looking for
something so that when Batman threw a
punch or kick, it went through the person
like a raging bull,"
The introduction to KFM came when a
key Stuntman, a veteran of Troy, Mission:
Impossible III, Jumper and The Bourne Ul-
timatum, lobbied Forman and Jennings to
consider it, "One of the Stuntmen who was
already working on Batman Begins. Buster
Reeves, a previous world/uyuisuchampion,
mentioned a fighting system called KFM."
Jennings said. "We thought we should take
a look. Andy Norman and Justo Dieguez
turned up for an audition and started dem-
onstrating KFM- When Chris Nolan saw
[it], he thought it worked perfectly for Bat-
man. So together with Dave Foreman, we
went for KFM."
Norman, co-founder of KFM. recalled
the experience: "Our audition for Batman
Begins was very interesting. As you can
imagine, the process that's used at this
level is not designed to make you feel
good, nor does the word 'compassion'
enter into the equation, I can remember
arriving at the studios and thinking. What
have I got myself into? It was a brutal pro-
cess." In the end, however. Forman and
Jennings agreed that KFM was perfect for
the caped crusader,
"Throughout all the fighting movies,
we've seen traditional taekwondo, muay
Thai ano karate, but we hadn't seen KFM,"
Forman said in a follow-up interview. "[It's]
very, very new and still evolving."
What impressed them? "It's very much
about being mentally aware of your envi-
ronment, mentally aware of how people
behave and respond to actions and reac-
tions," Jennings said. "That's exactly what
we wanted for Balmansomeone who, if
he feels like it, is going to head-butt you.
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It was the emotional response we were
looking for."
Nolan was also pleased, "Keysi reilect-
ed quite nicely in our overall approach in
terms ot script and design in seeing Bat-
man not as a glamorous sort of branded
figure, a decorative figure, but as a tunc-
tional entity," he said.
Even Christian Bale, the actor who por-
trayed the title character in the two latest
movies, thought KFM hit the mark. "It's just
bizarre enough to get your attention and
absolutely vicious enough and practical
enough to beiieve in," he said.
The key to capturing the attention of
Hollywood was the way KFM redefines
two terms that are often used when dis-
cussing crime.
Redefining Relationships
When the average person hears the
words "predator" and "prey, " his mind may
conjure up an image from a Discovery
Channel documentary or possibly a tele-
vised sting operation designed to capture
child predators. If you ask KFM founders
Dieguez and Norman, however, you'll get
a very ditterent response. To them, the
predator is an innate part of all human
beings, one that we've domesticated over
thousands of years. Instead of following
our instincts, we opt for a more logical ap-
proach to problem solving and survival.
In KFM, though, "predator" is a side ot
yourself you seek to reclaim. If a criminal
views you as prey, you must switch modes
immediately and become the predator
which enables you to see your attacker as
your prey. This mentality and physicality
make KFM unique in its approach to self-
defenseand the perfect fit for a comic-
book hero who was an emotionally dam-
aged boy before being transformed into
the archenemy of criminals.
While such predator awareness is es-
sential in securing the mind-set you need
to survive on the streets, there needs
to be an accompanying physical facet.
That's where instinct meets mind in the
pensador (Spanish tor "thinking man")
trademark of KFM. The shape of the pen-
sador represents the unification of mind
and body and features a tight defensive
orientation that protects the most vital and
vulnerable part of the body, the head. Its
counter, or pensataq (or "thinking man at-
tack") may be used in techniques aimed
at the biceps, chest, kidneys and sternum
using the elbows. In ground-fighting sce-
narios, the elbows are used to damage
the quadriceps, shins and teet. Of course,
standard techniques such as punches,
knee thrusts and joint manipulations also
play a pivotal role in combat.
That may sound familiar to reality-based
martial artists, but another component of
KFM isn't quite so commonplace: how it
"connects the dots" with respect to the ex-
ecution ot the moves, especially when fac-
ing multiple assailants. In a student's first
or second class, he must address muitiple-
attacker situations. This unique approach
makes the system perfect for Batman, who
needed to take on more than one oppo-
nent in several fight scenes, and tor real
students because, Dieguez and Norman
claim, it's the reality ot the street.
"The street at t o'clock in the morning
with two or three boys who want to destroy
or kill you is not the same as the nice friend-
ly dojo that everybody goes to after work or
Justo Dieguez (right) faces Andy Norman '^ ', Norman purKhes, and Dieguez stops the blow with his forearm 'P -3i. Norman readies his leg for a knee
thrust : '. which signals Dieguez to intercept the attack by diving in i;;. and slammihg his elbow into his enemy's ttiigh :6 ;'. Dieguez then changes^
directions, catching the man with a rising elbow to the chin (8--9. jH
school to enjoy themselves." Norman said.
Another unique aspect of KFM is the
way it introduces students, even those who
are apprehensive or intimidated, to the
prospect of facing a mass attack. When
multiple assailants are used in a scenar-
io, they attack as one. As students rise
through the ranks of the system, additional
attackers are added so that by the time the
students are at black-belt level, the result-
ing meiee resembles a gang fight. Yet ev-
erything takes place in a controlled manner
that allows for the new predator to learn
about and reassess his strengths and
A primary goffKt-M ts. orjce an at-
tack begins, to transform yourself from
prey to predator.
weaknesses. It's perfect for studentsand
for Batman.
More Action
Audiences will certainly see more KFM
action in The Dark Knight, but will any-
thing be different from the fights of Bat-
man Begins? "Chris [Nolan] was always
clear that he wanted Batman to be as real
as possible," Jennings said, "That meant
everything we did with Batman in a fight
situation should be done for a reason
not because it looks great but because
it functions. For The Dark Knight. Chris
wanted to continue with Keysi for Bat-
man because he felt Keysi was ideal for
the character with its hard, brutal, no-non-
sense fighting approach. He also wanted
the actors to have more input to make the
fighting more character-driven.
"With this in mind, we started to give
Christian Bale personal KFM classes
with Justo and Andy so he could lead the
moves through his character mere. He
loved it and did all the fighting himself in
The Dark Knight."
Bale added: "We've gone a bit further
with Keysi. I'm actually learning how to
do it more realistically than ever before,
though it's such an extreme way of fight-
ing. There are literally moves where you
tear someone's cheek away from their face
or rip their nose off. Every part of you be-
comes a weapon. It's formidable. Batman
doesn't kill, so we can't have him doing
that: we modify it."
The star became a model martial artist
during the filming of the sequel, the KFM
founders said. "We were abie to spend a
lot of quality time with Christian, and he
trained really hard,' Norman said. "Chris-
tian really liked KFM. so he showed a great
interest in furthering his abilities and knowl-
edge of [it] as a fighting art. Obviously,
spending a lot of time with him meant that
we built a very good friendship with him.
The consequence of this was that prepar-
ing all the fights with him was great fun as
he actually had a genuine interest in what
was going on."
Dieguez and Norman also appreciated
the extra time they were able to spend with
Hollywood's favorite reality-based
martial art is the Keysi Fighting Metf^od.
Its techniques were used in Batmanl
Begins and the upcoming sequel, Tme
Dark Knight.
^'^mvu"^
X-
Andy Norman (left) winds up his punch . ' .
causing Justo Dieguez to shift into attack mode
'..?' and hit his opponent in the chest while evad-
ing the blow . Dieguez exploits the tempo-
rary gap that exists between himself and his foe
by swinging his right foot into the man's left
leg n y' and converting the motion into a knee
stomp 8!. Once the attacker is down . the
KFM practitioner drops his knee onto his thigh
'. while maintaining a defensive posture ' ' .
some of the other acfors. including the
late Heath Ledger. Said Norman: "Heath
Ledger, who passed away this year, was a
genuinely cool guy. We did a different kind
of training with htm. as the character of the
Joker required a slightly crazy twist. Heath
pulled it oft amazingly well as you will see
in the film, but his fighting style is not as
stylized or fluid [as Batman's], He iooks
and moves exactly how the Joker should
movea little crazy."
It all comes together in what's sure to
be a summer blockbuster, but what lies
ahead for KFM? Norman is optimistic.
"KFM has made quite an impact in the
film industry already, but this is just the
beginning." he said. "Obviously, when you
have something unique and can deliver
the product well, people like it. We do get
approached a lot these days with an ar-
ray of offers inside and outside of the film
industry. KFM has made its mark and is
here to stay."
"I think we'll be seeing a lot more of
KFM in films in the future," said Jennings.
a veteran stunt coordinator who's worked
on The Golden Compass. Blood Dia-
mond. Munich and Batman Seg/ns during
his 25 years in moviemaking. "It's unique
and can adapt to the individual. Everyone
in the film business who has seen KFM
loves it, so I think its involvement in the
industry is just beginning." >^
About the author:
Jeff McKissack is a self-deferr
instructor and crime-prevention specials
based in Dallas. For more information, visit
www. blackbeltmag.com/archivBS/who/.
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