New Poll - OUCH!

Excellent points, Leah. I'd like to clarify that when I was mentioning performers and their "war stories", I was speaking in the context of stage/screen combat. Inevitably, as a Fight Director meeting an actor for the first time (usually becuase I'm about to begin rehearsals with him/her), I'm regaled with anecdotes that finish with lines like, "...and then Laertes managed to get me in the chest night after night!", or, "...and the other actor demanded that I slap him for real, so I did, and one night I caught him on the ear and ruptured the ear drum."
Of course accidents will always happen. We're only human after all and, I must admit, the story of yours with the actor dislocating his shoulder on a simple arm gesture is one of the most bizarre I've ever heard!
You're quite right, it would be unavoidable and simply a case of rotten luck. Its just that the stage combat war stories I've heard have inevitably pointed to ignorance, unsafe weaponry, unsafe choreography, dangerous use of space, etc., etc. and all indicate the absence of a Fight Director's influence. It is in that sense that I meant they were avoidable.
This is not to say that we Fight Directors are gods, just that my colleagues and I are trained to recognise danger and take action to deal with it.
There will always be accidents, we just need to ensure that we can prevent as many as we can. Thanks for helping me be more clear.
Happy Swashbuckling!
Andy Fraser
Fight Director.