When was the last time your teacher told you to punch him in the stomach?
That's exactly what happened last Saturday, but it wasn't in a crime-ridden school and the punches weren't real.
"OK, now it's your turn to hit me," instructor Jerry Woods ordered, much to the delight of his students.
After having received multiple "punches" to the stomach, they were ready to dish some out themselves. Hard to believe no one got hurt. Then again, that was the whole point of the class.
It was the first-ever stunt training and stage combat workshop of the Dragoon Street Stunt Show at Trail Dust Town, 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road.
The small group of students included Randall Heller, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee who formerly ran a martial arts business in New Orleans; Dewanne Hopson Tremont, an author doing research for a character in her upcoming international-intrigue novels; and David Hurst, who hopes to eventually join the stunt show.
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"Falling off buildings is easy. The hard part is being funny on stage," said Woods, who directs the stunt show and has worked there for nine years.
The first class was limited mostly to staged combat, including punches and short falls.
The workshop will continue on Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. Cost is $15 per class, and no experience is necessary. As the students advance, so will the level of stunts they learn in each class, eventually leading to high falls.
