Fight Chorography Notes — by Sensei Sheryl Gutierrez Day

When SJ told me there would be a fight scene in LRRH, I was very excited about this sort of twist on an old tale. There were so many ways to approach the fight, and the difficulty was in deciding.

After meeting with E. Ray, I had a much better sense of how the fight should progress. SJ and I agreed that we both wanted the fight to be believable, yet not overly violent or gruesome. The fight was choreographed much like we teach karate - first try to avoid it, which you see when LRRH is grabbed and she breaks the hold and tries to escape. Having no other option, LRRH resigns herself to the fact that she will have to fight and subdue her opponent.

Alyanna, who I'm familiar with from the dojo, was very easy to work with, being such a talented karate student.  E. Ray was, initially, the big question mark for me.  As it turned out, he was surprisingly agile; however, there needed to be some way to equalize the enormous height discrepancy.  That's where the knee strike came in. Most of the fight after that involved the Wolf being on his knees and rolling, and E. Ray was such a trooper! 

To make the fight convincing between two such mismatched opponents, LRRH needed to rely on her speed and accuracy, take well-placed shots, get in and get out, and wear down her opponent. One strike from the Wolf, and the fight would be over. So, LRRH used her understanding of timing to block the Wolf's swats and land strikes. Eventually, the Wolf became exhausted, and LRRH delivered the final, powerful blow, ending the fight. 

The Grandmother leading the Wolf out of the house in a single, smooth motion, alludes to the deferential nature of Karate and points to Grandmother as the wise and experienced source from whom LRRH has learned karate.