Stage fighting training may assist increase your overall physical awareness by helping you identify a character's physique and depict the impacts of pain and damage, as well as being able to work physically with other performers. Posture, coordination, rapid learning of choreography, and overall reflexes can all benefit. Practicing these techniques in a controlled setting will help ensure that when it comes time for performance, you are ready to give your all on stage. The use of swords, knives, guns, and other weapons on stage creates an opportunity for violence that cannot be represented in traditional dance alone. The importance of stage fighting to sword dancers is clear from the fact that many schools only allow students to study this subject matter. Even if you aren't planning to fight on stage yourself, knowing how to protect yourself from attack is vital to avoiding injury while dancing. A trained fighter could easily take advantage of a dancer's lack of experience or focus, so even if you don't plan to fight yourself, it's still important that you learn how to defend yourself. Stage fighting is also important for story telling. A skilled fighter can add dramatic effect to a scene by allowing the audience to see his or her skill and courage. These qualities are often lacking in traditional ballet, which tends to focus on subtle body movements and graceful poses. Swords and knives coming at you fast doesn't allow for much subtlety or grace!