The beginning
The first seed of what was to become the NSFS was laid in 1992 where teachers from the Society of American Fight Directors taught on the first Nordic stage fight summer workshop in Linköping, Sweden. Between 1992 and 1997 teachers from USA and Great Britain taught every summer in Linköping generously sponsored by Studie främjandet in Linköping.

Inspired by the national organisations in USA and Great Britain, the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish participants of the Linköping workshops officially founded the NSFS in 1995. The society's goal is to promote safety and quality in stage fighting, and thus to raise the artistic level of interpretation, choreography and execution.

Certification tests
Since 1995 the NSFS has offered certification tests for actor combatants adjudicated by an international jury at the summer workshops. During this time more than 150 people from the Nordic and Baltic countries have passed actor combatant tests. Read more about the test system here.

In 1997 the NSFS offered its first Teacher Certification Test, and got its first four certified teachers. Since that time, the NFSF has held Teacher Certification Tests in 2000 and 2003.

Growing bigger
In 1998 the summer workshop moved from Linköping to Norway. During the same year a summer training program started in Pärnu, Estonia. The summer training program lead to Estonia becoming an official member of the NSFS in 2000.

Apart from workshops in the member countries, the NSFS have through the years arranged workshops in Finland, Lithuania, Iceland and the Faeroe Islands spreading the message of safety and quality in stage fighting.

Moving forward
In 2007 the NSFS was reorganised in order to create a new and strong organisation. Instead of being a Nordic/Baltic organisation based on individual members, the NSFS became a Nordic/Baltic umbrella for national stage fight organisations. In addition it was decided to create a network of professional choreographers and teachers - the Nordic Fight Directors (NFD) - under the auspices of the NSFS. Click here for the organisation chart.

Presently the national organisations in Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Sweden are members of the NSFS and the NFD is on its way. A national Stage Fight organisation has also been created in Finland.

Download organisation chart