B Whitney, Program Coordinator, brings decades of experience teaching acting to their work at IMPACT. Their work is essential to helping our suited instructors learn their craft.
In IMPACT self-defense classes, instructors fall into two categories: Coach and Suit. The Coaches are in charge of leading the class as well as providing coaching support for students during the roleplays/scenarios. The Suits provide instruction as well but also – vitally – serve as characters in the roleplays. They play the “creepy” guys, the boundary-crossers, and the aggressors, and they take the hits that students are coached to deliver.
We spend some time during each class explaining the construction and function of the physical suit – the helmet, the mesh, the shoulder pads, and the groin protector – all of it carefully designed to keep the person wearing it protected from injury. We assure students that they can, and should, hit hard. The Suits are safe. Classes are also carefully designed to keep students adrenalized but not traumatized.
But what about the psychological safety of the people inside the suits (or sunglasses for classes where the emphasis is on verbal skills) playing characters that are morally repugnant to them? Saying cruel or belittling or manipulative things they would never say? Watching how their words and actions might prompt someone to cry, to yell, to kick?
This is where character training comes in. Just like the Suits need to wear a literal protective suit, they also need to craft another kind of “suit” which is equally protective psychologically. Character training shares a lot of technique and overlaps with professional actor training – developing physical and vocal technique as well as exploring the psychology of a character – but it recognizes some distinct differences between the two, namely, that the student in the scenarios is not an actor. Their emotions and adrenaline responses are real. Therefore, the Suit needs to develop additional skills in observation, attunement, and flexibility.
This is part of why being a Suit can be so complex. In addition to the physical techniques, you need to present a wide variety of authentic characters. You don’t have a lot of time – students come up one after another for scenario practice, so you can’t be holding things up in order to “get into character”. Most of all, you need to pay close attention to the student to respond authentically and accurately to what they’re doing, thereby demonstrating skills in improv, emotional attunement, and strategic thinking. And you need to do it over and over and over again.
My own experience as a student in an IMPACT class showed me that my own healing process could not have been kickstarted so safely and effectively without a Suit. The mind can often readily understand the goal, and the good, of being a Suit. But while the mind can grasp the benefit of it, the body can have a harder time contextualizing the nuances of “I’m playing a role,” especially a role that can be so brutal. Developing a “suit” for the Suit’s core self through character training protects the instructor. Training explores what each instructor needs and would benefit from in terms of physical and mental preparation as well as “de-roling”/separation from the characters both while playing them as well as when the scenarios are over. Ultimately, we hope it becomes as simple as putting on and taking off the suit.
What our suited instructors say about character training:
“B has done amazing work teaching me how to embody a character using movement, positioning, and subtle shifts in body alignment based upon the motivation I have chosen for a particular character. They can convey concepts and principles quickly in ways that match my particular needs as a student. I am so much better at my job thanks to them” -Alexander
“The character development that we worked on with B has allowed me to create the adrenalizing environments that our students need to optimally learn critical skills. Importantly, it’s helped me keep the necessary psychological distance from the realistic scenarios that we facilitate in order to honor the work that IMPACT Boston does.” – Willie
“We learn to draw on technique versus method acting. Learning some of these techniques have provided additional psychological safety for me as I go in and out of often-despicable characters. One example is doing something with my body, breath, and internal dialogue before and after each character to gear up to play the role and fully return to myself. I will roll my fingers and inhale as I prepare to go into a scenario and shake my wrists as I exhale after playing a character, saying to myself, ‘I am Rene.’ It’s physical, it’s simple, and it helps make suiting sustainable.” – Rene
“Working with cadence, voice modulation, and speed are constant reminders of technique that give me access to very different characters without too much brain effort between scenarios. I’ve even applied some of these elements to my teaching style in my sex ed class.” – Josh