Jared Kirby
Head of NYCSS
Certified Fight Director and Head of NYCSS
Jared Kirby has been involved in Combat for Stage & Screen and Western Martial Arts for nearly 30 years. He teaches in New York City (and the metro area) and has choreographed fights Off-Broadway, Nationally, in London and Sydney.
As a Fight Coordinator, Jared has worked with stars such as Peter Sarsgaard, Steve Guttenberg, Cameron Douglas and has trained performers who are working on hit shows. Jared is a member of Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA.
He is the president of Combat Con in Las Vegas, past president of Art of Combat, and served for six years on the board of the International Order of the Sword & Pen.
Jared currently teaches fencing at SUNY Purchase, Sarah Lawrence College and is a Master of Arms (Maestro d’Armi) through the Martinez Academy of Arms. Jared has an ongoing Combat for Screen & Stage class in New York City and teaches at the prestigious Tom Todoroff Conservatory as well as the NY Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
He teaches a variety of workshops across the US and around the world including Canada, England, Scotland, Finland, Italy and Australia. He has taught at the Paddy Crean International Art of the Sword Workshop, the International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention (ISMAC), Rapier Camp and the Western Washington WMA Workshop just to name a few.
Jared is the editor and one of the translators of “Italian Rapier Combat”, the first complete, professional translation of Capo Ferro. He is also the editor and wrote the introduction for “The School of Fencing” by Domenico Angelo and annotated by Maestro Jeannette Acosta-Martínez. Most recently “ A Gentleman’s Guide to Duelling ” was released in February 2014 and a reprint of Donald McBane’s The Expert Swordsman’s Companion was released in January 2017. For more information, see Amazon.com.
Tony Mita
Company Manager
Certified Instructor: Unarmed, Sabre, Longsword & Knife
Tony is driven by a mix of his passions for historical martial arts and nerd culture to create a blend of the martially realistic and the out-of-this-world fantastical in his work.
Tony began working with Jared in 2010 as a Classical & Historical Fencer, and soon after in Combat for Stage and Screen. This all began while working on his degree in Theater from SUNY Purchase. He continues to train in Western martial arts (particularly favoring the Dueling Saber)
Apart from teaching with NYCSS, Tony teaches the Stage Combat Club at SUNY Purchase.As a choreographer he has had the honor to be involved with projects such as Hamlet with the Classic Stage Company, The Force Within (A Star Wars Fan Film) and the original musical La Maupin (for which he and Jared received awards for Best Fight Choreography from the Fresh Fruit Festival).
Kaitlyn Farley
Intensive Coordinator
Certified Instructor: Unarmed, Saber & Quarterstaff
Kaitlyn strives to stay well versed in various unarmed and weapons combat systems. Her acting, music and dance background assist in her approach to all combat. She loves to teach, inform, create and collaborate with new and innovative artists while using violence and fight performance to enhance and tell our stories.
Kaitlyn began her combat career in 2013 with NYCSS and her current favorite weapons are spear, chain and longsword. In 2017 she trained intensively with ASCA in Sydney Australia, gaining her certification as an advanced combatant and basic instructor with their company. Kaitlyn is on faculty as a Stage Combat Instructor with The New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts and assists at The Tom Todoroff Conservatory. She has worked on a multitude of short films and indie projects throughout NYC as both a fight choreographer and combatant and is also a producer, assistant choreographer and star of her own action series, The Hunted: NYCSS. CREDITS: Has worked with Hudson Warehouse NY, for their past three seasons as a Fight Director and Assistant Fight Director working on recent productions; Hamlet, Antony & Cleopatra & The Merry Wives of Windsor. She is also the new resident Fight Director for RudeGrooms NYC based in Queens, having worked on Romeo & Juliet, and receiving acclaim for her violence in their production of The Changeling. Other notable favorites are Neverwhere (US premiere) adapted from the Neil Gaiman novel with Red Monkey Theatre Group and BFF; a dark comedy (Off-Broadway).
Vincent Lane
Educational Outreach Coordinator
Certified Instructor: Unarmed
Vincent loves to blend his wealth of martial arts training and experience with physical storytelling. Vincent bases his work as an instructor and as a performer in actual martial technique. He loves engaging audiences, actors, and production teams with true to life violence which elevates the story being told.
Vincent started training for his career with NYCSS 2012. Vincent has studied several different styles of martial arts throughout his life including Shaolin Kenpo, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kobudo, Iaido, Northern Italian Dueling Sabre, Classical French Foil, and Germanic Longsword. Since then, he has fight directed productions including: Sense and Sensibility (Hudson Warehouse), Richard III (Staten Island Shakespearean Theater), Man in the Iron Mask-(Hudson Warehouse), and The Addams Family (Bedford Community Theatre). Additionally, he has appeared in several stage and film productions as an actor. Some recent acting credits include: “Edmund” (New York Renaissance Faire), “Max” (The Hunted NYCSS), and “Lead Thug” (Laila).
NYCSS Instructors-in-Training
Assembled and led by Jared Kirby
Want to train as an Instructor?
Katherine Learner-Lam
Assistant Instructor
Christopher “Creed” Robinson
Social Media Coordinator
Assistant Instructor
Creed is dedicated to learning, training, and getting his hands on as many weapons as possible. This little ball of energy is ready, willing, and able to give his all to see things done effectively and efficiently.
Creed started stage combat with NYCSS at 2016. He also currently teaches axe throwing at Kick Axe Throwing at their Brooklyn location. Creed made the jump from actor to actor combatant while studying for his Bachelors Degree at East Stroudsburg University. He has a passion for martial arts and loves to learn as many forms and styles as he can. Currently training in includes Taekwondo and FMA. Not only does he practice in martial arts, but he also as a variety of weapons disciplines that he has experience in. These include: Unarmed, Tactical Knife, Longsword, Rapier and Dagger, Kali Sticks, Quarterstaff, and Axe Throwing.
As an Assistant Fight Director, he worked for Jared Kirby in a number of projects that range from theatrical shows, Indie movies, tv shows, and a music video. Additionally, he fight coordinated for The Telly Channel on a few episodes for their Instagram series called Bodega Knights. As an actor, he has experience on television as well as stage.
