Interview with Teel James Glenn, author of Death at Dragonthroat

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Writing has interested me as long as I can remember. Before I could put words on paper, I would act out stories. Before second grade, I progressed to illustrating comic books and finally filled spiral notebooks with ‘novels.’ I would often watch a TV show and say, “oh, that story would have been better if...,” and I’d be off on a storytelling jag. I always imagined re-creating the whole story – both text and images. I’d even choreograph the characters' actions for film or stage. This ability has determined the course of my life and career.

How did you become involved with the martial arts and how does it inform your work?

I had very severe asthma and allergies as a child. Most of which I still have, but I just don't let them get in the way. I've been declared crippled twice by western medicine (bad knees, 911 lung). I just said, “hell no,” and went on. Because I was sickly, I found my role models in TV and books. Conan, Tarzan, Zorro, Errol Flynn, Gene Kelly and Bruce Lee were my heroes. I read everything I could on them and then started writing.

Skip ahead twenty or so years when I took a staged combat class to research a swordfight for a book. The moment I held that fencing epee I knew it was the course for my life. I studied obsessively, and eventually studied with the guy who had been Errol Flynn’s stunt double for his last three pictures. Now, twenty-five years later, I’m a professional fight choreographer and stunt coordinator helping people develop into new Errol Flynns and Bruce Lees. I’ve fought my way through 40 Renaissance faires, countless Shakespearean plays and 60 movies. When I write about the fall off a charger or the impact of a sword blade on a shield, I’ve experienced it, not just read about it. Along the way, I’ve had to use my martial arts skills as a bodyguard and bouncer and even won a few dance contests.

I also studied under the guy who was the head of the Seoul military academy (the West Point of Korea). I have written the only English book on Japanese stage combat (publish date fall 2005). Life imitating art becomes life is my mantra.

Article Author: Parker Owens

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