Salutations!

I am honored to be selected for the 2026 cohort for the Teacher Certification Workshop (“TCW”) by the Society of American Fight Directors .

Understandably, the fee for this workshop is nothing to balk at. In a lot of instances, being a Certified Teacher with the SAFD is seen as the equivalent of a terminal degree. The cost not only reflects the qualifications you receive, but the quality of training you get to experience.

Here’s the breakdown:

Teacher Certification Workshop: $3,525

Housing, travel, food: $1500

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I have been pursuing for most of the past decade.

Now, it’s important to state, this is not a critical fundraising campaign. I will be able to make this work from a financial standpoint. But I would be remiss to hinder any opportunity for you all to support me on this journey.

If you are feeling compelled to celebrate this milestone with me, this is your chance to do so. Wanna buy me a dinner during the three week intensive, but don’t want to drive down to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston? Here’s your sign! Feeling like buying me a drink but don't want to have to put up with me for an extended amount of time? This is your opportune moment! Any amount will help, and will be exponentially appreciated and may even bring a tear to my eye. (It likely will).

To be honest and candid, I’ve accomplished a lot over the past decade. I’ve performed in countless fights, choreographed over thirty productions, taught at dozens of stage combat workshops over sixteen states, been selected for the motion capture stunt team for the Call of Duty video game franchise, and somehow have still found time to make a decent cup of coffee almost every morning.

Admission to the Teacher Certification Workshop has been the inevitable next step for me for the past few years, but I still remain humbled and honored to be selected to join this cohort.

It takes a village, we all know this. If you feel like I have been an integral part of your village—or, perhaps less likely, if you have felt like you’ve been a part of my village—this is your opportunity to help give back and invest in the growth and development of the next generation of stage combat nerds.

I have already been co-teaching certification classes over the past five years in Chicago (The Actors Gym, Open Gate Movement Arts), New York City (Neutral Chaos), Florida State University (The Asolo Rep MFA Conservatory), as well as the Dark Corner Stage Combat Intensive in Spartanburg, SC. With Certified Teacher status, I am intent on bringing even more certification classes to the greater Chicagoland area, as well as providing these opportunities to currently underserved areas such as Bozeman, MT (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Bozeman Actors Theatre, the Verge); Toledo, OH (The University of Toledo), the greater Oklahoma City Metroplex (University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City University), and beyond. Your contribution can help to make that a reality.

So please contribute if you feel so inclined. I promise that your donation will go towards encouraging a creative and compassionate approach to the craft. Honestly, I feel like we could all use some more of that these days.

Andrew “Rath” Rathgeber