Call him a professional fighter, a specialist swashbuckler, the Errol Flynn of our era: Broadway combat choreographer David Brimmer next week bursts onto the Island stage for a week-long residency. He will teach a free public workshop for children and adults as well as work intensively with students at the regional high school.

Stage combat is a lot of fun, but it’s also an art that requires years of training. A component of all classic theatre education, armed and unarmed stage combat training is something high school drama teacher Kate Murray wanted to offer her students, so she turned to The Yard, the Chilmark choreography center with an active artists-in-the-schools program.

Ms. Murray wanted her students to learn safe and well-executed stage combat from a certified professional. “Stage combat skills are necessary for many productions, and it is imperative to work with a certified individual for safety and technical expertise,” she said.

Mr. Brimmer also will offer a free public workshop for all ages on Tuesday, March 17 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the high school’s performing arts center. Children and families are especially welcome. The workshop will focus on unarmed stage combat or, as Mr. Brimmer puts it, “fisticuffs of all types.” It will also include falls and acting exercises based on the techniques of Stella Adler.

For this residency, Mr. Brimmer will be assisted by Vineyard native John Robichau, now a student of his at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York city. The two will do a demonstration performance together — that alone should be worth the (free) admission!

In addition to the school residency and public workshop, Mr. Brimmer will work with children in the after-school programs at the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club and the Y. Yard artistic director Wendy Taucher says she is especially pleased to be able to offer the program to these two Island organizations which do such great work for kids and families.

David Brimmer has been choreographing fight sequences in New York both on and off-Broadway, in regional theaters, and for touring productions around the country for over 20 years. His credits include the musical Spring Awakening and The Lieutenant of Inishmore on Broadway, the national tour of Jekyll & Hyde, and Joseph Papp Public Theater’s Blood Wedding. His choreography has been nominated for a Douglas Fairbanks Award for Excellence in Theater and his work is currently on file at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A member of the Society of American Fight Directors, he holds the title of Fight Master.