The woman who teaches actors to fight

When actors need to fight on stage or screen, they have to be taught how to do it realistically and safely.

Alison de Burgh became Britain's first ever female fight director when her acting tutor told her: "You look very feminine but you fight like a man - you should pursue this."

Ten years later, Alison is one of the leading teachers of how to slap, punch and use a weapon in the name of drama.

Video Journalists: John Galliver and Claudia Redmond.

Real Time is a series for the BBC News website in which ordinary people tell their own extraordinary stories.