LOOKING for a fight? Choose your weapon - swords, knives, daggers, bombs, quarterstaffs - and Simon Aldis is the man to help you bring it to life.

The 33-year-old from Stourport has been set on fire, blown through doorways and hit on the head with a plank and now he is teaching other people how it can happen to them.

It is all in the name of art because Simon is a professional stunt co-ordinator and fight arranger who can give any production that extra cutting edge.

"I absolutely love doing this work," said Simon, who has just finished with a Birmingham operatic company on a three-minute clash of swords for The Scarlet Pimpernel. "I have to show people how to make a fight look real and act at the same time. Stunt work can be very dangerous. You have to know what you're doing to make it safe. All I've had is a few cuts and bruises."

Three minutes might seem a long time for flashing blades but to get his advanced qualification from the London Stunt School, Simon had to show he could use five different weapons in a rumble lasting 10 minutes.

He is also trained in falling down stairs and using explosives and has an extensive collection of swords, axes and daggers, some of them antique, which he uses himself and lends out to theatre companies.

"I got interested in swords when I started fencing in 1993," he said. "I am a qualified competitive coach and I taught the Swedish military when I worked in Sweden."

He is also proficient in kung fu and aikido and a black belt in karate, all of which helps him show actors how to roll with a punch.

A geology degree, working in the steel industry and now for an environmental company in Bromyard is not the kind of background normally associated with fight arrangers but Simon is confident he can turn fully professional by the end of this year.

"I've been getting a lot of paid work with semi-professional theatre companies and student film-makers," he said. "I have the qualifications for films and TV and I'd like to break into them but it's a very competitive field.

"Right now, I'm working every night and I'm always on the look-out for other theatre companies who need my help locally."

His next job is in Bromsgrove with the semi-pro company, All And Sundry, for a bar-room brawl using improvised weapons. He also runs private workshops in weapons and stage combat and if any other companies want a mass punch-up, he is always ready for a good brawl. He can be contacted on 07813 308672.