Shimon Volpert

Soviet Israeli stuntman and actor In 19681973 soloist of the folk dance ensemble Palace of the Sailors Odessa In 1975 he graduated from a choreographic school receiving the education of a ballet dancer In 1981 he graduated from the Kiev School of Variety and Circus Art In 19771989 he worked at the Estrada Theater as a ballet dancer stuntman actor teacher of plastic stage movement and stage combat then he worked at the Grotesque Theater at the Odessa Philharmonic In 1987 he graduated from continuing education courses for senior cinema workers at VGIK director of stunt and battle scenes Stunt Semyon Grigoriev one of the ten most soughtafter specialists in the Soviet Union emigrated to Israel after repatriation Shimon Volpert created in this country in the early 1990s one of the most extraordinary stunt teams of the time At the time of the creation of the stunt team established itself working as a stunt performer in Hollywood and European films including Womens Prison Deltofors American Ninja and so on Since 1992 Shimon Volpert Semyon Grigoriev has students like him immigrants from the former Soviet Union Mostly athletes involved in different styles of martial arts The formation of the brigade as a professional team can be attributed to the time of the creation of the Gladiators Show project by Menachem Golan and Israel Sharque in the arena of the ancient Roman amphitheater in Caesarea In Israel completed the creation of a unique system of training for actors and stuntmen based on softness which guaranteed invulnerability to falls and bumps Thanks to this unique technique Western stuntmen gave Shimon the nickname Crazy Russian for doing tricks with a minimum of special insurance tools and not getting injured He heads his own martial art school in Lod