Martial Arts and TV Shows

Martial Arts and TV seem popular again. For a number of months now I have been watching a show called Human Weapon on the History Channel with the hosts Jason and Bill.

Now for me, this has been a very interesting show. I grew up reading anything I could get on the martial arts, and have been formally studying them for about sixteen years now. I hold a second degree black belt in Shotokan, have studied Tai Chi and am currently studying Uechi Ryu with a green belt. Why do I tell you this? Not to brag but so you can see where I cam coming from in my comments on this show. . . . I like it

The point of this show is that the two hosts (Jason and Bill) travel the world spending a week at a time studying a martial art somewhere then have to fight someone the teacher picks to show what they have learned. These guys are great at it! They don’t always win but they do always teach you about the art they are studying, show respect for the style and go into detail on a few of its key moves so you can see what is going on and get a feel for the art. It is on every week with new shows most weeks. . . I highly recommend it as a way to get an overview of many styles of martial arts and where they come from.

Now there have been posts around the net making fun of the show. One of the things mentioned was the formulas they throw up on how hard a kick or punch is landing when they do the in depth graphics of how to do the move. I am an engineer but I have to admit I don’t look at the formulas and could care less if they are right. What I am looking at is the graphics showing how the move is done in detail so I can decided as a martial artist if I buy what they are saying about it. Most time I have to say I do. Sure they formulas are a bit flashy but it is a TV show and you have to keep the masses impressed.

Along with the close up of some key moves the other thing I enjoy about this show is the hosts. They both obviously know what they are doing. You can see this in how they move, how they fight, and the respect, comments, and questions they ask when training in a new style for the show. You never hear any disrespect of the form, teacher, or teaching style, they know they are guests in the dojo and act accordingly. That aside they do joke with each other and comment and it is funny and does not come across as forces or fake. They both seem like guys I would love to train with at the dojo.

Now Discover Channel has started a show to compete with them – Fight Quest. So far I have one show and have one more on tape to watch. My first impression is it is a poorly done knock off of Human Weapon. The hosts don’t seem to have the background in the martial arts to do this.

Jimmy is a real ass and his comments a few times on the first show make me think he is a brawler, not a real martial artist. He is just looking to fight. He seems to miss the fact that he is a guest at the dojo and the master teaching him may actually know something he may want to learn. . . we can’t always be pounding each other to learn to fight. He comes across as the wise ass in class that hurts people because he wants to show off or puff up his ego. . . . not someone I would want to train with.

The other host Doug seems much better and at least acts like he is really trying to learn something from these teachers being good enough to teach him for a week. I like Doug and he does seem like the kind of guy you would want to train with.

Much like Human Weapon at the end of the week they spar with someone the teacher picks to show what they have learned. The difference is both of them will fight, not just one of them. The other big difference is this show lacks the educational value if you will. They don’t get enough into the history of the art they are studying, and they don’t break down any of the moves to help you really get a feel for what is going on. I like the idea I can pick up a few things from Human Weapon and must say I have. We will see if I can say the same about Fight Quest after a few weeks pass.

I will be watching a few more episodes of this in hopes that it improves but if doesn’t I think it will be over quick. I could be wrong, the wrestling (WWE) crowd may save it since they like the acting and watching folks get pounded for fun but unless it changes I don’t see much interest here as a martial artist.