saintboxcutter

You can send in a tape submission. After you fill out the application on the website, someone will contact you Via E-mail with the info on how to submit yourself.

Yes 'some' martial arts experience. I earned a black belt in TKD when I was 14 and left to learn other arts. I tried a few others, and ended up learning kickboxing and tai chi. I entered some mma stuff and got my rotator cuff torn by a BJJ stylist. I dropped out for a few years, half to recover and half from frustration, occasionally 'working out' with friends that practiced different arts. Now I'm learning Hung Gar, and I'm very happy with kung fu. Some of my co-workers have more or less experience than me. Without violating my confidentiality agreement, I'll try to give as much info as I can: Its understood that meaninful and commercial are arch-rivals, and seldom co-exist. on some shows, all decisions go through a head office, filled with strange nameless executives that pass judgement based on some arcane and unknowable criteria. If the employees care about the show, they will fight to preserve as much of the intent as they can. The employees rarely know what the end result is going to be, or even how the show will change from one production day to the next, as the execs review and judge. At my job, I'm not very high up in the power structure. From my perspective, there are several people working to keep the show from going down the 'hollywood' road. I am not an official voice, just an insider, I'm not trying to 'sell' you the show. Just commenting in the thread because I have a unique perspective on it. As for the age thing, it's not a rule, as you'll see on the show, and if you'd like to come in for an interview, we're still doing that, so message me.

This is a really strange argument so far, because the general consensus is that children shouldn't have to do something that they might get hurt doing. Now I'm all for the ART aspect of martial arts, but they are MARTIAL arts. If a kid isn't taught correctly, and he/she gets injured, then that's the fault of the instructor; but lets remember what testing is all about- It is always the masters perogotive to decide when a student has reached a milestone in his/her training, and as I've seen in other threads (ie, 'i realized after my test i'd been a black belt for months') that the point of testing is to make the student realize they have advanced. It's no surprise that children get injured from tests that involve board breaking, because it only indicates that the student in question was NOT ready, and should not have been in that position. Instructors should view injuries to their students as their own shortcoming. I'm all for keeping children from being placed in unnecessarily dangerous situations; but board breaking, while it may be a pointless exhibition for some, is very clear symbolism and a very effective way to make a student have that critical (pardon my choice of words) breakthrough in the understanding of their own capabilities. Used properly, board breaking is an excellent teaching tool; there is an element of difficulty and potential injury, but administered at the correct time, to a student who is well prepared, it is tremendously effective. So you know where I'm coming from, I've studied a few different martial arts over my life, but no moment beats that tae kwon do test I had when I was eight years old, and broke a board to earn my orange belt. While It's been quite some time since I left tae kwon do for other arts, that moment is still a guiding memory. If you were to argue that board breaking is a pointless practice for anyone other than children, I'd have to agree that it's unnecessary after someone has learned their body; but for children, it's a tremendous moment. And also, as for those breakaway boards, no good: That board I broke when I was 8, that became the mount for the yellow belt, which was proudly displayed on my wall until I got my green belt .

I studied martial arts at my high school in the late 90s, it was extra-curricular, and open to students from other schools. It wasn't bad, I learned the Yang short form, and began foundation training for hung gar. I had a good relationship with my Sifu, and developed good relationships with other students I wouldn't have normally associated with. We all know about the practical applications of martial arts training, but honestly, how many of you have 'picked a fight' with someone after learning your martial art? I think it should be taught in schools, as a P.E. class, tai chi, qi-gong, and kung fu, starting in elementary school.

I work on the show, it's not that bad. A few of us have some martial arts experience, and we try to find people that will be good at representing their respective martial arts.