The Human Weapon

[NightOwl]

No cable . I'll have to Netflix it when it comes out on DVD

[bushido_man96]

Bah, I missed it again!

[YoungMan]

I caught the tail end of the Savate episode. The fight was disappointing. Just two big guys in a ring throwing subpar kicks, kinda like UFC. For a Savate champ, I expected better.

I want to see them go to Korea and take on some of the Korean fighters. That would be interesting.

[IKyokushinO-4]

I agree with the sub-par kicks. Seemed like it got a little heated towards the end of the fight too.

[NightOwl]

Well, after paying apple a painful fee per episode, I bought the first one on Muay tai- and then proceeded to buy the rest. I was worried that either A: the hosts would be really disrespectful and thuggish, or B: that all the martial artists and arts protrayed would be shown in a completely over the top way, and I was happily surprised to see neither. I read some complaints about the footballer, but I thought that he seemed like a pretty decent guy, and neither of them were shoveling out disses, but showed some respect. Being able to see the history and demonstrations of some moves was great, and the fight at the end is always interesting. However, that does lead into my first criticism of the show, and that is the varying levels of sparring at the end of every episode. The first one, while fun to watch, definitely had elements of holding back on the part of the challenge artist. However towards the end of the Eskrima and savate episodes, you could tell things were getting intense. I think that they need to be more open about if they are going into a fight full on (as presented) or in a friendly spar, but even so it is entertaining. Secondly, the sheer variety of techniques would be difficult to master in just one week, however I suppose if you just stuck with 2-3 and trained hardcore every day for a week you could get the gist of something. All in all though, I find it to be the most well put together martial arts show that I have yet seen, and I am really looking forward to future episodes.

[NightOwl]

My brief take on the episodes so far:

Pilot/Episode 1: Muay Tai

My favorite episode of the 4 released. A nice history lesson, a look at precursor styles to Muay Tai, and a good look at a culture in of itself, I was hooked after watching it. As for the fight however, it was obvious that the Tai fighter was taking it easy for the most part. As long as it doesn't become too much of a trend, I am not too worried. I guess he still beat the host anyways (and kept him on the defensive for the most part), so he really didn't need to crank things up to champ level.

Episode 2: Eskrima

Another great look at a culture and fighting style, I found the look at grappling in the kali and Eskrima systems intriguing as well. The fight at the end was better than the thai one; whereas both start off slow, the eskrima fight starts upping the ante towards the end (escalating to breaking the host's finger).

Episode 3: Karate

Continuing the good work, I will admit that while I wanted lots of overlooked arts represented, I was looking forward to getting to Japan. I like how the show noted the history of Okinawa and Japan, and how Karate is less Japanese in orgin than is commonly precived. Complaints in the episode include bad period actors in rubber wigs, and too much iron body training by the end. The bat break was impressive though. As for the fight, I'd place it between the first two as far as effort. I think the fight really showed the big host's (sorry, going blank on names) ability to take punishment here though, as he was pretty much exchanging with the other blow for blow. The Karate champ could have gone a bit more aggressive if he really wanted to I think, but at the same time they are not trying to kill each other, and overall I think the big guy did pretty well.

Epidoe 4: Savate

The least favorite episode of many, and while I will admit that it was not as good as the others, I still really liked it for two reasons: looking at European martial arts, and the first real fight. While the other fights were either for the most part stoic, or good naturedly competitive, this was the first one where you could really sense the tension. At first I thought it was just me when I thought I noticed that the Savate fighter seemed a bit cold, but as the crowed hissed and the fight started, you could definitely see that neither guy wanted to lose. By the end both were going for a win, and I was glad to see the the big guy started implementing what he had learned and is shaping up into a better fighter. Finally I was pleased that he remained cordial, even though the savate fighter was giving him the cold shoulder. : p

Edited August 14, 2007 by NightOwl

[bushido_man96]

Nice review, NightOwl. And I was beginning to miss your Movie Reviews!!

I am considering ordering these off of the History Channel website. However, I don't really want to spend $40 a pop.

[bushido_man96]

I saw the last 15 minutes of the Savate episode tonight. I didn't get in on the history of the style, but what I saw wasn't too bad. I would not call the kicks subpar necessarily, just different. They used them differently, and they had a different look to them. I saw more side kicks than I would think to see in a match like that, which was interesting.

One thing about Bill, that guy must have an iron jaw! Did you see that overhand shot he took? Man, that was wicked! For as big a guy as he was, and with most of his experience being in Wrestling/Ground work, I thought he moved and kicked and punched pretty well.

[Adonis]

This next's weeks episode is going to be on judo. So I am curious to see it. I really want to see the Sambo one, and they are also doing an MMA one I believe.

[NightOwl]

anyone catch the judo episode yet?