I've been trying to catch up on some missed episodes of the History Channel's Human Weapon. Human Weapon is hosted by Jason Chambers and Bill Duff. Jason Chambers is a former MMA fighter and holds the rank of "Phase 1 Instructor" in Jeet Kune Do and presumably has his Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu. Bill Duff is no slouch either, at 6'4 and 280 pounds he has earned his brown belt in Toa So Dou and is a former wrestler with two state championships.
It wasn't too long ago that I was contemplating such a show as this. I originally had the idea while watching Kung-Fu: The Animal Within. I thought Discovery or TLC would be the best place for such a show, but the History channel is almost as good a choice, in some areas it is an even better choice. The difference in this show and the show I had in mind are subtle but important...
I don't think you can do justice to a martial art form in less than a two hour block. There is just too much history to cover and if you are going to convey historical facts through a TV show then you must simultaneously provide entertainment, hence the need for a two hour block instead of a one hour block.
Although I like both of the hosts I would have considered a female to take the place of one of the hosts. Most likely Bill since his size and strength makes him more than a match for most other martial artists of equal caliber. Maybe adding a third host who was female would work nicely. This would help enhance the shows female demographics by attracting women who are interested in self defense.
The end match, I'm torn on if I would keep the challenge at the end. It is entertaining to watch but it is also a no win situation. If Jason or Bill defeat their opponent (it is possible since they are both professionally trained and will continue to get better) then in a sense they dis-honor the school. If they loose, then what does that say about all of the previous training they have been exposed to, do they dis-honor their instructors every time they loose. I understand it is just an exhibition match, some fights will be all out while during others the opponents may be holding back.
The format of the show is good and may get better. What I want to see though is consistency from show to show in how it presents material to the viewer. I would like it to lay out the history of the art form up front and always include the information I have listed below. The show does a good job of showing some of the items I list, but it really glosses over some parts and doesn't address others at all:
- Origins and branches
- Why a practitioner might choose this branch of the art form over similar branches
- How the art is significantly different from art forms that have previously been visited
- Number of people practicing the art
- Number of schools and concentrations around the world
- Number of federated organizations
- Ranking system in detail (i.e. number of belts, with colors, name, dan, etc)
- Learning requirements (i.e. 10 techniques for first belt, 24 for second belt, 155 total Kata/Tul/Tao, must be able to perform 1000 kicks for black belt, etc.)
- Special training equipment utilized
- Discuss and explain the spiritual aspects, if any, of the art form
I noticed on the web site that the DVD for each episode is available for $25. For that amount of money per episode, they really need to pack it with a lot more information. In fact, I would go so far as to say they need to include several more hours of detailed training footage that they surely recorded while on location. This would make the DVDs a very attractive purchase. As it is, the DVDs are only around 50 minutes and don't even include closed captioning. It is naive to think that these DVDs will have high sales as they are currently being packaged.
I also noticed some parts of one particular episode where MTV editing was being used. By this I mean that they were averaging around 4 seconds per camera cut! It doesn't really bother me until I notice it, but once I do I find it most nauseating. I don't know if it holds true for all of the shown episodes or not as so far I have only noticed it in one episode, but once you notice something like that it becomes hard to ignore.
I would like to think that the History Channel had higher production values than what this show demonstrates. I like the hosts, I like the locations they travel to and the teachers they train with, I even like the main battle at the end of each episode. What I don't like is that this show could just as easily be on any of the other lesser channels. I just want and expect more from the History Channel. I want to feel like I have been educated about something when I am done watching a show on the History Channel. I think to some degree it should make me feel like I have just walked out of a really good classroom lecture! I have heard it said that TV as a medium cannot convey such information. I think it can and I think that there are a few shows out there that prove it. Instead of looking toward Spike, Vs, and MTV for guidance, the History Channel should be looking closer at its own programming and at programming found on the Food Network, FitTv, and the Learning Channel. In fact, perhaps some opportunistic martial artist should be looking closer at FitTvs's show lineup... not a single martial arts program to be seen.
For more information on Human Weapon, visit http://www.history.com/minisites/humanweapon
My background is mostly in Japanese Karate but I do enjoy learning about other martial art forms and over the years have come to the conclusion that any good martial art will evolve over time and include the best practices from other art forms. When I formed this conclusion though I was thinking more along the lines of martial art forms that are primarily self defense focused.
Take this into consideration, Judo and Tae Kwon Do are events in the Summer Olympic Games, Chinese Wushu recently failed in its bid to be included but will surely try again. Practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and most Japanese Karate art forms host sporting events all over the world (I'm not even including MMA, UFC, Kickboxing or other purse oriented events). There are a few art forms such as Aikido, Wing Chun, and Krav Maga that generally spurn such competitions but these are few in number.
Most martial art styles have a side to them that focus on sport competition. In this they formalize rules for one-on-one confrontation, typically a point system of some sort, and eliminate a large amount of moves that would leave the opponent blinded, crippled, or otherwise injured. I believe that the rules under which competition takes place have diminished the combat effectiveness of martial artists. Sport oriented martial arts now focus on winning in a ring rather than in the street and to some degree are no longer cultivating a particular moral character (but that would be a whole other argument). Some schools may now be going so far as to only concentrate on the competitive nature of the sport.
Sport oriented martial arts may be a good thing for some students but not necessarily practical for real self defense. Some would argue that it trains the practitioner to not use certain moves that would quickly end a real fight in favor of a move that was learned and practiced for sport fighting that would simply leave the opponent momentarily dazed. Remember here that the key to training is repetition, what you practice in the dojo will be what you perform in the street. Many instructors feel that it is difficult to train for both the sporting aspect of the martial arts and the self defense aspects. If one trains enough to be effective on the street, then when rules are imposed on them they will be physically and mentally challenged to confine their responses to the rule system. If one trains enough to be effective in sport competition, then when no rules are imposed in a life or death situation they may find themselves not using the best move for the situation, or worse yet, not anticipating a deadly move from their attacker.
Some would argue that the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) leagues are the answer to this conundrum. I say that they both still have rules and a competitor has a particular focus while training for such an event. I also think that the MMA (and to a lesser extent the UFC) is less of a sport and more of a meat market for spectators. I find that these type of leagues reduce even further the moral and peaceful aspects that are taught in the martial arts.
Please keep in mind that here I am only criticizing one-on-one type sport competition. Many martial arts also sponsor non-sparring competitions such as breaking or choreographed techniques such as poomse, kata or aka. I find that these type of events don't necessarily detract from a martial artist's effectiveness and a well balanced training regiment will allow a practitioner to be both competitive in such events and effective on the street.
