Discovery Chanel Extreme Martial Arts

[YongChun]

I saw at least half of the Discovery Channel Extreme Martial arts and would recommend that to any martial artist to watch. There were excellent comparison's between the tactics of Japanese Weapons vs the various Chinese weapons. One guy with a Katana was said to be the fastest in the world. Certainly he was very good and fast. I wouldn't like to try my Butterfly Knife against him. Also there was a lot of empty hand fightin with biomechanical analyis of the factors for extreme speed and power. The video can be purchased online on the Discovery website. It's not too much money. I think after you watch the video you may want to train harder to bring your Wing Chun to a new level. The arts that Wing Chun is supposedly superior too are very very fast these days. I think they did a very good job of presenting the traditional Chinese weapons. I saw the broadsword, three section staff, the iron fan, the spear, the Chinese sword (vs the Japanese sword), and a few other weapons. It was interesting to watch the anlysis of the clash of the various weapons. Also there was a segment of the world's best breakers breaking everything from every possible angle using fists, forearms, knees and elbows. Anyway if you have a chance it is on again in a week or two , check the website for more information.

Ray

[Ernie]

check out the clips
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/xma/video/video.html

[Phil Redmond]

I taped all 2 hours of it. It was not what I expected though. There was lots of empahsis on the tournament aspect of the arts, which I'm not against, but I thought they were going to visit/interview more traditional martial artists. They have a little segment that showed Sensei Demura.

[KingMonkey]

I was disappointed.
Kata tournaments and block breaking bah.
Nice to watch the twirling around with the weapons though.
Liked the little bo staff routine the main guy did, majorettes have better uniforms though and manage to do it with less screaming and in time to music.
Not my scene, I was watching it with my wife and I had to comment that one of these guys would probably last approximately 3 seconds against your average pub brawler/bouncer.
At least they managed to squeeze in plenty of plugs for the new Tom Cruise movie though - hohum.

[YongChun]

I mostly enjoyed the Chinese weapons section and not the Japanese stuff.

[EmptyCup]

The biowhatchamacallit really didn't do anything different to show me exactly how the body worked during the "fighting" as those effects ppl claimed. All it boiled down to was a fancy graphics thing with really badly animated movements....way too flowery and too fluid. Like a videogame. The weapons was a total waste of time as they didn't even use them as they really are used. Total wushu. The fighting was lame too. The drunken boxing was a joke as well as the supposed Golden Bell and Iron Shirt.

I am also skeptical about the 2000+ and 1200+ kg ratings of the kicks. If that "one ton hit" was more than a car collision as one guy claimed then I hit like a frickking train wreck...

The major problem I had with the show was that it furthered waaaaaaay too many ridiculous stereotypes that ordinary folk already have regarding the martial arts. The voice-over guy also had the cheesiest and utterly absurd lines. The only redeeming thing was Boyd's awesome flashy Katana routine that rightly gave him first place.

I thought this show was a really bad Gatorade ad. There was an A&E one about Martial Arts a few years ago that was way better and much more accurate of what "real" martial arts was about.

Oh and the bald dude with the two metal toothpicks...anybody else think that blood making penetration easier explanation was a bit absurd???

[Vash]

I see blood and it gets me all rilled up making me wanna hit 'em more ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Brithlor]

Any Iron Crotch demos?

[EmptyCup]

sh!t for the funniest thread ever made go over to the Kung Fu forum and read about it there....I never laughed so hard in my entire life...I literally can't see what I'm typing now cuz i have tears streaming from my eyes

[azwingchun]

I have to agree with you, I thought it was going to be a little more traditional, where it was based more around competiton routines. I watched the first half hour or so and then lost interest.

[Phenix]

great showman ship and great training.

But, it is far away from how I think it might be.

[Keng Geng]

Originally posted by YongChun
I wouldn't like to try my Butterfly Knife against him. I certainly would.

I think after you watch the video you may want to train harder to bring your Wing Chun to a new level. You should presume that others' training is as your own.

The arts that Wing Chun is supposedly superior too are very very fast these days.Wing Chun is not superior to any other art. There are superior teachers and students in all styles.

[Phil Redmond]

Below is the letter I received form Discovery Channel after I wrote how their presentation misrepresented the martial arts. I also gave a link to this thread and the one on the kung fu forum for them to read.

>>Thank you for contacting Discovery Networks. We appreciate you taking the
time to share your thoughts and concerns with us in regard to "Xtreme
Martial Arts". They will be passed on to our program management and
executives and will be taken into consideration. Comments such as yours
are very important to us, as viewer opinions tell us what we can improve on
and what our audience enjoys. It is these types of comments that create
change and improve programming.

A reply to this message is not necessary. For more information about
schedules and programming check our website, www.discovery.com. If you
have any further inquiries or comments, please contact us via our webform
at http://extweb.discovery.com/ViewerRelations. Thank you again for
expressing your interest in our programming.

Sincerely,
Sarah
Viewer Relations
Discovery Networks<<

[Ultimatewingchun]

PHIL:

The kata stuff and the weapons forms and the overall demeanor about how the punches and kicks were so dangerous (via all the computer gimmicks).....

WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY !!!

I kept waiting for something good, which never came, so I eventually turned it off.