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Human Weapon: Kung Fu
2007; directed by Patrick Leigh-Bell

Blending a bit of reality TV and documentary, Human Weapon was a solid, but short-lived, series on the History Channel. In this episode, the hosts head to Mainland China to learn some different techniques before one of them takes on a Sanda champion in a full-contact bout. Even though there is an obvious bit of tweaking around the "reality" aspect of the show, martial arts fans should still find this interesting.

MMA fighter Jason Chambers and former Browns player Bill Duff's journey through China takes them to several spots. Beginning at a kung fu movie set, the pair head off to learn Wing Chun on the Great Wall, striking techinques from the National Police, Sanda takedowns from a three-time champion, and then finally, to the famed Shaolin Temple to take in weapon styles and meditation. Each of the techniques Chambers and Duff learns is accompanied by a segement of the history behind the style, and then a psuedo-scientific breakdown, which is brought to life by some decent computer animation. This presentation gives a bit of gravitas to the proceedings, which is unfortunately undermined at times by the hosts' "hey brah" mannerisms.

Chambers and Duff do genuinely seem like they're interested in learning the techniques, but their narration makes them seem like frat boys on spring break at points. I suppose it's probably a pitfall of trying to market a show like this to the coveted 18-25 age group that advertisers love, but it would have made the episode (and series as a whole) much better if the hosts looked like they were taking things more seriously. Really, we don't need to hear either of the hosts talking about how their kung fu is strong. I guess at least we should count our blessings, in that neither of the guys says "chop socky" or tries to grab a pebble out of a monk's hand.

As for the final fight between Chambers and an expert named Yan Delong, it's interesting to note that the show takes great pains to point out how Yan is a national champion, but yet the state-run China Daily newspaper only promotes him as a student from a family of farmers. Of course, as Human Weapon has elements of reality TV around it, savvy viewers can clearly see that some parts of it are completely scripted, and so any suspense as to who will win the climatic bout is reduced to nil. But even discounting its' relatively limp finish, Human Weapon: Kung Fu is overall a fun take on the usual martial arts documentary that's worth checking out for novices and veterans alike.

RATING: 7

Note: the China Daily article can be found here -- but be forewarned that it spoils the outcome of the Chambers/Yan fight.

"Human Weapon: The Complete Season One" is available from Amazon.

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