Human Weapon Take II
July 25, 2007 by nopstar
I know it’s a just a show, and their obviously not really going to fight their opponents fa reelz. After watching this, it sort of left me feeling insulted.
If you haven’t watched it yet, you’ll be able to watch it most of this month on the History Channel. Many thanks to Stephen for taking the time to upload and share this. If you don’t have cable you can view the full episode on my Stage6 page. I would embed it, but it keeps breaking the page. So lots to say so I’ll start with the positives.
The Positives:
I think their coverage of the history (go figure) was informative and succinct; big props to the producers for recognizing Nai Khanomtom and his achievements. I think this might have been the first time his name has ever been mentioned on US TV. I enjoyed seeing the various camps and schools. I also like the fact that they spent some time on Lerdrit (what was up with the Gi’s?) and Muay Boran as opposed to doing a long advertorial piece on Fairtex. (Which I was fully expecting) My coworker today asked me if I had seen the show over the weekend… Imagine that Muay Thai talk at the office cooler who would have ever thought.
The Negatives.
I’m trying to view it through the eyes of someone who knows next to nothing about Muay Thai. I suspect I’m being a bit critical, I guess I should have seen this coming.
They could have gone two directions with this show.
- Position the hosts as these bad ass guys who can take on all comers.
- Position them as pretty tough guys who are humbled to be in the presence of real bad asses
I think they tried to do a mix of both; however it didn’t come across that way at all. This is where it gets a little blurry to me. Do the hosts Jason and Bill actually think they can take on Yoddecha? or are they just going along with the program? The man is a former Lumpini Champion, they could have the rest of the month to get ready, still wouldn’t make a bit of difference.
The Meat Head commentary from Bill was classic though, once again I don’t actually know if he thinks he’s so bad he could take on Yoddecha or if he’s just playing his role. I suspect it’s a little bit of both. Here’s his classic quote “Sityodtong’s fighters an animal… I don’t care what he does, if he comes close to me I’m gripping him up and slamming him on the mat”
I thought the fight sparring was pretty amusing. I think Jason said something to the effect of “He’s not connecting with anything” and “He’s good man, He’s hard to get inside off.” Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but to me they made it seem like Jason was completely capable of hanging with Yoddecha.
All in all I guess I’m happy Muay Thai is getting the exposure, even though I wouldn’t have chosen to present it in the same manner. Anyway what were your thoughts
“Do the hosts Jason and Bill actually think they can take on Yoddecha? or are they just going along with the program? The man is a former Lumpini Champion, they could have the rest of the month to get ready, still wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”
That’s the part that frustrated me the most, as well. And, yes: the meathead commentary by Bill was annoying. Was it all for show, or does he really think he could take him? I like when he’s all, “I’m really upset. I came all the way to Thailand and I want to fight.” So, it was a little disappointing when Yoddecha didn’t get in there and just tee off on him. It was clear he was just lightly sparring.
I have mixed feelings about the added publicity Muay Thai has been getting lately. I think it’s great it’s being recognized for the truly great art it is. But at the same time, if they’re not going to show it in its full fury, what’s the point? I guess I’m feeling a little elitist because I was involved in this sort of form of fighting a little before it starting getting so much mainstream exposure. But as long as they don’t start incorporating step aerobics classes at my gym, it’s all good. ;)
The show sucks donkey b*lls. I was very offended. The computer animated figure was garbage….I’m sittin here watchin him throw knees with no hip extension….and his elbows looked like a hook to me.
“Muay thai the art of 8 limbs makes use of punches, elbows, knees and ‘feet’ “….ummm…Feet???….well…technically when u teep u do use ur feet, but what happened to the shins???? Did he leave that out on purpose or wut?….Also…they’re supposed to be training to fight Yodecha…..and they go to a Krabi Krabong school (specializing in weapons) to learn how to throw knees?????
My favorite part is when they walked up to the Muay Thai trainer and showed him the “double uppercut” technique they had just learned and asked him if it would be applicable….the coach looked at em like they were stupid….hahahahaahah……”NO!”….double uppercuts don’t work in the ring instead try this flying knee.
Bill is huge…..did he really think he was gonna get to fight??? Yeah right! stick to wrestling.
I don’t wanna see an army of thai cyborgs breaking cinder blocks and bricks….for that I’ll watch the ISKA.
At least the history was good, I’ll give them that.
That show was a typical U.S show, I would have rather liked to see those 2 bozos have a real fight with 2 thais with the same experience but instead they try to fool us into thinking that two farangs could just come to Thailand train for a few weeks and keep up with an ex Lumpini champion, to me that’s undermining his achievements and hard work….F*Ck that!
Thanx for the post, I’ve been waiting to vent all week. Oh..did anyone watch “Fight Girls” yesterday???….does anyone really believe that those thai women were champions in Thailand?
As I watched it I became a little more embarassed to be an american. I wrote a similiar entry about it as Nopstar on my blog. http://lesenfantperdus.blogspot.com
When i finally make it to Thailand for some training and fun I will go in claiming my mexican heritage thanks to the WWE wrestler and his side kick (although the smaller one wasn’t too embarrassing). I love how they set up a ‘fight’ with ’spectators’ (aka extras) for a sparring session. It would be something along the lines of me and Neungsiam sparring at a smoker and caling it a fight. What are you guys talking about? That double uppercut would have been great.. well .. the hook or kick to the head as he tries this ‘Street Fighter’ move is what would have been really nice to see. It didn;t do Yoddecha any justice because to someone that knows little or nothing about MT it would seem as if you can train for 2-3 weeks and be ready for a fight. I would love to see someone else attempt this show again but it’s really was cool to see MT on tv whenever possible.
Matt, I read ur blog….”Kings of Kickboxers”, hilarious!
How many people plan to be at the USF fights this Saturday? be great to meet up with a few people..
That show was riduclous bull shit. Our whole gym was waiting for this show and it was a huge let down. I mean, I’m glad Muay Thai got exposure but come on. The traditional stuff was ok but they should have focused on that for about 5 minutes.
That “fight” was crap, Yoddecha should have just beat the crap out of both of them, and the History Channel crew.
The show totally mislead the audience. I now have people coming up to me and ask if we train with swords and shit like that…
Thanks spydaman.
ernesto, I’ll be at USF fighting this weekend, but hopefully I’ll be able to hang out or at least meet.
I’m excited about seeing Evan Esguerra fight. I got to see him fight on a card back in Nov. (that card also had Ra Karma, Mike Regnier, Neungsiam, and Matee) It was really exciting.
Spydaman, I saw the Fight Girls episode last night, and I was thinking the same thing. Those girls are Thai champions? Champions of what, eating? That one girl was seriously porked out, and at times their technique was downright horrible. I find it hard to believe they are training full-time every day in Thailand. Again, I don’t get it: why misrepresent it? At this rate, we’re going to have a shitload of reformed housewives from the mid-West going over to Thailand to fight some “champions” that are going to be in for a rude awakening.
Oh, and I’m going to USF this weekend. Can’t wait!
They did a better job of covering history than I expected. Unfortunately, the hosts of the show are total tools! Bill is a meathead, and the other guy belongs on the set of american idol. BTW when that one host “fought” against the sityodthong champ, they were definitely going easier than if they were fighting at lumpinee. I enjoyed watching the footage of lumpinee fights and them training with the military and in the jungle. My favorite part was when the host was talking about not being able to take it in the jungle with all the mosquitos!!! LOL!!! Iwasn’t expecting to much from the show but i was entertained by the footage they showed. Tried to ignore the hosts as much as possible. I’m sure they’ll do just as good of a job with eskrima next week :(
“I now have people coming up to me and ask if we train with swords and shit like that…” ROFL……..oh my god!…..now that’s some funny shit!….hahaha.
Slayer, lately, I’ve really been wonderin about that Fight Girls show…it’s really starting to look faker and faker every week (blind folding people and having them walk on leaves…hehe). At least it’s entertaining. Go Miriam! Go Kery!
“I’m sure they’ll do just as good of a job with eskrima next week” I’m not looking forward to it.
So funny story, and very off topic. I haven’t been watching fights girls, I don’t think I even get the oxygen channel… anyway This past Sat. I’m sparring and this girl gets in the ring. The one thing I notice about her is her sick abs… She’s also wearing “Fight Girls” Muay Thai shorts. We spar, she’s quite good. ( I was on the receiving end of a nice teep to the balls) Afterwards I introduced myself… and ask if she’s in “Fight Girls”… yeah my name is Miriam.
Nop, your previous blog about sparring- especially with tough girls is true.
Back to the topic. I think that in the US, “martial arts” -including Muay Thai, as they call it will always have a stigma of being mysterious and fascinating- which, to me amounts to little more than the precious Daniel San being trained by the Arnold from Happy Days to beat the shit out of some 90210 tough guys. Yuck! All that being said- take it with a grain of salt.
Jason chambers admitted that he would’ve gotten his ass handed to him if the thai champion went 100%.
Yeah, Miriam was in there yesterday as well Nopstar, during competitive training. I came in when she was doing some clinch/knee training with Bunkerd, Evan, and a couple others. All I can say is Bunkerd has still got it. Even though he was crusing, and even though he was noticably shorter than anyone he was training with, Bunkerd would land solid knees at will. He’d also jump up on his opponent repeatedly and make them carry his entire weight. It was classic.
But, yeah, Miriam seemed pretty legit, and she does indeed have some pretty tasty abs. I talked to her afterwards for a while and she seemed pretty cool to me.
Slayer… I’m missing something, do we train together?
I just started training at F & F a few months ago, but I suck ass, so I’m too embarassed to identify myself. I’m easy to spot, though: I think I’m the only surfer guy who trains there, and the one who sucks major ass. ;)
FYI, I was the one who posted under Anonymous above about 90210.
Bunkerd, Neungsiam and basically all the former Thai champs can and will outclass most of us in knee sparring. They used to do that shit about 2x a day in their heyday.
I think History Channel’s taking a very open-minded and unbiased look at the styles theyr’e showcasing. What they can do is basically just focus on the mysticism and “bullshido” or some sort of a “this is cool b/c it’s foreign!”-esque documentary, but they didn’t…they approached it from a historical perspective and showcased modern training techniques and even put their own guys in there.
I think, while Bill Duff’s just a meathead…he’s also an “everyman” that most of the audience can identify with. Jason Chambers is an accompished MMA fighter, so he’s got some clue of what’s going on…and I must commend him for being open-minded and not taking the tone most MMA fighters would, in regards to TMA’s (even amazing ones like Muay Thai).
I just watched the Escrima episode also…and thusfar, I’m pretty impressed with the show. It displays, very well, how any given “style” is effective for its intended purpose and ruleset…
I look at it this way…it’s not campy like many documentaries on MA’s that we’ve seen. Afterall, it could have ended up like Fight Science, Xtreme Martial Arts, or that late 90’s Documentary on Martial Arts from Discovery Channel…
[...] of you guys still watching Human Weapon? I have to admit for all of my bitching I’m still watching it. I still think the one host [...]