Customer Reviews

History Channel: Human Weapon - The Complete Season 1

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Human Weapon is a show that aired late last year on the History Channel and is hosted by martial arts fighter Jason Chambers and former football pro Bill Duff. They put their bodies on the line in every episode of this show and it was entertaining and informative on every style of fighting they learned. The best part of each episode was the end where one of the two hosts would take on a master in the martial art they just learned. Certain episodes feature such MMA stars as Cung Le, Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko!

Episodes include:
DISC 1: Muay Thai: Ultimate Striking; Eskrima Stickfighting; Karate; Savate Streetfighting; Bonus: Master Fights
DISC 2: Judo: Samurai Legacy; Pankration: The Original Martial Art; Krav Maga of the Israeli Commandos; Marine Corps Martial Arts; Bonus: Additional Footage
DISC 3: MMA: America's Extreme Fighting; Kung Fu; Sambo: Russia's Extreme Fighting; Cambodian Blood Sport
DISC 4: Silat: Martial Art of Malaysia; Passport to Pain; Ninjutsu; Taekwondo; Bonus: Master Moves

I'm 74 and live in Australia. My daughter Alex. is 50 and still trains daily doing Kung-Fu, so she bought this DVD for me to understand her love for her style.
This show brilliantly showed me many styles and gave me an insight into her love for Martial Arts.
Thank You.
When's Season 2 coming out?

This show is awesome! The formula is simple, each week, Jason and Bill go and learn about a new martial art from the people who really know. As one would expect from the History channel, not only do they learn about each fighting style, but also the history behind each style and how it fits into the history and culture of the people who developed it. As Jason and Bill learn various moves from a particular style, they show a 3-dimension demonstration of how each move works. These computer graphics really illustrate the power and skill of each martial art. Then at the end of each episode, either Bill or Jason have to go up against a real master in their art to see how well they learned. Simple, but awesome! I can't wait for the next season of Human Weapon.

I've only watched about one-third of the episodes, but I love this show. The show gets five stars. The hosts provide enough commentary, but do not overwhelm the show, and the computer animation sequences allow you to follow along and practice the moves.

Several of the chapters on the DVD are missing the first several minutes, which included the introduction and origin of the martial arts (Silat, Ninjitsu, Savate). These chapters started with Chambers and Duff in the dojo practicing, but the missing parts left the viewers wondering what is the name of the dojo, who is the master teaching them, what is the master's background and what was the origin of the martial arts. It would have been a very good documentary DVD, if they included the beginning/missing parts.

As a former Tae Kwon Do student myself, I found this series very entertaining, and unfortunately was another History Channel series (such as Dogfights) that was replaced by other unworthy surrogates.

Both of the hosts (Bill Duff, a former college football player for the University of Tennessee) and Jason Chambers (a Jeet Kun Do expert) travel everywhere from the far reaches of Asia to even Europe (Greece, Russia) to learn various martial arts techniques and go up against an expert of their respective martial arts at the end of the show. What was interesting about this series was the computer animations that served as a visual aide in elaborating how certain techniques are performed.

The only thing that I was slightly disappointed in was the fact that this show could have showed more basic moves while cutting back on the chatter that both hosts had with martial arts experts. However, this is a very slight blemish (and I emphasize slight) because I realize this show was developed to provide a general outlook to those who may not have ever been exposed to the fighting styles that were aired with show (such as Eskrima which is better known by my Pilipino brethren as Arnis [pronounced are - niece]).

All in all, this was a great series and I truly recommend it for anyone with the slightest interest in martial arts. I have a 5 month old son who I plan to enroll in a martial arts discipline by the time he reaches 4 years of age. This show helped me revive my interest.

This should be a part of everyone's collection. You learn a little about each countries culture, art, and some fighting techniques for the ring and street. The two hosts grow on each other each episode, and their interaction is both fun and frustrating. But unlike most TV they do grow and learn and work together. Great stuff.

-Dan

I love this Dvd box!
Jason and Bill are amazing when they discover different Martial Arts all over the world.

I you want to find out more about the art of fighting buy this box :)

Human Weapon is a show that appeared on the History Channel during 2007. This dvd set contains all of the first season episodes and a few extras. The show predated the Discovery Channel's Fight Quest by a few months. Since comparisons will be inevitable, I will first comment on this dvd set in particular and then comment on the show itself.

The Human Weapon complete dvd set came with 4 dvds. There are some extras on the disks along with the usual chapter surfing through each of the episodes. You can chose which episode per disk you want to view first. The quality of the picture is about the same as it was when the show aired on HC. In general, I liked what was done with the dvd set and thought "this is what the Discovery Channel should have done with their Fight Quest dvd set".

Now, to the show itself. In my opinion, this show is not quite as entertaining as Fight Quest. Although both shows are good and follow a similar format, the differences in Human Weapon are what make it a little less than great. Both hosts in Human Weapon seem more rehearsed and staged. Also, only 1 host in Human Weapon must participate in competitive sparring by the end of each martial art exposure, whereas in Fight Quest the 2 hosts both had to compete at the end of their quests. Human Weapon had more explanation about the moves and the arts themselves than Fight Quest, which is something I liked better about Human Weapon. However, the fighting seemed less intense and real than the fights in Fight Quest. Also, partly because Human Weapon had more episodes, there are some arts that are different or are displayed in this show and not in Fight Quest. For example, Fight Quest contains episodes focused on Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Korean hapkido, which are not found in Human Weapon. Both shows contain episodes on karate, French savate, Chinese kung fu, and Israeli krav maga.

Trivia: Jimmy Smith from Fight Quest beat Jason Chambers of Human Weapon in a mixed martial arts fight in California, on May 12, 2006 according to Chambers' entry on wikipedia.

Overall, I recommend watching Human Weapon if you are into martial arts or just a little interested. This dvd set is better than Fight Quest's but the show itself was not quite as good as FQ.

A real travel across the globe to be shwon very interesting techniques and grandmasters .
The fights at the end of each episode are sometimes realistic ,some other times more choregraphed .The tall guy in it Bill Duff releis more on his weight than on his techniques and he's a bit "soft" that's to say he hurts himself or complain all the time .