Human Weapon

Jason Chambers and Bill Duff venture back to the Land of the Rising Sun to study one of the most mysterious, subversive, and deadly martial arts in the world--Ninjutsu. From the electric streets of Tokyo to the misty mountains of North Japan--our hosts will wield the swords, throwing stars, and violent takedowns of the Ninja. They'll explore the secret passages of a 300-year-old Ninjutsu barracks, and hone the secret fighting tactics of Japan's immortal shadow warriors. And it's all in preparation for one ultimate challenge: a back-to-back showdown with two Ninjutsu masters.

Bred in dark jungles of Southeast Asia, Pradal Serey is a devastating striking art of bone shattering kicks and punches. This ancient fighting art of the mysterious Angkor Empire, some argue that it's the forefather of modern Muay Thai. It's little known outside Cambodia's borders. From gritty urban fighting pits to the sweltering jungles of the north, hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff, journey into the heart of Pradal Serey to perfect the vicious strikes of this brutal martial art. Along the way they'll race water buffalo against natives in a 1000 year old village festival and learn the ancient killing techniques of Khmer warriors. Their journey culminates when they enter the ring to battle it out against a 4 time Pradal Serey champion.

Hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff journey to China, home to one of the oldest and most famous martial arts of all; Kung Fu. From Beijing to the Great Wall, our hosts will travel this vast country learning techniques from some of the greatest living masters. After practicing flying kicks fifteen feet in the air at a kung fu film studio and learning the brutal moves of the Chinese police, our hosts will arrive at one of the most sacred sites in all martial arts to witness the awesome feats of the Shaolin fighting monks. And finally one of the hosts will step into the ring to take on a true kung fu champion.

Hosts Bill Duff and Jason Chambers travel to Quantico, Virginia to get a painful lesson in the martial art that has helped create the Marines' widely feared reputation, the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program or MCMAP is the martial art developed by the United States Marine Corps to combine hand-to-hand and weapon based combat with a basis of morale and team-building functions. The MCMAP was created in 2001 to train Marines and US Navy personnel who were assigned to Marine Units to fight in unarmed combat as well as specific armed situations with a rifle or bayonet but it also teaches how to fight in weapons of oppurtunity situations which means whatever you find to fight with, use it! The MCMAP uses over 180 deadly moves derived from ancient martial arts all around the world which Bill and Jason will need to learn before they take the Human Weapon challenge of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

Jason and Bill journey to Athens, Greece to study what might be the world's first ever true martial art. This martial art was made famous by the Spartans and was first formed nearly 4000 years ago. It is also the known origin of wrestling, boxing, grappling and kickboxing. At the end of their journey either Jason or Bill will face a 6 time national Pankration champion.

Jason and Bill travel to France to learn the ancient art of Savate, the official hand-to-hand combat technique of the French police. After exploring a castle from the 14th century, and causing an uproar when they interrupt a special training session, one of the guys will go it alone in a ring with a Savate champion.

Eskrima (or Escrima), a fighting style indigenous to the Philippines, is believed to have evolved from Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian martial arts forms brought to the islands by South China Sea traders around the 2nd century. It is a mostly weapons-based fighting style that combines punches, kicks, takedowns and joint lock techniques with stick and sword or knife fighting techniques. Eskrima was first introduced to the non-Filipino world in 1521, when Spanish explorers led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the South China Sea to stake their claim on the Philippine islands. Soon after the invasion, Magellan himself was killed on the small island of Mactan by native resisters armed with hardened sticks and led by the island’s chief, Lapu-Lapu. Spain eventually gained control of the Philippines and outlawed all indigenous martial arts. Over the next several centuries, many fighters continued their practice in secret, by disguising Eskrima techniques in what they pretended were ceremonial dance-like rituals. The ban was lifted after 1898, when the United States won control of the Philippines from Spain, but an air of secrecy remained around Eskrima and its practitioners. During World War II, Filipino fighters used the stick-and-sword techniques to resist Japanese invaders, compensating for a lack of firearms with powerful, swift movements of their sticks and knives. By the 1970s, however, organizations such as the Doce Pares association and the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) had managed to turn Eskrima from a martial art used primarily for killing into a sport, with organized competitions and generally sanctioned rules and regulations. Eskrima techniques are still employed by the Filipino army, especially in its struggle against guerrilla members of the militant Islamic organization Abu Sayyaf, related to Al Qaeda. Adapted from the Spanish word esgrima (fencing), Eskrima is variously referred to as Arnis (from the Spanish word for harness) and Kali. Unlike other martial arts, each strike in Eskrima is designed to be used three different ways: empty-handed; with a knife; or with a baston, or stick, often made of a lightweight bamboo-like wood called rattan. Eskrima fighters can use single-stick, double-stick and stick-and-dagger techniques. Some key moves in Eskrima include tapi-tapi, a system of defensive checks and counter-attacks, and labai, a violent takedown where a fighter checks his opponent, locks his opponent’s elbow over his arm, and uses leg thrust and momentum to throw the other fighter to the ground.