The Lesson Plan

National Geographic’s Fight Science!

Posted in History by Sir Martz on 10 February 2007

Saw this awesome documentary called Fight Science courtesy of National Geographic. It’s basically about the science of martial arts, the physics behind punches, kicks and various martial arts weapons. This is really “An Inconvenient Truth” about martial arts. Watch it!

Here’s a trailer. Click below the cut to watch the entire thing on YouTube!

These are the links to all 10 parts on YouTube:

Can’t stand watching it on YouTube? Check the National Geographic channel for schedules and times!

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16 comments

16 Responses

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  1. flyingchicken said, on 10 February 2007 at 3:07 pm

    Is this the one with the 3d-muscle-people-animation thing? Dial-up is restrictive, and I might have watched this before. Thanks in advanced, sir.

  2. Sir Martin said, on 10 February 2007 at 3:10 pm

    Yup, they have those.

  3. ipudlover said, on 10 February 2007 at 6:49 pm

    Oh yeah..rock on sir!

  4. Sir Martin said, on 10 February 2007 at 6:57 pm

    Yeah, I hope this helps with your project. :)

  5. An Inconvenient Truth « I luv iPud, do you? said, on 11 February 2007 at 8:54 pm

    [...] Ang cool ng National Geographic – Fight Science, nasa blog post ni Sir Martin yung links. Thank you [...]

  6. shayne said, on 24 February 2007 at 9:16 am

    sir, is this the one that is featured during the martial arts week?

  7. Sir Martin said, on 24 February 2007 at 9:26 am

    Shayne, yeah this is the one. :)

  8. shayne said, on 24 February 2007 at 5:32 pm

    oh cool. i’ve watched this twice. natgeo did put in a lot of effort on this thing.

    i’ve watched the Top 10 Deadliest kung-fu weapons. do you think that the flying guillotine really exists?

  9. Sir Martin said, on 24 February 2007 at 5:56 pm

    Flying guillotine sounds too much like legend and I find it an ugly weapon. Haha. Parang ang hassle gamitin.

  10. The Show-Ender said, on 26 February 2007 at 12:39 am

    I noticed that the Taekwondo practicioner gets a lot of screen time. Heck, he even gets to do the katana testing. Obviously, “Fight Science” smells of bias…

  11. Sir Martin said, on 26 February 2007 at 6:17 am

    I actually found the Taekwondo guy with the katana weird…

  12. Marc said, on 10 March 2007 at 6:20 am

    Fight Science has some interesting moments, but it ultimately misses the target on a few items. First and foremost is that the Kung Fu guy is a Wu Shu practitioner, not a traditional martial artist. What does that mean? He’s a performer, not a fighter. Also, the reaction time bit is interesting, but that is not why some martial artists seemingly read their opponents’ minds. Lastly, the power tests are pretty bogus, even the boxer mentions that the bigger the fighter, the harder they can hit. The boxer was probably a heavy weight, the TKD guy and others middle weight, the Kung Fu guy was a light or feather weight class. No real comparison there for a “scientific” study of power production. I could go on…

  13. Pisay Meets World Featured Project #4: Scholar-do « Inevitable Karma said, on 11 March 2007 at 4:45 pm

    [...] Visit their site for an entertaining and unsurprisingly educational look at their own martial art based on the concepts of physics, biology and (believe it or not) chemistry! (And some people had too much Fight Science!) [...]

  14. Eugene said, on 24 May 2007 at 2:21 am

    Marc, Wu Shu is a style of martial arts. That guy IS a fighter, not a performer. Wu Shu means martial arts, and it is what americans call “kung fu”. If thats not a form of fighting, take it up with Bruce Lee. :D

  15. Mike said, on 16 July 2007 at 8:43 pm

    Hey guys I am a fighter my self I have taken Ninjitu Jiu-Jitsu, and Tae-Kwan-Do, And I have been doing ring fights for the past few years. And what the guy ‘Marc’ sayed about the fight science kinda got me annoyed me a little. In martial arts you are able to build up a lot of power if you know how to, for example I could throw a guy across the room with a double palm strike and I’m only 5′. So in that I beleive he is wrong. And if you want to compare size with power you can’t becouse it does have a little bit of a difference but not much at all.

  16. Vince said, on 28 October 2007 at 9:24 am

    Interesting, I’ve seen the series a couple of times. I would just like to comment on the discussion. I’ve seen these exchange of theories several times already especially in mixed martial arts forums and the same thing happens all the time, an exchange of theories mostly debating which is the best martial arts of all or just to prove one theory wrong against the other. I on the other hand believes that there is no “best” martial art. I have undergone training also and like the great Bruce Lee I do not prefer any specific art over the other, because every art is different and unique therefore each has it’s own secrets, strengths and weaknesses. It all depends on the fighter on how he/she executes what he/she has learned. Execution is deadlier than theory. Mort martial artist miss the basic teachings of martial arts, “respect”. Learn to respect your adversary, respect other martial arts because they’re the fruit of people’s hard work and they are meant to kill.


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