Martial Arts vs. Crash Test Dummies: National Geographic’s FIGHT
SCIENCE
by Dr. Craig Reid
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Muay Thai kickboxer, Melchor |
How many of you out there have ever wondered just how
powerful a good karate spinning back fist is compared to a boxing right
cross, or how deadly a muay thai knee strike is compared to a tae kwon
do kick, or how fast is a kung fu finger jab compared to a boxing jab?
Is it really possible for a small man to kill a large man with one
carefully placed strike or for someone to easily incapacitate an
attacker without throwing a single punch or kick? If there is one TV
show you must see this year, it has to be FIGHT SCIENCE on Sunday,
August 20 at 9 pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. This highly
intelligent show marries a dream team of crash test scientists, sports
biomechanists and Hollywood animators with a cross-section of legitimate
martial artists representing various styles of martial arts in an
attempt to separate martial arts fact from fiction.
With 32 infrared motion capture cameras, three high-definition
cameras and three ultra-high-speed cameras carefully utilized throughout
a custom-built combination dojo, high-tech lab and film studio that
took over a year to design and build, scientists used crash test dummies
to measure and map speed, force, range and impact of muscles and bones
on the fighter’s body. Furthermore, by using motion-capture techniques
and CGI animation, various sophisticated animated models of the human
musculo-skeletal, nervous and organ systems were created to gain insight
into just how the body generates each move and what the effect is on
the human body when subjected to these attacks. What all of this really
comes down to is that for the first time we are going to scientifically
determine just how fast and powerful martial artists’ punches and kicks
are, and to answer all of the aforementioned questions. To me, this is
one of the coolest shows ever on TV that deals with martial arts
outside of cinema.
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Wide shot of "Biomechanical Dojo." |
"The first thing to clarify here is that this is not about comparing
styles or trying to prove one style is better than the other," the
show’s producer and martial arts supervisor James Lew asserts. "To me
this is hopefully a way to unify all styles and to develop an
understanding of the techniques of these styles with the further purpose
of quantifying the martial arts.
"We have always been struck with the mystery of martial arts, train
traditional ways, never question, just do it until it works. But
personally, I have always been interested in finding out how fast and
powerful a technique is. Also with this show, the general public can
relate to the martial arts, as we are able to demystify them and make
people understand that what we as martial artists do takes hard work and
discipline."
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Breaking technique world |
The martial artist test subjects that FIGHT SCIENCE put
under the gun includes the 200-bout tae kwon do champion Bren Foster;
leader of the Gracie clan Rickson Gracie; stuntman and karate expert
Mark Hicks; the legendary Danny Inosanto; the only female subject and
former Beijing Wushu Team member Li Jing; veteran ninjitsu practitioner
Glen Levy; the proclaimed "world’s greatest grappler" Dean Lister; muay
thai world champion Melchor Menor; seven-time Japan national cutting
champion and descendant of the Heike clan samurai line Obata Toshishiro;
undefeated pro-boxer Steve Petramale; holder of seven world records for
breaking ice, brick walls and cinderblocks Craig and Paul Pumphrey;
senior disciple of Toshishiro and weapons expert Nathan Scott; the
founder and leader of Capoeira Los Angeles Amir Solsky; and,
representing kung fu and wushu, three-time national gold medalist in
wushu, Shaolin kung fu stylist (dragon fist) and Chinese kung fu weapons
expert Alex Huynh.
"I was humbled with the caliber of the talent that was on the show,"
Huynh admits, "and I was excited to get involved in this project as it
is a cool concept to merge these two different worlds of science and
martial arts. I also thought that this would be a great training tool,
and I really wanted to know just how fast I was, and if I wasn’t fast
enough with the numbers, then I must train harder.
"When I found out I was four times faster than a snake
(rattlesnake)," he youthfully laughs, "I was like let’s go out and get a
snake and challenge it. It was amazing working with these scientists."
Who were these champions of science that put all of these dedicated
martial artists to the test? Dr. Cynthia Bir from Wayne State
University and creator of what she calls "the three-rib,
ballistic-impact device," a human-shaped gel dummy used to evaluate the
impact of bullets and edged weapons and assess their injurious effects
on the human body; Dr. Tim Walilko, senior engineer at Applied Research
Associates and trauma and sports biometrics specialist; Dr. Norman
Murphy, a biomechanist at Tekscan, Inc., with expertise in using an
in-shoe F-Scan sensor to instantaneously map and track the human gait
and balance in real time; and Randy Kelly, engineer and VP of sales and
business development at Robert A. Denton, Inc., the world’s leader in
the design and development of government-approved crash test dummies,
the martial artists’ main opponent in the FIGHT SCIENCE ring of
knowledge and technology.
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Motion Capture reveals the stunning |
"To be honest, I have never had an interest in martial arts," Kelly
admits, "and so our interest in FIGHT SCIENCE is that we are always
looking for ways to understand the impact on human bodies, and this was
an avenue to collect data in a field we’ve never done before and to see
what we can learn about their punches, kicks, power, speed and balance.
Can they administer the death punch? More kids are involved in martial
arts than ever, and we wanted to understand what is happening in
martial arts and if we need to incorporate any safety features to make
this a safe activity."
When asked if the scientific team had any expectations or skepticism
in regard to what we hear about martial artists and their abilities,
Kelly says, "Because I come from the crash environment, which is a
pretty severe application, we typically run our crashes at 30 mph, 35
and higher; I wasn’t expecting much in terms of sheer power or force.
Also, because our dummies and sensors are designed for high impact, I
didn’t expect any of these guys to register much of anything that was
significant."
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Black belt Bren Foster striking a |
One by one each stylist stepped up to the dummy and gave it their
best punch and their best kick. Some martial artists were finally able
to let loose with their deadliest techniques, from ninjitsu expert Glen
Levy’s "kill with one strike" blow to Rickson Gracie being able to apply
the full force of his family’s devastating joint locks and neck twists.
Additionally, various weapons such as the Chinese broadsword and
straightsword (jian and dao), the samurai sword, nunchaku, 3-section
staff, bo and kali sticks were all evaluated in terms of their potential
for inflicting bodily harm and quickly killing an assailant. One
special test using ninja plum poles (poles of varying heights arranged
in patterns for movement and stance training) investigated whether some
martial artists could jump and walk with the stealth of a cat. It was
also determined just how much force was needed to break through blocks
of ice, cinderblocks and bricks, and if these breaks were for real or
simply based on tricks of physics.
"On the first day of the show there was a lot of egos running
around," Kelly reflects. "There was also a sense of pride with the
people on what they could do, but not boastful, more of, ‘Wow, I have
data to justify what I’ve always thought.’ For example, you can see the
ninja guy (Levy) get excited that he could displace the sternum enough
to cause death. The muay thai guy (Menor) knew his knee was powerful,
but he had no way to judge it other than the guy on the floor."
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Inside view of the dreaded Dim Mak, or |
Lew agrees that in the beginning each martial artist was sort of
giving each other the eye, measuring each other up, but as time went by
the true magic of martial arts shone through: brotherhood.
"The mutual respect came out," Lew says, "and each was interested to
watch the other perform. So again it was a fantastic way to unify the
martial artists. We can all appreciate something that is done so well,
regardless of what style, because you can see the true artist of that
style. We became like one happy family and that was the coolest thing.
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Glen Levy, a Ninja black |
"To me, another gift of the show was when Menor, who earlier was very
spirited with his knee strikes, got to do the ninja plum poles. His
attitude was like, ‘I’m going to go up there and show everyone what I
can do,’ but when he got up there, he was shaking in fear. I got a
sense that it was a humbling experience for him, and what he took away
from the show was that, ‘I may be a great fighter, but I still have a
lot to learn.’ It’s true, the statement about the more you know the
less you know. As I was watching everything go down, I realized that I
am only touching the tip of any of this knowledge."
For Huynh, and undoubtedly for most of the martial artists, there was
probably a seed of doubt in their minds as to whether or not they were
representing their respective arts in a positive light and in a fashion
that reflects well within the community of their style. Yet at the end
of the day, Kelly – whose job as a scientist is to look at things in an
objective manner – emphatically stated, "The tests revealed a fair
assessment of each of the martial arts, and what we can say is that –
given that particular series of tests, and those individuals striking
those dummies – certain martial artists had the most effective kick or
punch or strike on that particular day. We now have data to quantify
these things.
"What was great about the show was that although we were able to
point out the strengths and potential weakness of each style, it was not
about showing which style is good or bad. The program did a good job
of highlighting their differences in techniques and that size makes a
difference. They showed the human anatomy so well and did a good job of
explaining what happens to the human body when struck.
"We would like to test other martial art disciplines, get a broader
data base and also use martial artists with similar size and mass to get
a better A to B comparison. We’d also use a different dummy because
the one we used had too much rebound during impact. If we had braced
the dummy more, we would probably have seen higher punch and kick loads
than what we presented on the show."
Huynh notes, "During the weapons portion, where they used ballistic
gel to create the feel of thrusting a sword into a human body, I thought
it would be a piece of cake to cut it up. But when I felt the gel in
front of me and the camera was rolling, something inside of me clicked;
because I had never cut a person before, besides myself during practice,
and now this is an opportunity to cut someone with a sword and it would
feel real. It was a moment of fear. But the director came up to me
and said, ‘Relax, it’s not real.’ I’m thankful to James for giving me
the chance to represent the kung fu/wushu community. To me, martial
arts in the broadest sense is the destination, and the styles are the
avenues to this destination, and to understand martial arts as a whole
you have to understand each discipline."
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During a "Reaction Time" Test, a |
Following the results of all of these experiments, two things stuck
out in my mind – which I will relate in a humorous tone. First, I am
glad no one in the world is the master of every martial art; second,
thank god we don’t stand still when we get hit.
Lew is a believer in cross training, saying that by learning and
training in many different styles, you can improve your own style. The
results of these tests prove the capabilities and gaps in knowledge of
each style. Similar to Kelly’s conclusion about the show’s value, Lew
agrees that the data should be used to develop better protective
sparring gear and pads that can more efficiently dissipate a strike’s
power, eliminate the damage and minimize the injuries.
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CGI takes viewers inside the human |
On a personal note, though, Lew was impressed by the singularity of a
boxer’s punch and with the technology of speed sensors, saying, "It’s a
great way to learn how to hit harder and faster. They put a sensor in
your hand and you punch. It then measures speed from point zero, midway
and at the point of impact. So they can measure if you’re slowing down
through your punch, which of course will affect the punch’s
performance."
Although on a "wow"-factor basis Kelly was impressed with the
breaking abilities of the Pumphreys (during the wall-breaking segment,
when the wall was three quarters built, the Pumphreys insisted on
tearing it down and rebuilding it because they found a cracked brick),
it was the intangibles that Kelly appreciated most about the martial
artists.
"With the weapon users, it was amazing that when they used the
weapons, they truly were extensions of the hand," Kelly says. "But the
one thing that impressed me most about them was everyone’s sheer
athleticism, their commitment to their discipline and that they were all
very smart about the human body on what it is they could and could not
do. But overall, they were all just great people. Like the martial
arts spirit, it is these things that can’t be measured scientifically."
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CGI image of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu |
Fight Science was executive produced by John Brenkus and Mickey Stern
of BASE productions.
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