I watched Shaolin Monk vs Maori. Very interesting since I knew nothing of the Maori and their weapons. I got a kick on how the Maori took special joy in eating their enemies just so they could turn them into human feces. I agreed with the outcome. The Shaolin use of steel hook weapons wins over wood and bone.

Watched the Shalin monk vs. Maori warrior... Can't help feeling oh so slightly offended on the Maori's part. Just saying. :confused:

Jet Li vs Jake the Muss, I know who I'd bet on to win! :lol:

Oddly, the first adversary I think of when I hear Maoris is the Afrika Korps. That might have been an interesting show...

Maori Tommies versus Afrika Korps Jerries. (It'd be the Tommy and Jerry show!) (Ow.)

Also, that had to be the smallest Maori I have ever seen. Hell I have had grade 9 students bigger than that.

Saw William Wallace vs. Shaka Zulu last night. These matches are getting personal.

It was somewhat surprising to see that a 13th century Scot was equipped with typical Renascence Scottish weapons (Classic two-hand Claymore with quatrefoils, dirk, targe with spike, etc.). He really was ahead of his time. ;) Makes me wonder if Shaka Zulu was correctly equipped with his spears, hide shield, and poison spitting (I have no idea).

Nevertheless, it was cool to watch the claymore lop off 3 'heads' in a single swing.

One problem with the show is that they grade the effectiveness of a weapon based on its ability to cause damage to a non-moving target. They do not give enough importance to a weapons speed. In any real fight, speed is so important.

By that logic, the most effective sword would be Cold Steel's Grosse Messer, and a rapier, or a katana would be no comparison.

Give me a stationary target and a crow bar, a shovel, or a hammer would do very well. I actually reallyy enjoy the show, as I enjoy any show about weapons, and I love to see weapons in use - but it seems simply enough to give more points for a weapon that is easier to weild, and is fast.

I've enjoyed it as much as any 2am mostly drunken discussion I've ever been a part of which seems to be how the show was created. :D

I have a feeling they'll run out of historical figures to match up, unless they start a round robin with all the winners of the previous season, but that would get pretty repetitious.

I'm waiting for the Tour Bus Driver vs Supermarket Bagboy fight! Or an Oompah-Loompah vs a Munchkin! Gandolph vs David Blaine!

If, hypothetically, I saw this at a DVD store, would it be worth my hard earned cash purchasing it?

From following this thread and the views shared on it, it seems like this series seems little more than McHistorian fanboy geekgasm-fest, akin to much vaunted "Han Solo vs. Captain Kirk" debates.

If that much is true, are there any series that actually does take the topic of various WMA, and the weapon systems used, and actually take great pains to be correct (or at least, be responsible) about it?

(For the record, Kirk would win. And then steal Princess Leia. And not call her the next day. He's a jerk like that.)

socconded. At least Kirk vs Solo wont increase some random Joe's level of missinformation about something like history/weapons.
And anyway, the battle would depend on if Solo shoots first.

It's almost cathartic to hear Nathan being so unequivocally negative about something. You're normally so diplomatic....

The show is stupid, but it is also fun to watch. Just because any time someone picks up a cool replica and actually gets to hit something, that is entertaining. The pain of it, is that it is a waste. They have all those cameras, dummies, facilities, lights, and of course weapons. Get Nathan, Patrick, Bill, etc... in there and it could be a real show - where we all really learn somthing.

The show is a tremendous waste of resources.

I have to defend the show, for a few reasons. One, its entertaining to watch dummies get torn apart, it gives a visceral feel to the weapons that reading about them doesn't. Though dummies they use don't move so they can't really imitate a human opponent seeing a worst case scenario is interesting. I think with selective viewing and a good base of knowledge it could be informational. Two, it can only do good. It will, no doubt, inspire some people to start really learning about historical arms. And for the misinformed, well other than the possibility that they can annoy those who know what their talking about, I see no way that inaccurate knowledge of thirteenth century fighting techniques could harm anybody. And finally, (sorry if this part comes off as offensive to anyone) you are an over specialized crowd, a show concerning the minutiae of detail that would interest an expert would only alienate the neophytes. Again back to the second point, I'm going to guess that for at least ninety percent of the people on here what got you interested in historical arms in no way involved anything historically correct or detail oriented. It's a harmless show, and anybody who expects good info from a network called "spike" is of questionable merit anyway.