Final Fu TV show on MTV

[AceHBK]

Has anyone seen this show. I saw it for the first time last night. I think it was the first episode. It is a show with I say 20 MA's who are competing against one another in a series of tests and fights to see who is number 1. It is hosted by Ernie Reyes Jr. (I didnt know who that guy was. I was like "hey that is the dude from the movie The Rundown...i have heard his name before")

I put this thread in this section b/c a majority of the people are TKDers with the exception of maybe 2 karate people.

If you have seen this what were your first impressions?

The shows bills itself as seeing which style is the best but everyone there is pretty much TKD.
There is sparring but it is continous point sparring.

 

[terryl965]

Ace I missed it when does it air again and what time!!
By the way how are you doing
Terry

 

[Flying Crane]

I saw a trailer for it. Gotta say, I'm pretty disgusted with the whole idea and the whole setup of the thing. Pretty horrible commercial venture in my opinion. dreck.

 

[IcemanSK]

I've not seen it yet, but I hope to. One of the trainers (or whatever they are called on the show) is Daniel Sterling. He's a multi-time world champion in forms & weapons. He's also a member of the same organization I'm a part of (USCDKA). I met him in May. He's amazingly talented & a nice guy.

 

[matt.m]

Yeah, when does this thing air. So let me get this straight it is continuous point sparring like in Best of the Best right. I think I would give it a shot as far as watching it, at least once.

 

[Fluffy]

Terry, It's on everyday at 7:30pm on MTV2.

Seems to be a large number of TKD fighters. XMA is one fighters style? Hmmm.....

No kicks or hands to the head are allowed? Hmmm.....

I want to watch a few more episodes before I condemn the entire series.

 

[Gemini]

I'll give it a shot, if for no other reason than to justify a pov. I hope it's better than the demo I just saw Saturday.

 

[evenflow1121]

Personally, I see this as a total and complete flop. Even the crowd MTV attracts would prob be more interested in the UFC Show on Spike than this. I heard one of the competitors on Final Fu refer to this competition as the ultimate competition, lol sure they are ready for the Tito Ortiz and the Wanderlei Silva's of the world. The link to the video with their profiles was on Bullshido, but I cant find the link now.

Anyways it sort of reminds of American Gladiators except for the fact that you can point fight to the body, and they lack those big nerf balls and guns like on Gladiators. Personally, I prefer the nerf artillery to point fighting.

 

[AceHBK]

It comes on at 10pm here in Texas terry on MTV.
It airs Monday - Friday.

Yes continous point sparring with no headshots and nothing below the knees.
Everyone was a 1st degree Black Belt with maybe 2 being higher degree black belts.

If anyone is interested you can submit an application..lol

It says it is to see which style is the best but there are no other styles except for Karate. I would have liked to have seen TKD against other styles.
Let me correct myself there is 1 Hapkido guy.

The XMA guy beat the American Karate guy which I still debate b/c it seemed like he really lost.

Is it like Best of the Best..HA!! lol Just punching and kicking, no throws or anything. More points are given if u connect with a ariel kicks (guess that is why the XMA guy one) rather than regular kicks and punches.

 

[AceHBK]

I dont wanna really bash the show b/c it is nice to see some MA competition on tv. I wish it would have called a competition of TKD'ers rather than a competition of styles b/c there arent enough styles represented.

I am just slowly coming to the realization that we will never see a competition on tv showcasing various styles.

I wonder why though there arent any higher degree black belts?

 

[Flying Crane]

I wonder why though there arent any higher degree black belts?

Like all "reality" TV shows, there is a desire to populate the show with young and attractive people who have a lot of flash and can do the fancy stuff that is turning some martial arts into more of a performance art. I suspect that many of the higher ranking people are older than say, 25 years old and maybe can't do all the flashy fancy acrobatics. They don't have the "sex appeal" that the younger croud has. This is one of the problems I have with this kind of thing. They promote these people as 20 of the "best" martial artists, and that is just not true. There are so many older, more experienced people who could destroy them in an instant, but they are apparently not young enough, attractive enough, and flashy enough to attract a viewing audience. So we get stuck with a bunch of early-20s-something first degree black belts who have a lot of flash, because that is what sells right now.

It's good eye-candy, but little more than that.

 

[Fluffy]

If anyone is interested you can submit an application..lol

And you are under the age of 30......

 

[Fluffy]

I wonder why though there arent any higher degree black belts?

Everyone is under the age of 30, but they did have one 4th Dan. Most are 1st or 2nd Dans with a couple 3rds. The TKD guy at the end, who somehow won his match (even though he was dominated) did not look sharp. I think the no head contact rule really threw these guys for a loop. I know I would have issues with it.

 

[AceHBK]

Everyone is under the age of 30, but they did have one 4th Dan. Most are 1st or 2nd Dans with a couple 3rds. The TKD guy at the end, who somehow won his match (even though he was dominated) did not look sharp. I think the no head contact rule really threw these guys for a loop. I know I would have issues with it.

Oh ok..thanks for the correction. Under 30?!!? 18 - 30 is too narrow of an age range especially in MA.

I totally agree...the XMA was totally dominated in the fight left and right. He should have lost. I dont like how you receive more points for ariel kicks.

With the above said im interested in seeing how the Hapkido guy does being that there is no grabbing involved in the point sparring matches.

 

[AceHBK]

Like all "reality" TV shows, there is a desire to populate the show with young and attractive people who have a lot of flash and can do the fancy stuff that is turning some martial arts into more of a performance art. I suspect that many of the higher ranking people are older than say, 25 years old and maybe can't do all the flashy fancy acrobatics. They don't have the "sex appeal" that the younger croud has. This is one of the problems I have with this kind of thing. They promote these people as 20 of the "best" martial artists, and that is just not true. There are so many older, more experienced people who could destroy them in an instant, but they are apparently not young enough, attractive enough, and flashy enough to attract a viewing audience. So we get stuck with a bunch of early-20s-something first degree black belts who have a lot of flash, because that is what sells right now.

It's good eye-candy, but little more than that.

Excellent point made.

 

[evenflow1121]

Like all "reality" TV shows, there is a desire to populate the show with young and attractive people who have a lot of flash and can do the fancy stuff that is turning some martial arts into more of a performance art. I suspect that many of the higher ranking people are older than say, 25 years old and maybe can't do all the flashy fancy acrobatics. They don't have the "sex appeal" that the younger croud has. This is one of the problems I have with this kind of thing. They promote these people as 20 of the "best" martial artists, and that is just not true. There are so many older, more experienced people who could destroy them in an instant, but they are apparently not young enough, attractive enough, and flashy enough to attract a viewing audience. So we get stuck with a bunch of early-20s-something first degree black belts who have a lot of flash, because that is what sells right now.

It's good eye-candy, but little more than that.

Excellent points, this isnt really a serious martial arts show, though I am sure everyone has figured this out. Its another MTV produced, with a bunch of kids with spikey hair running around, doing their thing, like if they just won Pride or the UFC.

 

[AceHBK]

Ok I just saw tonight's episode.
Johnathan's lack of respect for American Karate was soooo uncalled for. To call it "crap" and to "look down upon" another MA is plain rude escpecially from someone who MADE UP his own MA style!

I felt bad for the Hapkido guy b/c he was so out of his elemnt b/c he doesnt do point sparring. Without the ability to use joint locks/manipulation and never having done point sparring he was ice skating up a hill taking on a TKD'er. His opponent on the other hand faileed to impress me. Being a 4th degree and his lack of ability to exercise control showed me he has a long way to go.

I have no problem with it being on MTV...some attention is better than no attention. Instead of seeing movies with wire work now people can see something that are real and what some styles look like. I think though that they would do better if all the contestants were TKD and Karate or styles that do point sparring b/c as we saw tonight with the Hapkido guy, things are one sided.

 

[terryl965]

Yea Matt was on the discovery channel about XMA and you are right about Johnathon the man that created his own style knocking Karate.

Matt had a greta fight, wonder why so many TKD guys if they are planning on getting to the very best.

Don't get me wrong I love TKD just should have had a Kung Fu and Kempo person on the show.
Terry

 

[Fluffy]

So, it turns out no groin shots (one of the questions I had). And the trash talking has begun......of course, the biggest mouth looks like the guy I think will be weakest link (goodbye). What was that "American Karate Sucks" comment about? Come on, have some type of class.

Did else anyone notice the corner judges wearing the XMA outfits?

The light contact fighting is very close to no contact fighting, I had to fight....the urge to shut it off. I was not impressed today. Though I did like the 4th Dan who was fighting, he was accused of not having enough control......those rules are hard, he fights and hits as hard as most of the higher ranks I train with. He needs to fight by the rules to compete in this, so I hope he can step it down a notch.

As for the females fighting the males in this comp; under these rules I feel they can do well. They are fast, no question! And, I bet, it's because the females face the males they have that no head contact rule.

The best fighter fill not win this comp, it's the one who can play the game and dial it in the fastest. Out of the 3 fights I have seen, 2 of the better fighters have lost. Here's a strategy for you, crowd your sparring partner and just through punches....work with your sparring partner and just connect back and forth with 1 pt. shots.....I bet you can get 150 pts. per round each? Just a thought, because that's how you win this sort of game - not with actual sparring.

I told my students I would be watching this show, so we can discuss all the little details.......I can now see it will be hard to stay positive.

 

[AceHBK]

Being that Matt is a 4th Dan to means to me that he should be able to show more control than the lower belts on the show. My former Master is a 4th Dan and we sparred all the time and he always stressed control and showed it in our sparring matches.

I am already waiting to see Johnathan lose. His big mouth is waering thin on me. It was funny when he saw Ernie Reyes Jr break 3 bricks and was like "his style is awesome". I was sitting there saying to myself....."he does TKD and Muay Thai u idiot."

I agree Terry, I would have loved to have seen a Kenpo or kung fu guy in there as well. It is nice seeing all these TKD guys in there though.

Fluffy I did notice the 2 guys wearing the XMA stuff. I found it weird being that the black judge was a Kenpo master while the white judge was a Wing Chun master.

Fluffy, I totally agree with you on the assestment on how to win the fight. You do better to crowd your opponent and punch (sine u get 2 pts for punching) rather than trying to kick to the upper leg or body (only 1 pt. for kicking) I think this will have a negative impact on fights b/c it makes matches look sloppy. I also see why the ariel kicks get more points (3 pt.) b/c they have alot of XMA guys in there.

The fight monday night where I feel like that guy who lost the sparring match got cheated to me seemed like a really good fighter along with Matt.