Deadliest Warrior on Spike

[Bruce N H]

Hey all,

Has anyone seen the show "Deadliest Warrior" on Spike TV? I caught part of this last night and it was fairly interesting. They imagine match-ups between different types of warriors and consider the weapons they used, armor they wore, style of fighting etc and try to predict who would be victorious. Last night it was viking versus samurai, and the part I was watching was going into depth about the weapons each carried and how they were trained. Anyway, if you don't get Spike, it looks like you can watch episodes online.

Bruce

[Username]

I watched the Apache warrior vs gladiator episode. I found it's a lot like Mythbusters - fun but not quite accurate 'science.'

[Heir of Black Falcon]

I wish I had time to watch the whole thing.... or not. Usually TV programs have some very odd concepts pushed through that make me wonder who their historic advisors were...

So what was the summary of this fight?

Heir

[Bruce N H]

So what was the summary of this fight?

Unfortunately my wife doesn't have some of the same TV tastes as I. So I was watching it and this guy was hacking at a dummy with a battle axe and they had all these sensors hooked up to the dummy measuring force of the blows, etc, and my wife comes in and says "do we have to watch this?" Um, okay, let's see what's on another channel.

Bruce

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Bruce,

I know the feeling.... I think we are watching you've got mail tonight...

OK.... since I am being forced not to work or do anything but sit at the moment (had a visit to the hospital today and got some stitches) I sat down and watched it. It was a fun show and the tests in and of themselves while perhaps needing some fine tuning (some a slight tweak others perhaps a sledge perhaps) it was rather good.

They use the gathered info of all the tests and then add them into some program (vague crickets chirping)
Their conclusion-

Viking 488 wins in 1000
Samurai 522 wins in 1000

Hardly a landslide according to their testing results.

The weight of most of the test items is somewhat doubtful. Once more this goes back to using people who are more enthusiasts and stunt men than people who work with the originals or both. Don’t get me wrong they have an important place but some fact checking would make this ‘testing’ 100 times better, and more accurate to boot. Some of the ‘historic’ accounts both sides were spewing were just the kind of oddities you find in common circulation but mostly founded on inaccurate info. I think the viking side was for the most part closer usually weight wise from the info and originals I have handled. Historic info on both sides was shaky I’d guess without a great deal of research. The Viking sword being of poor iron to the katana just not being true. In fact recent research shows a great number of low quality katanas…. Just like all cultures with arms you get a variety of good to junk.

The armour issue was very poorly done. I know they use mixed eras in this program but why is it always very late 16th/17th century or later but Japanese arms and weapons tested? Aside from that even late Japanese plate allows for a degree of Blunt force trauma which European plate does not the program did not even look at for them but did against the viking?

I think oddest issue was the distance of the viking being the spear over the bow? Bows were a part of their warfare (especially at sea) and it ended up being a deciding factor when it really was one of omission. Though I have to say the gent on the program was very good, his ability to hit targets was great at 45 feet that said my archer friends can at 30-40 yards, much further than him, hit a 6-8 inch target almost any time... I'd have liked to see it at a better distance. 45 feet is a bit silly. In a duel a samurai using a bow would seem a bit odd.

Now that said it was entertaining and I think the impact of the weapons made the program enjoyable.... though their conclusions were somewhat skewed from some off input data I'd wager. The independent testing even if perhaps off-center was great…. Some of the 70s horror movie gore was somewhat pointless as well though.

History Teacher off/

Heir

[wallgorn]

My brother and I have been watching Deadliest Warrior. I've watched Viking vs. Samurai and Spartan vs. Ninja all the way through. I've enjoyed both more for the information on weapons, armor, and training then anything else. Tuesday's episode Knight vs. Pirate should be interesting.

[mrkovach]

(had a visit to the hospital today and got some stitches)

What, cut yourself on a LEGO sword?

[Heir of Black Falcon]

As luck would have it I was cut with something much sharper and hopefully finer so it will leave no real scar.

Heir

[Reaper45]

As luck would have it I was cut with something much sharper and hopefully finer so it will leave no real scar.

Heir

Chicks dig scars.

But yeah the show is pretty good regardless of it's inaccuracies. The thing that bothers me most is that the results seem to be biased by the guys that operate the senors and whatnot, maybe it's just me being upset that the Viking lost.

[quaraga]

I like the show a good deal, the spetznaz/ green beret wasn't too exiting but seeing shaka zulu getting his (insert mild profanity) kicked was fun. I agree that the scientific/historic content is iffy but altogether it works out well.

[Tanager]

I like the show a good deal, the spetznaz/ green beret wasn't too exiting but seeing shaka zulu getting his (insert mild profanity) kicked was fun. I agree that the scientific/historic content is iffy but altogether it works out well.

I watched this once, the Spetznatz/USASF episode as it happens. I turned it off pretty quickly. Having a pair of former servicemen brag to the camera about what badasses they are, then showing a SF vet blowing holes in a dead pig with a shotgun...just felt too much like the Rambo wannabe/SoF reader experience to me. Was honestly pretty boring.

-Sandy

[BiggerJim]

The ones with modern weapons are not as interesting to me as the ancient ones...

The smaurai vs. viking, ninja vs. spartan type episodes I really enjoyed.

[KuvarBlodøks]

Unscientific tripe.

This is for guys who get into arguments in bars about who's more badass, not for anyone who wants accurate information.

Brb, gotta mail Spike some Osprey books.

[Tower of Iron Will]

Like anything on TV I take it with a grain of salt. Some of their assumptions I don't agree with, so I just try not to over analyze it.
-Tower

[Forestboy]

I watched one episode with a friend, and it was pretty good...and gory! I found it funny how cocky the sides are, as well as the funny, nasty details the medical guy talks about after they test a weapon. "And since his heart was ripped out, it would still be beating in the Aztec's hand!" <-- Paraphrasing here.

The whole show is very interesting, but not enough for me to watch every single episode.

~FB~