Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts

Friday, January 9, 2009

More Bauer To Ya

I'm a fan of the television show "24". All you haters out there: Yes, I realize it's implausible that one guy can accomplish so much, especially in 24 hours. I still love the show. The writers do a good job of upping the ante with each season. I'm only on season 6 (I've been catching up with DVDs).

Anyway, I was thinking...many of us practice martial arts with at least a partial eye toward self defense, even though it's (for most of us) unlikely we'll ever be in a situation in which we'll need to use the skills we've learned to defend ourselves. In my line of work (banking/IT), for instance, I'll need self defense skills far less than say, a police officer, body guard, or bouncer.

Which brings me back to Jack Bauer. I've seen him in plenty of armed and unarmed altercations (He's got CQB skills out the wazoo), but I've never seen him employ a martial arts technique, per se. Sure, he's probably well trained in combatives of some sort, but I would think, given his line of work, the frequency of his need to fight, and the safety of the free world riding on whether he wins or loses, you'd think he would use the other 364 days of the year he's not dealing with a crisis to learn judo, or jiu-jitsu...maybe muay thai... or at the very least, some krav maga / KAPAP! I'd love to see him throw a terrorist with uchimata or something once in a while instead of just throwing haymaker after haymaker.


Thursday, December 11, 2008

To Boldly Throw Where No Man Has Thrown Before...

Pat, Nathan, and I somehow got on the subject of Star Trek during our last Judo/Aikido lessons. I've always been something of a Trekkie, I guess...although it's been a love/hate relationship with all things Trek. Seems like all of the episodes or movies were either so silly they were good, or they were so silly they were embarrassing. Once in a while a truly good episode would slip through, but I still consider it a guilty pleasure (I'm in the minority - DS9 was my favorite series).

Anyway, I mentioned how there was a scene in which Captain Kirk was doing some Judo training (in his red gi jacket and red...leotard...leggings, I think). It was in the episode "Charlie X" from season 1 if you're interested.

Tasha Yar from The Next Generation also had skills - I was re-watching the TNG episode "Code of Honor" (season 1) and Tasha threw a guy with a wrist lock. "That was Aikido!" I exclaimed to my wife ("Mmm-hm, that's nice" she replied). Sure enough, later in the episode, Tasha demonstrates the holodeck to a visitor by running a program called "Aikido 1". But the fight that ensues (with some ninja-looking guy) didn't keep that aiki flow, unless it's a style I'm not familiar with. Tasha was scheduled to participate in a kickboxing competition just before she died.

Hoshi Sato (from "Enterprise") was an Aikido black belt. The actress who played the Borg Queen in "Voyager" is also an aikidoka.

Other martial arts represented in Trek lore: Chakotay (from "Voyager") was a boxer, as was Boothby (the groundskeeper of Starfleet Academy). Tuvok (the Vulcan from "Voyager") studied Sumo. Will Riker's double, Thomas, practiced Tai Chi Chuan. Worf taught a mok'bara class on the Enterprise (a Klingon martial art very much like Tai Chi Chuan). Captain Picard, Captain Sisko, and Jadzia Dax were wrestlers.

Could I be a bigger geek?