Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6313 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 280 minutes

Synopsis
Chris Crudelli travels through the Far East to gain further knowledge about martial arts. He learns about kung fu, ninjas, tai chi, dim mak and various other martial arts.

Customer Reviews

5 stars at £4.99
I'd seen a few episodes on the TV and enjoyed them a lot. Didn't know the DVD was even available until two weeks ago when I found it by accident.
At the price this is fantastic value for money. You get two discs amounting to 4 and a half hours of watching.
Crudelli is clearly a talented martial artist and demonstrates his abilities to amazed on-lookers in a style reminisent of David Blaine's original street magic. Perhaps more interesting is when he gets to meet some of the oriental (Chinese/Japanese/etc) masters of some very obscure martial arts. Some of these guys can do amazing things.
I was interested to see that some of the martial arts skills demonstrated are actually trickery (to some degree), but as the narrator points out, to even to perform these 'tricks' you have to be a very skillful martial artist indeed.

Whilst this isn't an instructional DVD there are bits and pieces the amateur (very amateur in my case) martial artist can pick up from this DVD (such self-defence techniques).
I've watched the first five episodes so far and have found it to be a very entertaining DVD, and contrary to a previous reviewer I can confirm this is a widescreen DVD.

Chris Crudelli - most definitely a 'proper' martial artist
'apache1' seems to base most of his criticism on Crudelli not being a proper martial artist. I find that bizarre, given that one of the reasons it was so enjoyable for me, is that he clearly is an expert and 'true' martial artist. This is backed up by the fact that he has trained in the arts for over twenty years and is considered one of the foremost martial artists in the world at present.

His attitude toward the subject matter is just right, there is no direction toward the viewer that he should judge the more extreme elements as truth, they are presented as is, and the viewer is left to make up their own mind as to the truth or otherwise.

Crudelli also appears humble, respectful and willing to learn from the masters he encounters, something that again indicates his training and upbringing, but also that puts the viewer on a 'learning' foot when they watch.

Overall, I found him an excellent presenter, of an excellent series, and one who takes you on a journey, rather than talks at you.

If you have an interest in martial arts and the more wide ranging aspects of them, it's an essential purchase. The only criticism is the lack of widescreen. But that's a minor niggle.

hit and miss
Chris Crudelli tours the world looking at various martial arts and takes a sincere interest in the slightly unusual aspects that surround them.

First, as a martial arts enthusiast I was genuinely pleased to see a BBC production looking at the various aspects of them. Crudelli seems like a genuine man who wants to explore the aspects of the martial arts that we don't necessarily know about.

Crudelli has, from what I have read, an indepth experience of the martial arts, not always afforded to the average Westerner. His obvious respect and appreciation has allowed him to gain insights for the general public that would probably been refused to most others. This clearly shows.

This is not a typical martial arts series - it gives a general insight into what the art is and then looks at the hidden, not so well understood aspects behind them - for instance, the concept of chi, ki and spirit. It could potentially be an anthropologists dream to see how mysticism is woven so deeply into the physical expression of the martial arts.

Some of the locations are fascinating - it may lack a sense of grand environmental scope but what you do see is a very human side to the training - it is not glamorous or glitzy: these are gritty individuals who ahve forged themselves regardless of their environment.

At the risk of contradicting myself later, it is a very accessible show that in its snippets and small sections is easily digested by the viewer.

Sadly, there were some, as see them, flaws to this series.

For starters, a lot of each episode seemed to be focused on Crudelli doing 'his thing' in Britain. This involved showing members of the public how to apply martial arts thinking to resolve or eleviate potentially risky situations that they may find themselves in, according to their job. This is not a bad thing in itself, but this is NOT an instructional video. There are even warnings at the start of each episode telling people not to practice what they see. It would have been better to have cut these 'fillers' out and put more into unravelling the arts featured.

It could be argued that although the series was 10 episodes long, it really only focused on a handful of the same arts, often revisiting the same club during the series. Again, this is not a problem in itself but I would have prefered a whole episode dedicated to each art or club that he visited rather than mish-mashing them together according to theme.

Finally, a lot of what is featured is difficult for the lay person to understand and appreciate. Seeing someone bend iron bars with their necks or stopping a row of people from pushing you around can at worst, be written off as party tricks - I am NO expect but it was often difficult to see how focusing on some of these aspects aided the understanding of the art. NOt that these aspects should be ignored but maybe they should have been explained within a wider context of the art.

Anyway, a hit and miss production but very much worth the current price. It possibly struggles when weighed up against other shows like Last Man Standing or Fight Quest. However, heres to a new series - I genuinely enjoyed it.