programa especial de estudio cientÃfico sobre las artes marciales incluyendo al Nin Jutsu
utilizando tecnologÃa de la NASA. ArtÃculos en idioma original
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
FIGHT SCIENCE
FAST FACTS
1. "Fight Science" brings together ballistics, biomechanics, and crash-test technology for the first time ever.
2. Engineers measure and map the speed, force, and range of nerves, muscles, bones, and weapons.
3. Data is collected at 20,000 samples per second.
4. The motion-capture technique requires reflective markers over the fighters' bodies, allowing for sophisticated animation of bones, muscles, and nerves.
5. Filming took place in a custom-built dojo—equipped with 32 infrared motion-capture cameras, three high-definition cameras, and three high-speed cameras.
6. The technology allows scientists to peer inside a fighter's body as he moves in real time.
7. Special sensors—used in NASA spacesuits, sports science, and the crash-test industry—take data from inside the fighters' shoes to see how some are able to maintain catlike balance no matter what the obstacle.
8. Measurements indicate that a kung fu punch travels 40 feet (12.19 meters) per second, four times faster than a cobra strike.
9. Data indicates tae kwon do fighters react in only 0.18 seconds-nearly twice as fast as the blink of a human eye.
10. The human body has 206 bones, more than 600 muscles, and miles of nerves.
11. The foot and ankle contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 1,000 muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
12. Motion-capture shows that the punch starts not in the fists, but in the feet.
For the first time, "Fight Science" brings together members of the crash-test industry, the sports biomechanics industry, and the Hollywood animation industry—applying their combined expertise and technology to a diverse range of martial arts techniques, including karate, kung fu, jiu jitsu, tae kwon do, muay Thai, and wushu, among others. The results reveal the comparative strengths, advantages, and limitations of the various martial arts styles. And in a breakthrough combination of technologies, scientists are able to peer inside a fighter's body in real time.
"Fight Science" tests and films world-renowned martial artists, hand-picked to represent various disciplines, in a custom-built combination dojo, high-tech lab, and film studio that took over a year to design and build. Are the legends true? Is there such a thing as a death punch? How much force does each fighter exert? With 32 infrared motion capture cameras, three high-definition cameras, and three ultra-high-speed cameras, the studio allows the crash test and biomechanics scientists to measure and map the speed, force, range, and impact of muscles and bones in the fighters' bodies.
The motion-capture technique, requiring reflective markers over the fighters' entire bodies, allows for sophisticated real-time three-dimensional models. These results are combined with other data to create separate sophisticated animations of the fighters' bones, muscles, and nerves. "Fight Science" juxtaposes the fighters' movements with their animated selves for unprecedented insight into exactly how the body generates each move.
Over the centuries, martial arts fighters have supplemented their techniques with instruments like staffs, swords, and nunchuk developed to magnify death-dealing potential. "Fight Science" also explores how the designs and techniques of weaponry can exponentially increase an already fearsome fighter's impact, control, and range.
STYLES AND WEAPONS
Boxing
Boxing is one of the oldest forms of competition, and was depicted in ancient Egyptian sculptures as early as 1350 B.C. Although the first modern match documented was in Great Britain in 1681, it was not until 1743 that a set of rules was published by Jack Broughton, a man who had allegedly killed an opponent during a fight. As boxing's popularity continued to grow in the United States, it was revived for modern-day Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904 and became a permanent part of the Olympics in 1920. Today, the World Boxing Council, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Association recognize titlists as worldwide champions.
Jiu Jitsu
Jiu jitsu means "gentle art." The style evolved among the warrior class in Japan around the 17th century and was designed to complement swordsmanship. Jiu jitsu is a fighting system that employs a range of techniques, including strikes, kicks, and throws, as well as grappling techniques like joint locks and choking. In "Fight Science," a fighter applies 600 pounds. (272.16 kilograms) of force on the critical juncture between the skull and spinal cord on a dummy opponent—enough to kill or paralyze a man.
Kali
Filipino kali is the art of stick fighting, a martial art specializing in two baton-length bamboo sticks used to defend or attack. While a student in most styles of martial arts is expected to master hand-to-hand combat before moving to any form of weapons, Filipino kali teaches weapons-fighting first.
Karate
The art of karate is more than 1,000 years old and originated in eastern Asia, first as monastic training and later as a defense method used by Chinese peasants against armed bandits. It was introduced into the United States in 1945 after World War II. Translating to "empty hand" in Japanese, karate is a weaponless technique, utilizing punching and kicking to overcome the opponent. On "Fight Science" a karate straight punch was measured at 816 pounds (370.13 kilograms) of force and a side kick was measured at 1,000 pounds (453.59 kilograms).
Kung Fu
Chinese kung fu is considered the grandfather of all martial arts. It was created around A.D. 500, when the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma taught secret fighting techniques to the monks of the Shaolin Temple. Kung fu, fostering a better
understanding of violence, ultimately teaches how to avoid conflict. Those who refuse to accept an attack merely return it to the sender. A kung fu strike measured on "Fight Science," is measured at 40 feet (12.19 meters) per second, four times faster than a strike by a snake.
Muay Thai
Muay Thai, also known as Thai boxing, is a fighting martial art and competitive ring sport known for its devastating knee, elbow, and shin strikes. Unlike Western boxing, all strikes are allowed in the ring. The art of muay Thai has been practiced in Thailand for hundreds of years. Traditional muay Thai fighters kick and punch banana trees thousands of times a day to harden their bodies and increase their resistance to pain. On "Fight Science," a muay Thai knee strike generates the impact of a 35 mph (56.33 kph) car crash.
Ninjitsu
The Japanese martial art ninjitsu began more than 800 years ago and developed as a counterculture to the ruling samurai. Peasants were not allowed to strike a samurai—to do so would mean death. Ninjas were an underground class trained in the arts of war, including unarmed combat, swordplay, weaponry, camouflage, escape, and evasion. The word ninja, translated as "stealers-in," connotes their expertise in stealth operations such as espionage and assassination. Their training also embraced the spiritual, in pushing their bodies and minds to the limit. Not bound by the moral codes of the samurai, they developed poisons, tripwires, and even explosives to strike fear into their opponents. "Fight Science" determines that a ninjitsu hammer fist rivals the impact of a rubber bullet fired from a shotgun.
Tae Kwon Do
Tae kwon do, translated as the "art of kicking and punching," is a Korean martial art that emphasizes spectacular kicking techniques. It is now an Olympic event. Tae kwon do is influenced by karate (from 1910 till the end of World War II, Japan occupied Korea). Although there are technical differences among tae kwon do organizations, the art generally emphasizes high standing and jump kicks, using the leg's greater reach and power to disable the opponent from a distance. Training also includes a system of hand strikes and blocks. On "Fight Science" a spinning back kick generated more than 1,500 pounds (680.39 kilograms) of force.
WEAPONS
Dao (Chinese Broadsword)
The dao has a curved blade that is dull on one side and razor-sharp on the other. It was designed for cutting through armor and slicing across the body.
Jin (Chinese Straight Sword)
The jin, lightweight and flexible, was designed for stabbing vital organs.
Kyudo Archery
Modern kyudo is practiced primarily as a method of physical, moral, and spiritual development. Through intense concentration, archers can slow their respiration and reduce tiny tremors in their hands. They can even slow their pulse so much that they can fire between heartbeats.
Nunchuk
The weapon of choice for Bruce Lee—the nunchuk— originated in the 13th or 14th century as a concealed weapon. The nunchuk originated as a horse bit, but it developed into a formidable three-section staff, used for blocking, striking high or low, and grabbing/retaining. One blow can shatter a kneecap, crack a skull, or break an arm.
Samurai Katana
The legendary unbreakable sword of the samurai, the katana, created from folded steel, is designed for one purpose—to kill in one stroke. It is capable of cutting a body in two.
Shuriken (Throwing Star)
Small, and a quick draw, the star-shaped metal shuriken, with its pointed blades, is an "invisible attacker." Its flight dynamics are like those of no other weapon. The shuriken behaves less like an arrow and more like a Frisbee. It pierces the air like it pierces flesh. Like a gyroscope, its spin creates stability.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FIGHT SCIENCE WEBSITE: http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/index.html
KUNG FU MAGAZINE
Martial Arts vs. Crash Test Dummies: National Geographic's FIGHT SCIENCE
by Dr. Craig Reid
How many of you out there have ever wondered just how powerful a good karate spinning back fist is compared to a boxing right cross, or how deadly a muay thai knee strike is compared to a tae kwon do kick, or how fast is a kung fu finger jab compared to a boxing jab? Is it really possible for a small man to kill a large man with one carefully placed strike or for someone to easily incapacitate an attacker without throwing a single punch or kick? If there is one TV show you must see this year, it has to be FIGHT SCIENCE on Sunday, August 20 at 9 pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. This highly intelligent show marries a dream team of crash test scientists, sports biomechanists and Hollywood animators with a cross-section of legitimate martial artists representing various styles of martial arts in an attempt to separate martial arts fact from fiction.
With 32 infrared motion capture cameras, three high-definition cameras and three ultra-high-speed cameras carefully utilized throughout a custom-built combination dojo, high-tech lab and film studio that took over a year to design and build, scientists used crash test dummies to measure and map speed, force, range and impact of muscles and bones on the fighter's body. Furthermore, by using motion-capture techniques and CGI animation, various sophisticated animated models of the human musculo-skeletal, nervous and organ systems were created to gain insight into just how the body generates each move and what the effect is on the human body when subjected to these attacks. What all of this really comes down to is that for the first time we are going to scientifically determine just how fast and powerful martial artists' punches and kicks are, and to answer all of the aforementioned questions. To me, this is one of the coolest shows ever on TV that deals with martial arts outside of cinema.
"The first thing to clarify here is that this is not about comparing styles or trying to prove one style is better than the other," the show's producer and martial arts supervisor James Lew asserts. "To me this is hopefully a way to unify all styles and to develop an understanding of the techniques of these styles with the further purpose of quantifying the martial arts.
"We have always been struck with the mystery of martial arts, train traditional ways, never question, just do it until it works. But personally, I have always been interested in finding out how fast and powerful a technique is. Also with this show, the general public can relate to the martial arts, as we are able to demystify them and make people understand that what we as martial artists do takes hard work and discipline."
The martial artist test subjects that FIGHT SCIENCE put under the gun includes the 200-bout tae kwon do champion Bren Foster; leader of the Gracie clan Rickson Gracie; stuntman and karate expert Mark Hicks; the legendary Danny Inosanto; the only female subject and former Beijing Wushu Team member Li Jing; veteran ninjitsu practitioner Glen Levy; the proclaimed "world's greatest grappler" Dean Lister; muay thai world champion Melchor Menor; seven-time Japan national cutting champion and descendant of the Heike clan samurai line Obata Toshishiro; undefeated pro-boxer Steve Petramale; holder of seven world records for breaking ice, brick walls and cinderblocks Craig and Paul Pumphrey; senior disciple of Toshishiro and weapons expert Nathan Scott; the founder and leader of Capoeira Los Angeles Amir Solsky; and, representing kung fu and wushu, three-time national gold medalist in wushu, Shaolin kung fu stylist (dragon fist) and Chinese kung fu weapons expert Alex Huynh.
"I was humbled with the caliber of the talent that was on the show," Huynh admits, "and I was excited to get involved in this project as it is a cool concept to merge these two different worlds of science and martial arts. I also thought that this would be a great training tool, and I really wanted to know just how fast I was, and if I wasn't fast enough with the numbers, then I must train harder.
"When I found out I was four times faster than a snake (rattlesnake)," he youthfully laughs, "I was like let's go out and get a snake and challenge it. It was amazing working with these scientists."
Who were these champions of science that put all of these dedicated martial artists to the test? Dr. Cynthia Bir from Wayne State University and creator of what she calls "the three-rib, ballistic-impact device," a human-shaped gel dummy used to evaluate the impact of bullets and edged weapons and assess their injurious effects on the human body; Dr. Tim Walilko, senior engineer at Applied Research Associates and trauma and sports biometrics specialist; Dr. Norman Murphy, a biomechanist at Tekscan, Inc., with expertise in using an in-shoe F-Scan sensor to instantaneously map and track the human gait and balance in real time; and Randy Kelly, engineer and VP of sales and business development at Robert A. Denton, Inc., the world's leader in the design and development of government-approved crash test dummies, the martial artists' main opponent in the FIGHT SCIENCE ring of knowledge and technology.
"To be honest, I have never had an interest in martial arts," Kelly admits, "and so our interest in FIGHT SCIENCE is that we are always looking for ways to understand the impact on human bodies, and this was an avenue to collect data in a field we've never done before and to see what we can learn about their punches, kicks, power, speed and balance. Can they administer the death punch? More kids are involved in martial arts than ever, and we wanted to understand what is happening in martial arts and if we need to incorporate any safety features to make this a safe activity."
When asked if the scientific team had any expectations or skepticism in regard to what we hear about martial artists and their abilities, Kelly says, "Because I come from the crash environment, which is a pretty severe application, we typically run our crashes at 30 mph, 35 and higher; I wasn't expecting much in terms of sheer power or force. Also, because our dummies and sensors are designed for high impact, I didn't expect any of these guys to register much of anything that was significant."
One by one each stylist stepped up to the dummy and gave it their best punch and their best kick. Some martial artists were finally able to let loose with their deadliest techniques, from ninjitsu expert Glen Levy's "kill with one strike" blow to Rickson Gracie being able to apply the full force of his family's devastating joint locks and neck twists. Additionally, various weapons such as the Chinese broadsword and straightsword (jian and dao), the samurai sword, nunchaku, 3-section staff, bo and kali sticks were all evaluated in terms of their potential for inflicting bodily harm and quickly killing an assailant. One special test using ninja plum poles (poles of varying heights arranged in patterns for movement and stance training) investigated whether some martial artists could jump and walk with the stealth of a cat. It was also determined just how much force was needed to break through blocks of ice, cinderblocks and bricks, and if these breaks were for real or simply based on tricks of physics.
"On the first day of the show there was a lot of egos running around," Kelly reflects. "There was also a sense of pride with the people on what they could do, but not boastful, more of, 'Wow, I have data to justify what I've always thought.' For example, you can see the ninja guy (Levy) get excited that he could displace the sternum enough to cause death. The muay thai guy (Menor) knew his knee was powerful, but he had no way to judge it other than the guy on the floor."
To me, another gift of the show was when Menor, who earlier was very spirited with his knee strikes, got to do the ninja plum poles. His attitude was like, 'I'm going to go up there and show everyone what I can do,' but when he got up there, he was shaking in fear. I got a sense that it was a humbling experience for him, and what he took away from the show was that, 'I may be a great fighter, but I still have a lot to learn.' It's true, the statement about the more you know the less you know. As I was watching everything go down, I realized that I am only touching the tip of any of this knowledge."
"For Huynh, and undoubtedly for most of the martial artists, there was probably a seed of doubt in their minds as to whether or not they were representing their respective arts in a positive light and in a fashion that reflects well within the community of their style. Yet at the end of the day, Kelly – whose job as a scientist is to look at things in an objective manner – emphatically stated, "The tests revealed a fair assessment of each of the martial arts, and what we can say is that – given that particular series of tests, and those individuals striking those dummies – certain martial artists had the most effective kick or punch or strike on that particular day. We now have data to quantify these things
"What was great about the show was that although we were able to point out the strengths and potential weakness of each style, it was not about showing which style is good or bad. The program did a good job of highlighting their differences in techniques and that size makes a difference. They showed the human anatomy so well and did a good job of explaining what happens to the human body when struck.
"We would like to test other martial art disciplines, get a broader data base and also use martial artists with similar size and mass to get a better A to B comparison. We'd also use a different dummy because the one we used had too much rebound during impact. If we had braced the dummy more, we would probably have seen higher punch and kick loads than what we presented on the show."
Huynh notes, "During the weapons portion, where they used ballistic gel to create the feel of thrusting a sword into a human body, I thought it would be a piece of cake to cut it up. But when I felt the gel in front of me and the camera was rolling, something inside of me clicked; because I had never cut a person before, besides myself during practice, and now this is an opportunity to cut someone with a sword and it would feel real. It was a moment of fear. But the director came up to me and said, 'Relax, it's not real.' I'm thankful to James for giving me the chance to represent the kung fu/wushu community. To me, martial arts in the broadest sense is the destination, and the styles are the avenues to this destination, and to understand martial arts as a whole you have to understand each discipline."
Following the results of all of these experiments, two things stuck out in my mind – which I will relate in a humorous tone. First, I am glad no one in the world is the master of every martial art; second, thank god we don't stand still when we get hit.
Lew is a believer in cross training, saying that by learning and training in many different styles, you can improve your own style. The results of these tests prove the capabilities and gaps in knowledge of each style. Similar to Kelly's conclusion about the show's value, Lew agrees that the data should be used to develop better protective sparring gear and pads that can more efficiently dissipate a strike's power, eliminate the damage and minimize the injuries.
On a personal note, though, Lew was impressed by the singularity of a boxer's punch and with the technology of speed sensors, saying, "It's a great way to learn how to hit harder and faster. They put a sensor in your hand and you punch. It then measures speed from point zero, midway and at the point of impact. So they can measure if you're slowing down through your punch, which of course will affect the punch's performance."
Although on a "wow"-factor basis Kelly was impressed with the breaking abilities of the Pumphreys (during the wall-breaking segment, when the wall was three quarters built, the Pumphreys insisted on tearing it down and rebuilding it because they found a cracked brick), it was the intangibles that Kelly appreciated most about the martial artists.
"With the weapon users, it was amazing that when they used the weapons, they truly were extensions of the hand," Kelly says. "But the one thing that impressed me most about them was everyone's sheer athleticism, their commitment to their discipline and that they were all very smart about the human body on what it is they could and could not do. But overall, they were all just great people. Like the martial arts spirit, it is these things that can't be measured scientifically."
FUENTE: http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=675
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