jonathan on a path: videos: mind, body, & kick-ass moves

there's a BBC series called Mind, Body, & Kick-Ass Moves devoted to the martial arts. as far as i know, it is not being broadcast in the US. there are people, however, who have been posting episodes from the series on YouTube.

from what i can tell from the YouTube videos, it is meant to be a survey of martial arts and martial arts techniques from around the world, and is hosted by someone who apparently is an advanced follower of martial arts. interestingly enough, he appears to have lived in Asia for quite some time, since he's able to converse with Chinese masters quite comfortably--enough that he can translate their comments for the viewer.

i don't know how valuable this show will be to serious practitioners (i.e., senior or instructor-level practitioners). from the looks of some of the clips i've seen, it doesn't really go that in-depth into too many of the martial arts. but then, given the nature of television, i suppose this isn't something any television series can aspire too.

for all this, i think the show is useful as a tool of culture, if nothing else. it's kind of interesting to watch video of martial arts masters displaying their skills, as well as comparing the different perspectives and ideas of differing martial arts--not only in terms of techniques, but also in terms of their backgrounds, societies, histories, and countries of origin.

i should note that Mind, Body, & Kick-ass Moves is only one of what appears to be several television series covering the martial arts (History Channel's Human Weapon being a notable one). i have not, however, been able to find complete sets of YouTube videos of these other shows (i.e., YouTube compilations that contain the entire series). so for now, you'll have to make do with the following (and i'll add more epsiodes as i find them on YouTube):

episode 1: