Interview With: Human Weapon
Interview By: Andy Steven
Date: July 12, 2007
Andy Steven: Firstly I would like to thank you for taking time out
of your busy schedule to take part in this interview for
www.PWMania.com. What
are you greatest accomplishments you have been through in your career?
Zak Weisfeld: We've produced a lot of great television over the
years but would have to say the favorites have been the revival of
RollerJam and a short-lived documentary series for A&E called The
Competition, which featured little-known American sports and the
quirky people who competed in them. But, of course, the most exciting so
far has been Human Weapon for The History Channel.
Andy
Steven: How did you become involved with Human Weapon?
Zak Weisfeld: We developed the show over about a year with lots of
input from people in our office and guys at the gym, and of course with
the programmers at The History Channel. They all liked the idea of guys
going around the world to these incredibly exotic locations and taking on
masters of different martial arts.
Andy Steven: The hosts of Human Weapon are Jason Chambers a
mixed-martial-artist and professional fighter and Bill Duff a former
professional football player and wrestler, how did they become the hosts
of the show? Was there a shortlist or anything?
Zak Weisfeld: We did extensive casting for Human Weapon—with
a special focus on the MMA world. Basically we were looking for smart,
charismatic people who were willing to be punched in the face by martial
arts experts and who also were intrigued by the cultural origins of these
fight arts. It was a short list with some very tough guys on it.
Andy Steven: What is your favorite MMA fight of all time?
Zak Weisfeld: Even though this really dates me, my favorite is
still the very first UFC when all the different disciplines faced off. It
was completely wild and chaotic and no one had any idea who was going to
win or how they would do it.
Andy Steven: Can you tell us how Human Weapon started
production and where did the idea came from?
Zak Weisfeld: The idea was born out of our love for hand-to-hand
combat arts—both the MMA variety and the cinematic kind. We loved Chinese
Kung Fu movies and Jean Claude Van Damme and even Rocky—where these
guys take on incredible opponents and train in exotic ways. That, and our
love of the Jackass series—the idea of just taking a beating at the
hands of an expert. So we wanted to combine this exotic, romantic kind of
view of the martial arts with a very in-your-face reality of hitting and
getting hit.
Andy Steven: What sets this series apart from other documentaries
similar to Human Weapon?
Zak Weisfeld: The fact that it is so real. We're not just telling
you the history of a martial art. Our guys are going to real places. They
are getting in the mud and being bitten by bugs and monkeys and attacked
by water buffalo. And in the end they are actually taking on masters of
these martial arts. We don't win a lot of fights, but we have real fights.
Andy Steven: What were some of the highlights during production?
Zak Weisfeld: There are so many—just traveling the world and seeing
these incredible locations: back alleys and ancient temples of Bangkok,
old forts in Greece, and ruins in Israel. It's hard to pick a favorite.
One of the funniest never made it on camera: our director was attacked and
bitten by a monkey while shooting at an ancient Hindu temple (he
survived).
Andy Steven: Do you have favorite sequences in the series?
Zak Weisfeld: We love the opening of the first episode where the
guys go to Lumpini Stadium in Bangkok and watch these incredible fighters
just knock the s#%t out of each other. Pretty eye opening. And, of course,
we love our fights. There are great ones in Eskrima where Jason has a
stick fight in a cockfighting arena in the Philippine jungle and we also
love Bill's fight at an ancient Greek stadium when he busts his foot open
on a marble column. Plenty of real blood.
Andy
Steven: What were some of the greatest challenges you faced in the
making of this series?
Zak Weisfeld: The travel is brutal. We've shot in eight or nine
countries this year and the logistics of putting on a historical epic and
full contact fight in each one is daunting. But the toughest thing is for
the hosts. Most fighters fight a few times a year at most. These guys have
already fought at least four times each just since we started—and learned
new moves and training in every episode.
Andy Steven: What can we expect from the program’s hosts, Jason
Chambers and Bill Duff?
Zak Weisfeld: They each have really unique personalities and
skills. Jason definitely comes from the MMA world and knows jujitsu
grappling and ground work. Bill comes from wrestling and football and is
just a really big guy so they'll each tackle different challenges. What
they have in common is that they can both take a punch – and give one.
They aren't afraid to get into it – whether in a rice paddy with a crazed
water buffalo or a secret Israeli military base facing off against
anti-terror commandos.
Andy Steven: What do you hope viewers will take away from this
production?
Zak
Weisfeld: That the martial arts aren't just some new fad. They have
not only incredible histories but also amazing present-day realities –
realities our guys are learning the hard way.
Andy Steven: I would like to thank you very much once again for
taking this time to take part in this interview for
www.PWMania.com, I wish
you the best of luck in the future, do you have any messages to say to
your fans and what is next for Zak Weisfeld?
Zak Weisfeld: For the fans I would say that each episode of
Human Weapon is going to reveal some amazing things about the martial
arts – about their history and origins – and the incredible masters who
still practice them. We'll explore everything from the best way to throw
an arm bar to ancient Karate death strikes. But most of all, the show
takes people to this other world – jungle camps, ruined temples, top
secret training centers. Places that they just won't see anywhere else.
And it's not just a travel show – it’s an adventure, a real life epic
because in all of these amazing, exotic places our guys are going to find
someone to fight.
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