Deadliest Warrior: A deeper look.

It seems the controversy has sprung up in the Ninja v.s Spartan episode as well, and rightfully so as I noticed many inaccuracies. I'm no expert on these things but any sane person can tell that most if not all the info in the show is a load of crap. For views on the Ninja's portrayal in the show, I would like to point you to the youtube channel Scottbaioisdead, the guy knows his stuff.

Ninja v.s Spartan Controversies:

Several valid points have been brought up against the very Hollywood portrayal of the both warriors. Did you know that the so called Ninja "experts" are huge fakes? Lou Klein is apparently a voice actor, and an actor is many B movies. His only Ninja related experience is playing a Ninja is a video game and some Japanese guy in an awful movie. The other guy, Michael Lehr (Jung-Woo Kim) is a martial artist, just not Ninjutsu. That aside, the most glaring thing was the straight bladed Ninjato, and while I think it's not a big deal for stuff like say video games, movies and what not, it very inaccurate, even though I think it's a pretty neat idea of the straight bladed Ninjato is all fine and well for mindless fun. They also used Shuriken, which is fine but they said a hit to the chest could kill, which honestly is bull as both Ninja and Samurai wore armor. I can't really comment on the blowgun, and Black Egg (which is actually Metsubushi mad with peppers and not glass). I think the biggest moment of stupidity was they said Ninja didn't wear armor, which is total bull crap, as Ninja in fact did wear armor of various types. It wasn't uncommon for Ninja to wear light weight Chain Maille, or Lamellar Armor.

Now it wasn't just the Ninja being horribly inaccurate, the Spartan also suffered as well. First and for most, Spartan's DID NOT fight like in that horrid movie 300, seriously I about vomited when I saw the spartan leap threw the air and try a downward thrust like is 300. Team tactics where a huge part of Spartan fighting. Not to say they where horrid at 1-on-1 fighting, but they almost always fought as a team. The Xiphos the Spartan's used was not made of Steel, I mean unless the Spartan's also had time machines. The one Spartan's used was made of Bronze. The the Dory or Doru (spear) was portrayed fairly well. The Javelin on the other hand, I not even sure the Spartan's used it much or if at all, I'm not 100% sure. The shield is called the Hoplon, and was used in as a weapon and when marching forward. One thing not even mentioned is that the Spartan's where skilled in Pankration, which is a martial art consisting of boxing and wrestling. Being that my ancestors are from Sparta, I have to say I took offense.

Viking v.s Samurai Controversies:

This episode also caused a good bit of controversy, namely for it awful stereotyping of both the Viking and Samurai, and not to mention the "Samurai Decedent" was Tetsuro Shigematsu is a Canadian radio personality and comedian. Also Brent Chan is Chinese, and seems to be a Wushu stuntman. Of course the episode played up on many myths about Samurai and Viking, such as that Viking where raving Barbarians and that Samurai where unstoppable. For the Samurai they test the Katana which I have to admit I smiled when it was knocked off it's high horse by being stopped dead in it's track by maille armor. The Naginata was also tested, however Brent Chan was using it very much like the Guan Dao, which the Naginata is based off. The Yumi was portrayed fine in my book. The special weapon for the Samurai didn't make sense to me personally as the Kanabo seems like a very very specialized weapon personally.

Now the Viking was also stereotyped, however in a very negative light as a raving unclean mad man, and unskilled. This is a huge misconception as cleanliness was very important to Vikings as they had many items to keep themselves clean even soap. The Vikings short ranged weapon was the Viking Axe, and I'm not sure why. Medium range weapons was the Viking Long Sword and still I don't know why as the Viking Sword was still a close range weapon. For long range the Viking was given a spear which doesn't make any sense as Vikings where also skilled archers as well. While the spear could be thrown, and most certainly not two at a time, it was also used with the shield. Last but not least the Vikings special weapon was...a shield and I have to ask, why? A better choice would be the Atgeir also know as a maille piercer. Honestly this episode just furthered the myth that western martial arts and fighting is holly inferior to eastern martial arts. They also failed to mention Vikings also used Lamellar Armor, and they failed to mention the Housecarl's, who where highly trained elite guards.

Apache v.s Gladiator:

I won't go into the Apache much, but focus on the Gladiator, which really was just a mix and match Gladiator at that. For short range the Gladiator was given the Cestus, an ancient hand to hand weapon at was also used in Pankration. It was also given the Roman Scissor, which was forearm length tube with a semicircular blade attached that inflicted nasty wounds. Now for the mix and match. For medium range it was given a Net and Trident, which was the weapon of the Retiarius Gladiator. Long range the Gladiator was given a sling, and a far as I know ranged combat was never used in Gladiator matches. Special weapon was the Sica, a sword that was used by the Tharcian Gladiators.

Pirate v.s Knight:

Not even gonna bother. It was a highly unfair match to being with. Pirate had Grenades (Grenado), flintlock pistols, and blunderbuss which is pretty much a shotgun.

I know the show isn't suppose to be anything scientific or anything, but a little research would be nice. Match ups that make sense would be nice as well. How about Knight v.s Viking or maybe Knight v.s Mamluk (the Middle Eastern equivalent of the Knight). Samurai v.s Sohei or Yamabushi would be interesting and it would be interesting to see how the Samurai would deal with the Ono (Axe) and Masakari (A Japanese Battle Axe).