Fu may not be for you.
No, you haven't mistakenly found your way to ESPN. This is Final Fu. Final Fu is a new reality competition that recently debuted on MTV 2. Obviously MTV saw the success of The Ultimate Fighter and decided to put out their own brand of fighting competition. But can it make as much of an impact as Spike's mixed martial art series?
The host is Ernie Reyes Jr, a martial artist, actor, and member of a famous martial arts family. Reyes is alright in his role as host/referee for the show, but he falls victim to what most reality hosts do — the dreaded cliche phrases. Some hack punched up some snappy lines that Ernie Reyes has to say at critical moments in the show, and I want to run for the nearest door whenever I hear them.
Crappy reality TV cliches isn't all that Final Fu is about. It's also about hearing a couple dozen or so contestants talk about how talented they are. Each of these contestants practices a wide selection of martial arts, with Taekwondo being the preeminent.
In each episode, contestants take part in challenges that are some parts Survivor and partly inspired by the training montages you see in karate flicks. Like another reality competition, The Contender, the two lowest scorers at the end of a competition have to face off in the ring for three rounds.
If a lover or practitioner of MMA is reading this right now, they are laughing. They are laughing because if they have seen Final Fu, they know that there is one thing it has that The Ultimate Fighter does not: restrictions. MMA practitioners stop short of murder in the ring and it goes from the ground to hand-to-hand and back again. When it comes to the competition at the end of an episode, Final Fu follows the rules of a sport karate tournament. Contact can only be made in a designated area of the body, and points are taken off for contact below the belt or to the head. When you see something like The Ultimate Fighter or a UFC pay-per-view, Final Fu is a cuddly kitty cat in comparison. Who would want to go backwards with one basic art or another when MMA is the in thing right now?
Article comments
1 - Arts Martial
Comparing final fu to MMA is like comparing little league to the NFL - they are entirely different animals. MMA fans will not like final fu.
However, MMA does have rules. They have a thick book of rules designed to prevent serious injury and death to the competitors. They do not stop just short of murder in the ring - although the colorful analogy is well taken.
Just a few examples include no eye gouging, biting, and kicking a grounded opponent. Very sensible rules. And there are many more.
The athletes in MMA are unbelievably skilled and well conditioned. While there is some skill and conditioning in final fu - the athleticism and combat skill is not there.
In point fighting only light contact is allowed, and competitors play to the judges. This sometimems means hamming it up on an inadvertent illegal strike to get your opponent penalized. It's almost anti-fighting.
2 - Vichus Smith
I just exaggerated for the hell of it. I know that MMA practitioners aren't participating in a blood sport, it's just that in comparison to point fighting, MMA is so much more brutal, cringe inducing, raw and wild. UFC style tournaments are as close as we've gotten to the old Roman collesium
3 - jakes2quick4u
I don't really know if you can count this to most karate or real formed competition point sparring. I use to compete in AAU, IKF and other martial arts competitions, and the points had to be a bit more solid and show potential in being effective. On this show here I saw points given for belly slaps, and not only was it sad to say that he could slap faster then a girl, but he mocked her style and bragged about beating up on a woman. I don't plan on watching this show again, and I don't see how it got as good of ratings as it did.
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4 - Vichus Smith
The fighting did look sloppier than the tournaments I've watched and participated in.
As for the ratings, if you were a regular viewer of MTV and you had nothing but Real Wrorld reruns to watch, then you see a new episode of Final Fu, you might be tempted. Otherwise, I don't see much happening with Final Fu beyond one season.
5 - Sean
Final Fu is the worst thing ever to happen to martial arts in its history. For one it is not entertaining, and second the excessive rules completely undermine any type of "style", as does the UFC, which is still not a real fight because of the rules involved, but not nearly as bad Final Fu.
I think the show can be summed up when the host and judges disqualified a contestant because he was hitting his opponent "too hard" and he hit his oppenent in the head as she was going down to the ground, which if you watch the reply he doesn't do this, he hits her in the shoulder. I think I'd rather take a kick to the head, than watch these people shake their feet at other people. Worst show on television. Period.
6 - Jered
I saw this the the other night! What a joke! Those are some people who have obviously never been in a real fight. A boxer would take out any one of them much less a kickboxer. God forbid they ever have to face a UFC fighter.
Traditional styles have merit spiritually, for fitness and body control. In a real fight; well, as Pride, K-1 and UFC have shown, traditional styles just don't cut it. All fluff, no substance. I've only trained in some MMA off and on but I think I could kick any of their asses since I've at least been punched in the face and know how to take a hit.
And what's the deal with "excessive force" of a guy against a girl? Those girls keep saying how they can hang with any guy and kick butt just as much as a guy but the guys aren't allowed to hit them hard? WTF? It's obvious that even those guys would kill those girls easily.
UFC fighting is considered sport fighting so I have no idea what you classify Final Fu as. Recreational fighting? "I want to be a kung fu movie actor" fighting?
7 - Vichus Smith
I think that if you're trained in a traditional martial art, it's all in how you're taught. I'm no UFC fighter, but I was taught ground tactics, standing tactics and street tactics as well as the punch kicks and blocks. Not all schools are built the same.
8 - Fake Fu
This show is the funniest thing EVER. The guys are supposedly black belts but its obvious they go to form based schools, not ones that really teach you to defend yourself or actually, oh you know, SPAR.
I say one decent MMA fighter would destroy all of these guys at once. Even if they were just limited to body blows.
I didnt hear the comment about slapping faster than a girl but I wish I would have.
The excessive force thing was hilarious.
9 - Frank Beall
I own and teach at a tradiitonl / non-traditional martial arts school. When my TIVO recorded this show for me, I first was put off by the name. Final Fu just sounds stupid. There are so many other martial arts words that could have been used in that title.
Of course as soon as I watched the show, the content completely overshadowed the poor choice of titles. Not only do you have to listen to Reyes repeat those same cliche remarks, but you also have to sit through his moments of zen, where he gives pointers to black belts about sparring, kicking, or focus. I mean come on, if these people are qualified black belts, shouldn't they already know this stuff. I think that a much better approach would be to use a sort of side bar method where he gives the pointers directly to the audience, like they do some times during boxing and golf telecasts. Not only that, but the contestants sound so stupid trying to act like they are impressed by Reyes actions. I remember hearing a 4th Degree say how impressive it was that Reyes broke througha few bricks with a punch. I couldn't help but think that a 4th degree should have seen something like that a hundred times before this show. Why would he be impressed so much? Thier reactions just come off as being fake.
Then of course you go to the website, and MTV makes them all look even worse. They actually talked about how sexy some of the female contestants were. Don't get me wrong, they are cute, but this is a martial arts show, not "MTV Spring Break."
Lastly, martial arts is suppossed to be about improving your self and your community. Becoming a better person, which in turn improves the people and places around you. Unfortunatley, this has become less and less the focus in martial arts in the US. These guys are a perfect example of what is going wrong with martial arts. They all want to skip the hard work and try and say they are some billy badass, just because they can jump and flip around. If you are going to remove the improvement of self, and simply turn MA into lessons in sparring, then you are just learning to fight. And on that level, UFC fighters, Boxers, MMA fighters, and Kickboxers are way ahead of you.
And to be hoest, they weren't even really sparring that well either. I have 6 year old children that execute better controlled strikes to the head. Why not allow us to hit the head? Why not give them sparring equipment and pads and step up the contact? Are they afraid they won't get enough face time that way?
In short, this show makes us look bad and I would be ashamed if I was Ernie Reyes Jr. for being a part of it.
10 - groundControl
My DVR records the show and I fast forward to the fights. It's entertaining in the fact that I think its hilarious. I mean no face contact, I don't get it. They are so sloppy and I dont see how they are getting all those points. All I see is sloppy kicks and unimpressive punches. They get points for leg kicks, I'd like to see a
mua-tai fighter in there! Never could they compete against that! I wanna see a sanshou fighter in there giving them a leg, puch and then a throw that would put one of those pretty boys to shame!!! CANCEL THIS SHOW!!!
11 - Wiki
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12 - St3rn
The only reason why I watch this program is because I find it a little humorous. I myself have been training in the martial arts for over a decade, and watching this program is almost satirical with some of the content in it. Granted the competitors are very good athletes, far better than I feel that I am, it just seems like this program isn't geared for "true" martial artists. This seems like a very expensive attempt at an advertising campaign for XMA, TKD, and "karate" schools that love a little Hollywood flair.
13 - casey
OMG final Fu is no way the same as what I do Im a 1th dregree balck belt in Chico ru and its nothing as a real spar I can kick the hell out of any person on that show and Im 16!! That is ok to watch but seriously!!
~casey~
14 - Vlada
They do look a little like there not real martial artists and they also look a little sloppy but other times they look like they know what there doing.
15 - Derek
Everyone should stop talking about how the martial artists in this show would not be able to win in a REAL fight. As stated before, this isn't a real fight. The goal isn't to knock out your opponent. Instead it is to determine who has the best technique compared with other styles. If someone from UFC were to enter this competition they would be the ones to lose. All of their training revolves around hurting the other person. In this competition... useless.
Technique has also been mentioned as a problem. There are moments of good technique seen here. The main reason the sparring turns sloppy is because of the rules. There is no reward for being good at defense. No points awards for dodging, blocking, or countering your opponent. Instead the points are awarded only for hits. When you know that your opponent cannot attack with all of their power, it is only logical to attack fast and recklessly. Even if your opponent wins the match, because they hit you more then you hit them, you can still proceed to the next show with enough points gained from a flurry of harmless punches (slaps).
The real reason I wanted to comment here was to remind people that this is just a show. It's on MTV. Do not take this show too seriously... Obviously there are many flaws. The most annoying to me was the excessive contact thing.... But enjoy the show for what it is. I know the winners aren't necessarily the best fighters. I know that the rules have room for improvement. I still enjoy watching the show.
16 - MrBalloonKnot
Final Fu... AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHahahahhahahahah! AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHahahhahahhahahhahah! [deep breath] AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHhhhhhhahahahahahhahahahahahahha! [snort] WaaaaaaaaaaaaaHaaaaaaaaahahahahhahhahahahhahaha.
I saw this show tonight flipping through the channels and though it was a SNL skit. Since when is sparring with no face contact considered a fight let alone a contest? My instructor would beat the hell out of me if I discraced myself, him and my whole system by being on a show like this.
I think we all realize that this is just a show. The problem is that it is an insulting and degrading show that is telling MTV waterheads that this is martial arts.
17 - V. Smith
A UFC fighter would probably not score points in this style of fighting- because they probably wouldn't want to win this competition anyway.
Seriously, though, a UFC fighter is built to knock someone down, not focus merely on target areas. I expected more from these fighters on Final Fu, especially the ones who do TKD. Yes, real fighting is not elegant, but some of these guys look awkward and lose their minds in the ring. MTV could have tried a lot harder to find better fighters than these. I bet they were aiming to find personalities over technique.
18 - Alan-Michael
Aight so im bored and i decided to comment on some things. I dont agree with most of what i've read here, because i hear a lot of dissing going on. I have zero doubt in the competitors' abilities as martial artists. But this is a SPORT martial arts competition...its not supposed to be about FIGHTING, but more about speed, smarts, and technique. IF u dont like sport martial arts tournaments, i can see why u wuld hate the show. BUT no one here has the right to diss the competitors' abilities because they participate in the sport martial arts world!
Remember, martial arts is as much about self control as it is about knocking someone down. Yeah, fighters tended to lose control in fights, but that happens!! None of them are grand masters or anythang....they all still have a lot to learn! BUT they are no doubt talented, and i jus dont wanna see people ignoring it because of an MTV show. I guess it jus comes down to whether u like sport karate or not!
I personally train at a MMA/traditional school, but i participate in the sport karate world (demo team, tournaments, point sparring, all dat fun stuff). Still we learn how to SERIOUSLY take someone out. If u dont believe me, go up against any highly experienced traditional martial artist and see what happens. Its not the art, but how hard u train. No style is automatically better than another one. Its all on the practicioner ya kno?? Sounded cliche but u get my point.
But about da show, i found it entertaining. It was far from perfect, but im glad that the world is startin to take a chance on martial arts. Im hoping martial arts becomes widely popular (almost liek football popular maybe??). We got a while, but martial arts is such a positive thing that i wish many more ppl wuld experience.
~Alan-Michael
19 - V. Smith
Right now, MMA is the badass on the block, so you're going to get a lot of anti-traditional bias. However the MTV-ness of the way Final Fu is produced, mixed with attention hungry, mediocre fighters, makes this show unlikable. I think that a better level of fighters would make this show a lot better, but it's still a knockoff of a knockoff reality show. At least the Ultimate Fighter makes you feel like it's putting hairs on your chest.
20 - Dan D Man
This is to the 1th dgree black belt with the 5th grade education. What the hell is chico ru, some lameass mexican martial art? What do you do throw taco kicks & chimichanga punches? U can tel your 16 w/ you're horibel speling.