Comments on: Special 9: Mega Movie Myths 2-Hour Special

By: John

John — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:09:15 +0000

For the Awning fall myth they should’ve confirmed it. Look at Jackie Chan.In the movie Project A Jackie Chan fell though two awnings with no wires or anything. I remember watching that myth on T.V. and immediately thinking about Jackie Chan. If you want to see that stunt go to youtubes Cinemassacre’s Top 10 Jackie Chan Stunts(it’s #2).

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:39:46 +0000

these comments are all gayyyy!.

By: John Harris

John Harris — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:33:52 +0000

My opinion is that this attempt at a busted is not anywhere near proved.
1. As previously stated what type of steel was used? I would recommend a traditional crafted tamahagane steel blade, not factory forged or made of new types of steel. New steels compare but do not match the quality of a hand forged man slayer of the Samurai time. Another difference is that the steel makes is that swords now are made depending on how they are used. Today for use in a “dojo” sword can be made harder therefore more likely to break instead of being cut.
2.The forging itself is also an issue. If it was hand forged how many times was it folded? Also as the show was a little while ago, were they sure it was even a Japanese katana? You’d be surprised the difference it makes. It could very well have been a Jing-gum which is Korean. There are differences in the sword. The jing gum is straighter than a curved katana. It could change the result who knows?
3. Another factor that I think of as a second Dan black belt in the Korean Hai Dong Gum Doe is the type of cut used. From what I remember they used Pandum-Begi a horizontal slash at waste height against another motionless blade.
4.Perhaps the motion in the other blade would contribute to a more reliable result. Horizontal cuts are the most difficult in my opinion to pull of a clean cut nonetheless cutting through steel. It is much easier to cut downward at an angle than left to right. I would recommend using several different swords with several different cuts up and down and up etc…
5. Also a legitimate grand master of a man slaying sword style not “John Smith’s” few years of Americanized training
6. Did they consider the portion of the sword use in cutting the other? I was always taught to use the top 5 inches at most to perform the best cut. At that “sweet spot” maximum speed and force is reached.
7. Another thing that concerns me is the fact that they only relied on force when using the robot arm. You can take the sharpest thing you want and press on it as hard as you want it will always take more force to push through with a hit like the one the robot would make. The arm just bludgeoned the swords together! It’s no wonder the swords just broke. There’s a reason they call it slicing!
8.As said before they hit the flat of the sword and while it is the recommended blocking technique it is not always a choice try blade to blade or blade to back

I could probably continue but I think 8 points is enough to doubt the results. I recommend not only using the tamahagane but 2 grandmasters in a sealed room to help determine it cut, chipped or breaks. If it did anything but cut there would be shards no? Try to find the most reasonable answer with the best quality of real swords not ‘replicas’ or swords forged in new techniques. Just try to be fair to all the aspects by using all the best conditions.

By: Takekaze

Takekaze — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:06:05 +0000

Sword myth:
Also highly depends on the skills of the fencers. A ken-jutsu instructor, like the one I know in Osaka, is different than John Smith who just waves his sword around.

“A genuine Japanese-constructed Katana” is what? They used what steel? What technique to forge it? Same for the other swords.

Daywalker, ninjutsu is a joke these days (by rights it shouldn’t even be called ninjutsu anyway). All you need to break a sword is a jitte (was used by policemen in feudal Japan to disarm brawling samurai). Works perfectly.

The only way such a test would really work would be by getting some really good fencers with decent weapons. Problem is, you won’t find either (horrible waste).

One thing made me curious. What about arrow cutting? Mythbusters should try to bust that. Cause… it works. Seen it myself. But in order to do it one doesn’t need robotic arms and inferior machines. You only need a ken-jutsu instructor who has achieved the mutô (and that’s a handful of people on this planet, literally).

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:30:04 +0000

for the sword myth… i’ve never seen the movie, but when i hear about that i thought it was cut as if in a swordfight where the sharp parts where hit together… so i think that it should be retested with both swords swinging and both swords hit on the blade…

By: Daywalker

Daywalker — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:29:19 +0000

RaisnCain, you shouldn’t express yourself, pick up a book :p. This is in regards to the swords myth. This myth is interesting because theres such an astounding amount of factors. All the information is completely trivial, however. All of the swords that were shown in the test were made to kill people. There have been weapons in the past that were in fact made to cut other weapons, say why not use some of these! Swords that have a serrated or course blade have been created both in the past and by custom blacksmith. To strike 2 weapons together at the blade is sacrilege! I winced at the destruction of the handmade weapons on the show. It’d be like chopping a tree down with a wooden axe. Anyone who knows how to break blades of their opponent doesn’t do it with another sword *cough* ninjitsu.

By: Gene.K

Gene.K — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:03:15 +0000

If the supports do not break or snap the sandbags will never fall.

By: Zack

Zack — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:37:45 +0000

I would like to echo the point that in no film has anyone ever shot off a lock point-blank and at the body of the lock. Check your sources again; they will shoot down and from the side, trying to hit the joint between the body of the lock and the side of the lock ring that does not contain the locking mechanism. Not only will this give them the right angle for breaking the lock, but it will also minimize the chance of a ricochet, one of the other reasons you rated it as Busted.

The side of the lock ring containing the locking mechanism contains a lot of extra metal pieces that will stop the body of the lock from being able to compress and separate from the padlock ring, while the opposite side is only held in by a steel pin. By forcing the body of the lock away from the padlock ring with the force of the bullet, you’re either going to rip the body off the lock, or given that the padlocklock holds, you’re going to separate the padlocklock from the door.

Likewise, I wish I could illustrate this is some way, but I can’t using text. You’re not trying to mangle the body of the lock, you’re trying to force the padlock ring to separate from the body.

By: Frankie

Frankie — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:09:47 +0000

The team did not try all possible ways of cutting a sword with another sword. They had the striking sword hit the target sword on its flat, and on its sharp edge. But they didn’t strike it on its back. And when you look at the clip from The Count of Monte Cristo, that is exactly how the sword was cut.

Besides striking a blade on its back, it’s not enough to strike it at 48mph. A robotic arm swinging to a maximum speed of 48mph does not mimic the slashing action of an expert swordsman. It’s not just the speed that is important, but the acceleration. And I don’t mean plain accelerating to 48mph, which obviously was already achieved. I mean the acceleration itself has to increase.

So, my suggestion is to rig up the robotic arm to more than one pneumatic actuator, one going off after another in an overlapping fashion, so as to not only accelerate the swing but also to steadily increase the acceleration of the swing as smoothly as possible. And aim the striking sword at the back of the target sword. Maximum acceleration should be achieved just before the swords contact.

Yeah I know, it sounds like a great pain with lots of tweaking involved, buy hey, imagine how good it’ll feel when you cut the target sword this way. (I know how I will feel!)

And I agree with the other comments that said that the condition and materials of the swords are also important. It sure would help for the target sword to be made of a softer material than the striking sword. Or be more brittle.

By: Chazz

Chazz — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:17:05 +0000

With the Sword Myth, my friends and I while watching it had to disagree with the outcome. For several reasons from several people, but these are teh reasons.
1. the sword angle they used was in a straight line horizontally, while an attacker generally arches the attack, and hits an opponents sword on an angle.
2. the swords DID break, so while the myth of cutting clean through another sword is highly unlikely, most movies arent clear as to wether it was a clean and legit cut, or a shatter/break. either way it is possible to lessen the length of an opponents sword with another sword.
3. each of the tests should have been done with fresh swords, as each time the attackers sword hit an opposing sword it wold have been dulled, there fore lessing the sharpness and there fore the accuracy of the ‘cut’.
4th (and finally) the test did not account for the movement of the second sword. If two swords are moving towards each other or beign held by two different people it is highly unlikely that the sword will connect, straight and in the middle of the sword or even be held steady. therefore this affects momentum, and position of the cut.

As I stated these are from varying people, but most of us have at least some experience with swords and martial art techniques. I would like to see this retested personally as well as reworded to something along the lines of, can you cut/break a sword with another sword. as Cut is rather hard to define and prove in this circumstance.