Man at Arms: Art of War

[Drunk Monk]

Oh snap. My bad. I am in the Persia episode.

[Drunk Monk]

Man, Crystal looks so preggers. How did I not see that? Seeing that sparring bit with Ardeshir is so wincey now.

This ep got all twisted. It was the one where Da’Mon got deeply cut yanking the akinaka out of the ballistic dummy. I think the reaction shot they used for me might have been my genuine reaction to Da’Mon’s cut. I had the best view with perfect lighting. I’ll never forget that. I close my kids and can see it in ultra HD in my mind’s eye. Maybe that’s why I forgot I was in this ep. I was trying to forget that. But I never will...and I’m fine with that now.

Ardeshir has this great bit about his the asti pommel was a pomagranite. Sad they cut that because it was really informative.

[Greg]

I hadn't heard the Da'Mon getting cut story.

[Drunk Monk]

He talked about it in my last article - http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/arti...ticle=1451

We weren't sure how to approach it.  The cut was on his left hand.  When he withdrew the akinaka from the gel dummy, he used his left to brace the dummy so it wouldn't fall over and it was so damn sharp that it cut him.  Over 30 stitches.  It was deep, but Da'Mon has thick hands, so there was no tendon damage.  There was much discussion of whether to include it or not, and increased safety measures like we were no longer permitted to be as flamboyant, which is in part why my cut isn't so dancey, despite what Danny said.  The episodes were filmed out of order so in ones after the cut, you can see Da'Mon is hiding his left hand.  We kinda kept it all on the down-low, not sure on how the showrunners would proceed.  

Funny aside - The on-site paramed was this young, enthusiast guy who was really on top of it.  Da'Mon returned to set that day, all patched up, and that paramed told him CBD was best.  Da'Mon is from TexASS and had no such connects.  But that evening, I was getting together with an old friend, one of the fellow founders of JAH Med, who now works in LA for a booming pot club franchise.  He was the one throwing some pot fest on the Queen Mary that weekend and was trying to get me to come down (way too much for me to deal with at that time).  Nevertheless, he took me to dinner - some awesome place on a pier with killer crab claws - and delivered a CBD tincture to me, free of charge.  I passed it to Da'Mon that night.  He was so grateful and told me later that it really helped him get through the rest of the filming.  Plus once again, I got points for overall coolness (the locals - Danny, Crystal & Marko are clean & sober).  I'm tightest with Da'Mon and Kerry on the cast - we have a lot of shared opinions and perspectives, Da'Mon because he's the other martial expert, and Kerry because he's an old fencer.  Anyway, Da'Mon healed up nicely, so he tells me.

[Greg]

Seen it. This was like the antithesis episode to the last one where DM was everywhere and Mr. Knowledge. In the Persia episode he got to say "Who plays Brad Pitt" I don't think you had any solo interviews during the build segment. We did notice your wince when Da'Mon cut himself and then Da'Mon magically disappeared. What was the point of cutting ceramic busts with an iron sword?

They also should have held on you longer at the end when Danny says "Stay Sharp" so we can see your eyebrow raise. As it was, you were just starting when they cut to credits. The Queen also made mention of the DM smirk during the same bit.

[Drunk Monk]

Thanks for watching.  There was a shuffle because I got bumped off the finale (next week).  Robert Rodriguez makes his obligatory guest appearance (it's the Machete episode) and Diana was the guest expert because of the Philippine connection to machetes.  So there were too many people at the War Room table and I was bumped to the Persia episode.  The Persia ep should've been all Da'Mon and Ardeshir.  Ardeshir and I did have an extensive conversation at the War Room table about the pomegranate Asti spear pommel but that was all cut (I can see why - it was nerdy academic stuff).  

The cutting of ceramic busts in this ep and the Kung Fu ep (the terracotta warriors) was a major source of complaint for the BK&S crew.  The showrunners were going for that slo-mo spectacle but it was dumb.  I said it was like cutting flower pots with scalpels.  This came up with several of the tests.

[Greg]

Stupid producers. Should have been smothered at birth.

They could have used the solid end of the spear to do short work of those busts. Better than jabbing at those burlap bags with the pointy end.

[Drunk Monk]

right?  a lot of the tests are dumb.  we do suggest tests. we had a long discourse on the naginata test because we used traditional tatami and there were things to say about the angle of the cut.  but they don't listen.

as long as they make me look good, i'm fine with it.  6ms all the way!

[Greg]

You do realize 6ms man can also be taken as a pejorative?

The hair does shine.

[Drunk Monk]

You do realize 6ms man can also be taken as a pejorative?

The hair does shine.

Anything can be taken as a pejorative.  

The ladies in make-up contained my fly-aways with so much product.

[Greg]

If you're calling it product, you've gone Hollywood.

[Drunk Monk]

If you're calling it product, you've gone Hollywood.

Actually, I learned that from Ms. J. Bailey.  





But you know me well, old friend.


Now if we can only get renewed for Season 3...

[Greg]

Fingers crossed.

[Drunk Monk]

And that I get cast in Season 3.  Cross your toes too.

Cuz I need my product fix. 

[Greg]

Work on your dance moves now.