All language subtitles for Ripleys Believe It Or Not s01e09_English

SNYDER:
It was apparent that there was
something different about him.

It's really violent.
I mean, it was scary.

I'm kind of an adrenaline
junkie.

PASTRANA: Such surreal moment.

CHUNG: Most people,
it's gonna cut them open.

ANNOUNCER:
This could go even worse.

MAN: Oh!

CAMPBELL: 100 years ago,
Robert Ripley went on a quest

to the farthest reaches
of the globe

in search of the extraordinary
and unusual.

Today, the adventure continues,

searching for the world's
most bizarre,

astonishing secrets...

♪♪

...on "Ripley's
Believe It or Not!"

♪♪

Sometimes, fate can be cruel.

In the blink of an eye,

life can be altered
beyond belief.

I'm Bruce Campbell, and these
are the stories of people

who overcome adversity
like you wouldn't believe.

Our first story is
one of tragedy and triumph.

But what you're about to see
might be hard to watch.

♪♪

ROD: Just put yourself
in our shoes.

How would you feel if somebody
you know and love

and care for doing
something no one

in the world
has ever done before?

Your gut response is,
"Absolutely not."

This is the biggest rick
in the world of action sports.

Oh, his stunts are really crazy,
I think.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

Canada is my hometown crowd.

For this first attempt
in Canada, it's huge,

and my family is gonna be here
and my friends are here.

Couldn't really ask
for a better first time.

Will you please welcome
Bruce Cook!

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
From a young age, Bruce Cook
was determined to make a name

for himself riding a motorcycle.

It's never just riding down
the road

or just riding
down the hayfield.

It's, "Okay, what more can we do
with this thing?"

♪♪

BRUCE: It was usually
building bike jumps

or some sort of contraption.

There was definitely
some sketch stuff.

Probably spent as much time on
the ground as I did in the air.

It was really important to us
to go back up and hit it again.

To overcome getting knocked down
was an awesome feeling.

I think in a way it's what
I've become addicted to.

CAMPBELL: As Bruce's skills
improved, he got an invite

that would change his life --

training with X Games
gold medalist

Travis Pastrana
at his home in Maryland.

Pastrana's backyard is a motor
cross playground with one toy

Bruce had never seen before --

a ramp that helps
a rider flip forward.

♪♪

It's a extremely
intimidating ramp.

♪♪

It's just hitting your back tire

and throwing you
into a front flip,

and for the most part,
you're along for the ride.

It's really violent.

Yes!

Within a week of Bruce Cook
being at the house,

he had bypassed front flips.

He was like, "Ah, it's simple.

This ramp, no problem
the first time.

I came out perfect
on a front flip,"

and two, three weeks in,
double fronts.

♪♪

WOMAN: Oh, much better!

CAMPBELL: Pastrana is the
co-founder of a wildly-popular

touring show called
Nitro Circus.

ANNOUNCER: Are you ready?!

Please welcome Travis Pastrana!

CAMPBELL: For Travis
and his partners,

Bruce's ability to land
a double front flip,

something never attempted under
the bright lights of a track,

was performance gold.

Believe it or not,
after only a month of training,

Bruce was ready to attempt the
stunt at a Nitro Circus event

in Hamilton,
Ontario in January of 2014.

BRUCE:
Before Hamilton, there was the
normal nerves and butterflies,

but this is the first time

seeing it in front
of a landing ramp,

throwing lights and pyro
and smoke and 20,000,

30,000 people
and it looks a lot different.

Will you please welcome
from Kelowna, BC,

Bruce Cook!

PASTRANA: Such a surreal moment.

This is so much bigger
than anything he's ever done.

No one even did a front flip
at the show,

and Bruce is going
for a double.

-This could go either way.
-Oh!

I was nervous. I was just
really, really nervous.

I think everybody was nervous.

ANNOUNCER:
This is gonna be insane.

It has never been attempted
anywhere in the world.

♪♪

♪♪

Ladies, gentlemen,
he's getting checked right now.

He is getting checked.

Everyone ran over to him,
and I just stood there.

I didn't want to go see.

I didn't want to hear
what was possibly wrong.

Realizing you can't feel
your legs for the first time,

that's a terrifying
feeling.

You can feel right where the
break is and everything's numb,

and it's just like a hot liquid
going down your spine,

and definitely the
scariest moment in my life.

CAMPBELL: The crash bent Bruce's
torso so far backwards

it broke his T11 vertebrae
and severed his spinal cord,

paralyzing him
from the waist down.

He will never walk again.

LEANNE: At that point,
everything was new.

We really didn't know what it
meant for him and for us.

CAMPBELL: The doctors tell him
it could take up to a year

just to get around
the house again.

But within three months,

Bruce is already planning
his comeback.

BRUCE: Every time I've broken
anything,

it's basically
asking the doctor,

"What can I do to get back
on the bike faster?"

And this time was no different.

He was home three months after
his crash, looking at the bike.

Yeah, right off the bat, my dad
did his classic kind of laugh

and shake his head and just,
"No, no," type thing.

Yeah, I was apprehensive
as hell.

I was -- I go, "How are you
gonna get onto this thing?"

While he was shaking his head
and saying no,

he was lifting me
onto the bike.

CAMPBELL: Just sitting on a
motorcycle

is a big accomplishment
for Bruce,

but he won't stop
until he can find a way

to actually ride again.

BRUCE: My goal was to be under a
year to be back on the bike.

VAN VUGT: And shortly after
Bruce's accident,

already had got thinking
about how to modify his bike

for him to ride it.

I think Billy knew all along
that it was coming.

Bruce couldn't have done it
without Billy's support

on the modifications
on the bike.

Just one of those moments
where you don't know

how it's gonna go once when I
push off from the box van.

I might go 10 feet
and fall over.

I might go 100 feet
and fall over.

Within a few minutes,
I was just ripping around

and doing wheelies.

VAN VUGT: First time I got
to ride again with Bruce

was one of the best days
when I remember thinking,

like,
"My friend is back.

Like, he's back."

CAMPBELL: 21 months after
breaking his back,

Bruce Cook
may still be paralyzed,

but he is not sitting still.

Believe it or not.

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to
Nitro Circus live!

PASTRANA: Every person
that knew Bruce

knew that eventually
a flip was coming.

Just down the road
in Hamilton, Bruce Cook

did his utmost to put his name
in the record books.

Will you please welcome back
for the first time

in almost two years
Bruce Cook!

♪♪

Yeah, just the last time
it had happened was the crash.

You know, at that moment,
that last corner,

five seconds later,
everything changed.

Everyone, everyone in
the building, make some noise!

ANNOUNCER: You want to talk
about a comeback?

Here it is!

[ Cheers and applause ]

BRUCE: The last place I want
something to go wrong

is in front of my family.

It happened once.

I didn't want that
to happen again.

Just full throttle
and pull back.

♪♪

ANNOUNCER: He did it!
He did it!

Bruce Cook did it!

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪♪

BRUCE: It's easy to say "can't."

It's easy to just give up,

but you're gonna get
a lot more out of it

if you just push through
and overcome the odds.

♪♪

Bruce Cook proves that
with enough determination,

a person can beat
the odds to soar again.

In Las Vegas, there's a man

facing a different
kind of threat,

a spinning vortex that
could end his life in seconds.

Would you please welcome
our headliner tonight,

escape artist Rick Maisel,
ladies and gentlemen.

I'm Rick Maisel.

I'm a professional magician
and escape artist.

CAMPBELL:
Escape artists are always
looking for tricky situations.

I'm kind of an adrenaline
junkie.

So, this is the best job for me.

♪♪

My first original escape

was hanging beneath
a hot-air balloon,

hanging before the International
Balloon Fiesta

in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

And I'm also the current world
record holder

for the upside-down
strait-jacket escape.

CAMPBELL: And after five decades
of chasing danger,

he has found one
of the most perilous traps yet.

♪♪

In 1937, the first domestic
washing machine

made it's appearance
in homes across America.

But climb inside and this
mundane appliance can kill.

Just ask Rick Maisel.

MAISEL: I'm the only person
in the world

that can escape from handcuffs
and leg irons

in a commercial spinning
washing machine,

completely full
of soap and water.

No one else has survived
without serious injury or death.

CAMPBELL: Believe it or not.

Come on, let him out.
Let him out.

♪♪

Rick Maisel is an escape artist

who's been at it
for over 50 years,

but after today,
he could be all washed up.

♪♪

Kind of got the idea watching
video footage of fraternity

brothers
that would get in the dryers

and go for a spin,
and I thought, "Wow.

If somebody was to try that
in a washing machine,

that would be a neat twist

to Houdini's
underwater escapes."

I've been interested
in magic, actually,

since I was
seven years old.

My dad would help write
the routines for my act.

I would come out on the stage
and I'd go,

"One day,
I gave my father a bath.

Every since, I've been
sponging off him."

[ Laughter ]

CAMPBELL: Rick quickly
progressed,

taking a trick made famous
by Harry Houdini

and pushing it to the extreme.

I performed a Houdini
milk-can escape,

and in addition to the padlocks
on the can,

we also arc weld it.

First time, actually,
that I performed it

for a national
television appearance.

♪♪

I was underwater for about
two minutes and 50 seconds.

It was about a minute
longer than I was planning.

I started using my head as a
battering ram and both my fists.

And after about a minute,
I had an out-of-body experience.

♪♪

I had, actually, asked God
to let me get my emergency crew

in to kind of help me.

But at that point I pushed up
on the can and it broke free.

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪♪

Whew!
Thank you.

CAMPBELL:
Rick challenged Houdini's legacy
once nearly paid the price,

but the risk of death
will never stop him.

Today, he'll put his own spin on
another classic Houdini escape.

Being inside a running washing
machine is dangerous enough.

These are real locks.
No handcuffs.

Rick gets in with his hands
and feet bound

by five different
sets of shackles.

He does everything genuine.
He does everything real.

He doesn't use gimmick cuffs.

He's doing the real deal,
and it's dangerous.

It's scary.

AMBERLYNN: Not only
is this stunt dangerous

because he's in
a washing machine,

there's water,
he's circulating,

but the cuffs
as he's picking them

are not projectiles
in the washing machine,

banging him, hitting him,
causing injury.

And I have to escape
before the deadly spin cycle.

It could kill me in three
to five seconds.

CAMPBELL: The forces exerted
inside a washing machine

during this spin cycle
are equal to 77 Gs,

or 77 times the force
of the Earth's gravity.

Astronauts only experience 3 Gs
during a rocket launch.

6 Gs can cause a normal person
to pass out, and 20 Gs --

20 Gs will kill you.

Rick only has two minutes
before the washing machine

enters the deadly spin cycle

and his blood is literally
pulled out of his body

by the centrifugal force.

STOCK: This stunt could easily
go wrong.

If Rick were to to pass out

while he's inside
the washing machine,

he'd have no way to signal us
to open the door.

No one should try this at home,
not kids or adults.

As I'm crawling into
the washing machine,

I'm just kind of going
through the routines

that I know in my mind
I need to do to survive.

I have extensive training

in transcendental meditation
self-hypnosis.

I use that, actually, to slow
my heart rate down

so that I require less oxygen
in my blood

when I'm pulling escapes.

Go!

When the washing machine
gets turned on...

We have a timer going.
Get the water in.

I'm immediately feeling
the G forces of the machine,

and it doesn't, like,
slowly start going 50 RPMs.

It immediately starts turning
at that speed.

CAMPBELL: Rick has just two
minutes before the machine

enters the spin cycle.

30 seconds.

If he passes out due to
the spinning or lack of oxygen,

he won't be able to signal
for his release.

45 seconds.

That's his hand.

Uh...

Is he okay?

Ryan, should we call it?Give it a minute.

I don't think
he's signaling yet.

He's still working
on the cuffs.

Is he moving?

1:20.
1:20., Rick.

That's it. Let him out.

[ Grunts ]

-Awesome.
-Yeah.

Yeah!

Whoo!

You got it.

STOCK: Rick isn't your average
performer.

I think in the future,
people will be copying Rick.

There's no limits
to my imagination

on where I think
my escapes can lead.

And I'd still like to do
an escape in space

if given the opportunity.

♪♪

Rick Maisel's career is based
on the thrill of eluding death.

He battles the odds on stage.

' There are other people
that gamble

with their mortality
at the dinner table.

Mom, please pass the poison.

♪♪

In the United States, the puffer
fish is an aquarium oddity.

Here in Tokyo, though,
where it's known as fugu,

one bit of this delicacy

could be the last thing
you'll ever taste.

Believe it or not.

♪♪

My name is Yutaka Sasaki.

I'm a Japanese chef who
specializes in fugu cuisine.

Yes.

CAMPBELL:
Now Chef Sasaki is passing on
his fugu knowledge to his son,

but one slip of the knife

could leave their dinners
paralyzed or worse.

♪♪

♪♪

Fugu is on the menu at some of
the finest restaurants in Japan

and goes for upwards
of $200 a plate.

Enthusiasts observe
the texture as gummy,

the taste flavorless,

and it sometimes leaves
behind a tingle in your mouth,

hints of the poison
it is said.

Only licensed chefs are allowed
to serve it to the public.

Yutaka Sasaki is one of them.

I simply fell in love
with that indescribable,

devilish taste.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Yutaka's fascination
with fugu is in his blood.

His family's restaurant,

Torafugutei in Tokyo's
Asakusa district

has been serving puffer fish
for generations.

Still, with every morsel of fugu
comes a very real danger.

♪♪

The poison in fugu
is called tetrodotoxin.

It's a clear substance
that's mixed into the flesh.

CAMPBELL: This neurotoxin,
said to be 1,000 times deadlier

than cyanide,

is concentrated in the skin,
liver, and ovaries.

Altogether, the toxic
bits of just one fish

are enough to kill
30 grown men.

Even a trace amount can leave
a diner permanently paralyzed.

You get numbness in the limbs,
language impairment,

difficult breathing,
and finally, heart failure.

There is no antidote.

And even now, an average
of 50 people a year

are poisoned by fugu.

In fact, the deadly
delicacy accounts

for over half of all food
poisoning deaths in Japan.

If someone were to die,
that would be a huge scandal.

Each day, I approach my work
with some nervousness.

And there's not much I can do

if the product isn't good
to start with.

♪♪

[ Indistinct conversations ]

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
Yutaka has been taking his son
Minoru to Tokyo's world-famous

tsukiji fish market for decades.

It's the only place
they can find fugu

that meets
their rigorous standards.

Selection of the proper fish
is key to safety.

Fugu is valued
for its delicate cheek meat and

for the way a roast
fin flavors a glass of sake.

But the biggest price
i sonly found in males.

This is the testicles
of the fugu.

The testicles are the milt.

Right now, the most sought-after
ingredient in the world

is this milt, isn't it?

The milt is an exotic treat,

a supposed aphrodisiac that is
eaten raw or lightly grilled.

♪♪

Customers who can afford to eat

Yutaka's fugu have
complete faith

in his skill and experience.

They must trust
with their lives.

But every fugu master
must eventually step down

and give way to his apprentice.

The time has come for Minoru's
debut, and the heat is on.

♪♪

In Japan, chefs must undergo
a three-year apprenticeship

if they want to serve
the world's

second most-dangerous fish.

But for decades, Yutaka Sasaki
has been training his son

Minoru to prepare fugu fish
without killing anybody.

♪♪

Fugu chefs have to be perfect
every time.

Neurotoxin in the fish's skin
and organs is invisible,

tasteless, and poisonous,
and they must not contaminant

the non-toxic meat
on the muscles.

There is zero margin for error.

Yes, it's colorless
and transparent.

This part takes the most skill.

You can't afford to mess up
or make any mistakes here.

♪♪

Minoru has been learning his
father's fugu secrets for years,

but can Yutaka's skill
and trust be passed on?

You have to trust whomever is
preparing it

because it does have poison.

I trust this shop more than
anywhere else.

Some people say that their love
of fugu is deep in their bones.

That is fascinating,
that even though this fish

is extremely poisonous,

it's loved so much,
which is strange.

CAMPBELL:
It's time for the ultimate test
of faith as the fugu is served.

♪♪

♪♪

Minoru's fugu is a hit.

It's delicious, addictive,
and nobody died.

The restaurant now has two fugu
chefs, father and son.

Japanese people trust
in our chefs in this way,

and the flavor,
it was so delicious

that I was deeply moved.

Yes, I want to eat all of it.

♪♪

Some of us willingly skirt
the edge of life and death,

but others don't have a choice.

In suburban Michigan,

a young man's body
is reaching proportions

so unimaginable, it may be
hazardous to his health.

♪♪

SNYDER: I knew Broc
since he was born.

I was in the room with my sister
when she had him.

It was very exciting.

♪♪

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Most parents swear
their kid grows like weeds,

but with Broc Brown,
that was not an exaggeration.

It was apparent that there was
something different

about him very early on.

He came out and he was larger
than most,

and he continued
to grow very excessively.

Broc does live in a world where
everything is too small for him.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: The average adult male
in the United States

is 5'9 1/2".

Broc Brown soared past
that height when he was five.

When he was in junior high,
he was about 6 foot tall.

And in high school,
he was 7 foot tall.

I'm 21, and I'm 7'8".

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
Broc's towering frame makes him
one of the tallest people alive,

and he's still growing.

Just over a foot more and he'll
become America's tallest human,

a title still held
by Broc's idol, Robert Wadlow.

♪♪

It was Robert Ripley who first
discovered Wadlow in the 1930s

and introduced the giant boy
to the world.

Ripley spent years documenting
Wadlow's existence,

immortalizing each fascinating
detail of life

as an American giant.

And to this day,
the world's tallest man.

I'm Robert Wadlow, 12 years old,
and weigh 240 pounds,

and about 7 feet tall.

These boys around me
are about same age as I am,

and they go to the same grade.

CAMPBELL:
As an adult, he reached
a stunning 8 feet, 11 inches

and weighed almost 500 pounds.

So, what's causing this
excessive growth in Broc?

We had him in the doctor's
quite often

trying to figure out, you know,
why he was growing so fast.

Broc had a bone density
test done,

and that's what
they had suspected.

It was Sotos Syndrome.

CAMPBELL: Sotos' Syndrome,
or cerebral gigantism,

is a rare disorder
caused by a genetic mutation.

Though it affects 1
in 15,000 people,

barely anyone ever has reached
Broc's towering height.

My friends at school
thought it was really cool

that I was so tall.

Like, "Whoa."

CAMPBELL: But it's not always
easy to fit in.

♪♪

Finding clothes and furniture

are just a few
of the challenges of gigantism.

There are a whole host
of other health concerns

associated with this condition,

like deformed bone
and heart failure,

which is why an enormous body
can lead to a short life.

SNYDER: We were a little worried
because we didn't know

whether or not it would
affect him in his life span.

CAMPBELL:
Robert Wadlow died in 1940
when he was just 22 years old.

Does that mean Broc's young life
will also be cut short?

♪♪

I push myself.
I master myself.

That takes a lot
of mental strength.

♪♪

In case you haven't noticed,
this is Robert Wadlow,

the tallest man
who ever lived -- 8'11".

And just do you know,
Broc Brown

is only one foot shorter
and he's still growing.

♪♪

Well, we're very pleased
to have you here as our guest.

[ Indistinct talking.

CAMPBELL: But behind the smile,
Wadlow is suffering.

By the time he was full grown,

Wadlow had little feeling
in his legs

and needed braces to walk.

Michigan's Broc Brown also lives
with constant achiness,

as his body tries to keep up
with his bone growth,

and long walks
leave him in pain.

Knowing that Wadlow only made it
to age 22,

Broc and his family feared
his own life would be cut short.

♪♪

But in 2005, Aunt Stacy
and her nephew

got the news
they were hoping for.

SNYDER: We've been told that
Sotos' Syndrome

will not affect
his life span,

that he should live
a normal life.

He's always hungry.
You can't fill him up.

♪♪

I don't know how I'm doing it,
but I'm doing it.

He still growing a little bit.

I have to measure him
in increments.

We're glad to see
that he's slowed down.

CAMPBELL: He may never catch
Robert Wadlow,

but he's still living large.

I am happy that I am this tall.

I feel pretty often that I can
help people out if they need it.

♪♪

Broc dodged a bullet.

His life won't be cut short.

In London, England,
there's a man

who isn't trying
to escape danger at all.

In fact, he injects it right
into his bloodstream.

About 5.4 million people are
bitten by snakes each year,

resulting in more
than 100,000 deaths.

Countless more are maimed

from the toxic effect
of reptile venom.

But for one man, this deadly
substance is what he lives for.

I think I've had like
23 different species

of snakes
in my lifetime.

I had a cocktail of venom.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: For the last 30 years,
52-year-old

Steve Ludwin has been injecting
dangerous amounts

of snake venom, convinced that
the toxic cocktail

is the key
to the fountain of youth.

Believe it or not.

♪♪

When I was, like, 10 years old,

my father took me down
to the Miami Serpentarium.

You could go watch this guy
called Bill Haast milk cobras.

NARRATOR:
The object now is to move
the cobra to an open position

where Bill will attempt to grasp
him just behind the narrow hood.

He was the first Westerner

to start injecting himself
with snake venom.

CAMPBELL: Haast injected so much
venom over his career,

it was said he developed

an immunity
to the toxic substance,

but more than that,
it may have extended his life.

He died of natural causes
at the age of 100.

My years of doing this
has possibly slowed

the aging process down.

I think he was onto something.

♪♪

CAMPBELL:
In 1987, Steve moved to London
where he found the perfect place

to pursue
his passion for poison.

LUDWIN: My first job in London

was working in a place
called The Bavarium.

Particularly, the imported
venomous reptiles and scorpions

and spiders for universities
and stuff like that.

CAMPBELL:
With unlimited access to the
objects of his fascination,

Steve began to milk snakes

and inject their venom
just like his idol, Bill Haast.

The first time I started,
it was like late 1988.

I just took a small amount
and got it into my blood

and just felt it,
you know, burning immediately

and then kind of swelled up,
and I got scared,

and I just had incredibly
discoloration and bruising.

It was definitely playing around
with death.

CAMPBELL:
But Steve kept on injecting.

The more I tried it, you know,

the more confident
I got with it,

and I could see with my own eyes
that something was happening.

I would take it and for a good,
like, eight hours,

I felt charged.

I was, like, ready to go.

It seemed to really sort of
give me some kind of energy.

It wasn't there without it.

CAMPBELL:
But the charge does come
at a steep process.

I've had many accidents.

I have some scars
all over my body.

I've cobra venoms
that have ate into my leg.

I could see the bones in my leg.

It just rotted the flesh.

It's really dangerous.

People would look at my arms,
and my arms would like --

you know,
something like a zombie

or something
out of "Evil Dead."

Yeah, but see, that was fake.

Now, folks, I shouldn't
have to tell you this.

What Steve is about to do
should not be attempted

by anyone watching at home
under any circumstance.

Thank you.

♪♪

I don't feel pain.

I'm the best Shaolin Temple
warrior monk on the planet

[ Grunting ]

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

There's a guy who's been
injecting snake venom

for over three decades.

Uh, just so we're clear,
every time he does this,

he's playing dice
with the grim reaper.

♪♪

Steve is going to demonstrate
his method for milking

with a Pope's tree viper,

one of the deadliest
snakes in Asia.

One bite can introduce massive
quantities of neurotoxin,

causing paralysis
and even death.

You have to get the venom,
so that's, you know,

milking the snake,
which you have to get the snake

behind its head very carefully.

And then present the snake
to the little glass,

and it deposits the venom.

♪♪

Once I've milked the snake

and put the snake
safely back in its cage,

I basically get a syringe

and I draw the venom
up in the syringe.

♪♪

I just put the venom
onto my skin, the raw venom,

and then
I'll just poke it through.

So you're just getting like,
a small amount.

♪♪

CAMPBELL: Steve believes after
all these years,

he's found a pathway
to the fountain of youth.

It's just been guarded
by vipers.

LUDWIN:
I have this theory that by
injecting this snake venom,

it's exercising
my immune system.

I don't get colds or flu.

I just don't get ill
like other people do.

I had some doctors
doing tests on me.

When I was, like, 42 years old,

I scored as, like,
a 28-year-old.

They were baffled.

I've altered my body,
and there's the possibility

that it actually slows down
the aging process.

CAMPBELL: Though that theory
hasn't been studied yet,

Steve is participating
in some cutting-edge research

to see if his blood
has changed enough

to eliminate deaths
by snake bite.

LUDWIN: I'm working with a group
of scientists,

and they're doing this project
where they are basically

farming my antibodies
that I've developed

in the hopes of making
a new anti venom from my blood.

To be involved in a project

that is hopefully
gonna save lives,

you know, it's a great job.

♪♪

From a killer fang
to a deadly spear,

there's a clear path
to survival --

discipline, focus,
and a good sense of humor.

♪♪

My name is Shi Yan Ming.

I'm the best Shaolin Temple
warrior monk on the planet.

There's speed.

There's flexibility.

Like puzzle,
I have all the pieces.

From many years of practicing
and training, I don't feel pain.

CAMPBELL:
Today, Yan Ming is gonna
need everything he's learned

when he goes up against the tip
of this 9-foot spear.

♪♪

Most monks are known for
living peaceful, quiet lives.

In the Shaolin tradition,
it's a different story.

Based in the mountains
of central China,

this is where kung fu was born
some 1,500 years ago,

and where Shifu's difficult
childhood began.

When I was an infant,
I almost died.

CAMPBELL: As a last resort,

Yan Ming's parents brought him
to the Shaolin Temple.

The monks nourished him
back to health,

raised him for 20 years,

and trained him to be
a kung fu master, or Shifu.

♪♪

♪♪

in 1992, disenchanted with parts
of the Shaolin's traditions,

Yan Ming defected from China

and brought Shaolin kung fu
to the United States.

Two years later in 1994,

he opened his own temple
in New York City.

YAN MING: Every day, we train.

Sharper your life,
sharper your blade.

♪♪

I push myself.

I master myself.

CAMPBELL: This is the superhuman
discipline

that Yan Ming is famous for.

♪♪

But will it stand up
to the ultimate challenge?

♪♪

That takes a lot
of mental strength.

CHUNG: They're super sharp.

Most people, it's gonna
cut them open.

You have to bend the spear
and be able to take the pain.

♪♪

Master Shi Yan Ming
has spent decades

practicing the ancient martial
art of Shaolin kung fu.

Huh? Did I fool you just
a little bit?

♪♪

Yan Ming will place a spear
on the super sternal

notch on his neck,
just below the spot

a surgeon would cut
to perform a tracheotomy.

He's attempting to bend
the spear

by concentrating all his power
on this single point.

it takes as little as
five pounds of pressure

per square inch
to crush a wind pipe.

One slip and he'll be dead
in a matter of minutes.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ah!

From childhood illness,
Yan Ming has pushed himself

beyond the normal limits
of human physiology.

I try to use
my precious lifetime

to share the philosophy
of martial arts.

Make yourself strong
and you can help yourself.

And that way
you can help others.

♪♪

The will to overcome obstacles,

the tenacity to endure
the worst circumstances,

the strength to drive
through any barrier --

okay, you get the point,
but this is what transforms

everyday people
into true survivors.

♪♪