All language subtitles for Forged.in.Fire.Knife.or.Death.S01E03.A.Fish.Called.Lifeline.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-SiGMA_track3_eng

- Throughout history,

the blade
and one's ability to wield it

has been the difference
between life and death.

Tonight, America's top
bladesmiths, martial artists,

and knife experts
bring their weapons

to the toughest challenge...

- Come on, let's do this!
- They'll ever face.

- It's a grueling gauntlet

designed to put their
blade-wielding skills...

Whoa!
To the ultimate test.

Broke the knife in half!

The top two competitors
move on to Dead Run,

the final showdown,

for a chance
at a $20,000 grand prize.

Total carnage!

Who can do the most damage
in the fastest time?

Whose blade and dreams
will shatter?

And who will earn the title
of "Knife or Death" champion?

- I've absolutely never done
anything like this in my life,

so this is gonna be
a complete unique test

of my technique
and my movement.

- My typical demeanor
is calm, collected,

but faced with the odds,

I'll have to draw
upon a berserker rage.

You throw yourself
into battle.

- Blade wielders,
welcome to the most intense

and badass knife competition
ever created.

The first course
is Knife Fight,

the true test
of speed and power.

The first obstacle
you'll face: Trail Blazer.

You must cut through
six wooden dowels,

each releasing a lit torch.

When the torches fall,

it's time to move on
to the next obstacle:

Stick and Move.

You must stab, slice,

and cut through
three separate containers

to release enough contents
so that

the attached counterweights
reach the ground

before the containers
rise too high to hit.

Next up is Ice Pick.

You must chop into
a 3-foot block of ice,

puncture the plastic pipe,
and release the red liquid.

Then you move on to Lifeline.

You must fully slice
through three hanging objects

with one swing each.

Fail to slice through
the thickest part,

your run time ends,

and you're not allowed
to go on

any further in the course.

If you make it this far,
your last obstacle

is Curtain Call,

where you must cut completely
through the wall of meat

and the sheet of metal.

- Knife Fight is definitely
taking competition

for knife-cutting
to another level.

It's gonna be badass.

- The two that make it
the farthest the fastest

will move on to our second,

even more grueling course
challenge: Dead Run.

The winner earns a cash prize

and the chance to compete
in the season finale

for the title of
"Knife or Death" grand champion

and a $20,000 cash prize.

I'm honored to introduce to you
U. S. Army veteran

and Special Forces
Green Beret Tu Lam.

- We stationed
our very own blade expert

and "Forged in Fire" champion
Travis Wuertz

before the start of this run.

If he finds any problems
with your blade,

he can disqualify you
from this competition.

- We'll see you on the course.

- I am a little concerned
with my performance,

just due to the nerves.

I'm feeling anxious.
I'm ready to--ready to go.

- My name is Ben Noffsinger,
and I live in North Carolina,

where I'm a bladesmith.
I started blacksmithing,

and from there I progressed
to bladesmithing,

producing high-quality
kitchen knives.

I'm a former chef.

That's where I learned
to use blades

and creating my own.

- What you got there?
- I brought a Norse seax

because of the utilitarian
nature of it.

Figured I would go with
the most functional blade

that I could think of.

- I like the natural wood grip

and the tang going all the way
through the pommel

peened over
in a traditional construction,

but I'm still gonna do
a couple chops

just to make sure it's safe.

It has nice weight and balance.

You can generate a lot
of power, even in an arc.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.
- Your blade makes the cut.

- I'm not a perfectionist,
but I am a completionist,

and I hope that serves me well.

- Here comes Ben,
the former chef,

holding a big blade,

but Ben is a big man.

It looks like they were made
for each other.

- Ben's coming in
with a Viking seax

traditionally used
by Viking warriors.

- The tension mounts
as big, bad Ben

steps up to Trail Blazer.

Right through dowel number one,

right through dowel number two.

Different plan of attack
we see here.

Very methodical.

Boy, he destroyed Trail Blazer!

Now, Stick and Move.
Here we go.

- Wow.
- Total destruction!

Weight's down.

That big man
is wielding that monster

like it's an extension
of his arm.

Total carnage!

- He's utilizing his whole body
and structure behind him.

- Look at that.

Record time by Ben!

Man, did he go through those
obstacles like it was nothing.

Next up: Ice Pick.

There he goes.

- I love the angles of attack.
- Whoa!

What a performance!
He decapitates the ice block!

- That goes to show you,
it's all about leverage

and angles of attack
and power.

- And that man
possesses some power.

- Now, I'd have to say, Bill,
I am concerned about Lifeline.

Although he has power,
that's a heavy blade.

It's going to push the object
versus cut

if he doesn't come down
at the right angles.

- Okay. If you were Ben,
how would you attack Lifeline?

- Well, he needs to hit it
at a downward angle.

- Here he goes.

One chop, backstroke.
Jeez!

- The fish is one of
the hardest items to cut.

- And again, another one
goes down to Lifeline.

- That goes to show you
how hard this competition is.

He has power,
but this is about technique.

He needs to maximize
the weight of that blade.

The only way to do it is
come down at an angle, Bill.

- And I'll tell you what,
that's a shame,

'cause he had
a record time going.

- There has never been
such a close cut on a fish.

Nothing but skin.

- My stroke was short.

- Phenomenal performance,
but it remains to be seen

if you made it far enough
fast enough.

- My name's Brian Brown.
I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

I've been doing martial arts
for over 30 years now.

Been doing Filipino
martial arts now for 20 years.

I'm feeling confident.
I'm feeling strong.

I am ready to rock and roll.

- What'd you bring today?

- So I got this blade from
a student that trained for me.

He traveled to the Philippines,
and he brought me this back.

A ginunting
is a weapon that's used

in Filipino fighting styles.

It can really save your ass
on the street.

- How long have you had
this knife?

- Couple years, actually.

- There's some things in
the construction that worry me

for the competition
that you're going to enter,

chopping hard objects

and not just going through
motions or flesh.

I can't tell
if it's carbon steel.

Does this blade rust up on you?

- Not too much.
- Okay.

Now I'll do a little
hardness check.

- Sure.

- I don't like the construction
of this knife.

The steel's not hard.

I can whittle it
with my pocket knife.

And there's some glue
on this guard.

Did you put that there?
- I did.

- Why did you put it there?

- Just to kind of make sure

it stays a little bit
more secure,

'cause I don't know who made...

- Okay.
- The blade.

- Do you mind if I scrape
some of this epoxy

so I can actually take a look

at the tang
going into the blade?

- Go at it.

- So when I have blades
that come from,

you know, other countries,

I often worry
if they're tourist blades...

- Mm-hmm.
- Or good blades.

So...

now, this is a hidden tang
construction.

Thing about a hidden tang is,
you like to know the origins

before putting a knife
through hell,

so it looks like this guard was
actually cast around the blade,

because I'm seeing signs
of cast material there.

What that worries me

is that the molten temperature
of this brass

exceeds any heat-treating
temperature

and makes it hard
to have a good metallurgy

right at the guard.

What I don't want is to see
a blade break off at the handle

and go flying across
the competition.

See, I have legitimate
safety concerns here.

Don't get me wrong,
I like seeing chaos,

but I don't want to see
somebody get hurt.

You've seen the course, right?

- Yeah, I'm concerned.
- You're concerned too?

- Mm-hmm.

- Let me go ahead
and take a few chops

on this tatami mat.

That test does not concern me.
- Mm-hmm.

- But I hope to gauge
a little bit of an idea

of the construction
for the basic test.

- Go for it.

So it's my job
to assess the blades

to make sure they're safe.

- Sure.

- With the mystery origin,

the shoddy construction,

not knowing
where it comes from,

not knowing the steels,
not seeing much of the tang,

the glue job being to
kind of cover up gaps,

there's things
all over this knife

that concern me
on the construction.

- Sure.

- After a thorough inspection
of this blade...

I cannot allow you to compete
with this knife.

I'm sorry.

Your knife does not
make the cut.

- Okay.

Didn't want to put myself

or anyone else in the area
at risk,

and I get that,
but it sucks,

'cause I wanted to compete,
but wasn't the case.

It was a safety issue,

and the blade
didn't make the cut.

- My name is Da'Mon Stith,
I'm from Austin, Texas,

and I'm a martial arts
instructor.

African martial arts is what
I'm currently focusing on now.

The weapon I'll be using
is the Egyptian khopesh.

In ancient Egyptian,
the term means "goat leg,"

and that's because it looks
kind of like the hind leg

of a goat or an ox,
and I'm hoping

that I'll get to show
the strength of this blade.

- So what have you brought
today?

- This weapon was introduced

during the New Kingdom
in ancient Egypt.

It combines the cutting
potential of the epsilon ax.

Also, the point is in line
with the wrist,

so it should be good
at piercing as well.

- Now, where did you
get this blade?

- I had a good friend of mine
forge it.

- I like the alignment
of the grip,

the things that you mentioned,

the dynamics
of the cutting blade.

I'm gonna strap into it
and try it out.

- Okay.

- Congratulations.
Your blade makes the cut.

- I'm here
to demonstrate the power

of African martial arts.

- Da'Mon Stith,
30-plus years

of African martial arts
training.

- That's all about quick in,

quick strikes,
close-quarters combat.

- Okay, we have never seen
a blade like this

in this competition yet.

- This thing is made
for combat.

The khopesh blade
was literally designed

to take a head clean off.

- Nice.

- I love it.
Look at him, getting down.

The culture is showing through.

- Beautiful display of respect
from Da'Mon

as he steps up to Trail Blazer.

This is going to be epic.

Right through the first,

right through the second,

not a problem at all.

- He's going into battle!
- Already through Trail Blazer.

Da'Mon and the blade succeed.

If those dowels were necks,

there would be six
decapitated heads right now.

Stick and Move.

Da'Mon is off.

- He needs to hit it low.
He needs to hit it low.

- Okay,
here's the problem here.

- He's coming in
at a different angle.

- Oh, but he's going back.

But he's going back.

Beautiful.
Beautiful move.

The first weight
hits the ground.

- See how he's attacking.

Angle one, angle two,
and he keeps on moving.

- Speed, power, efficiency.

- It's about efficiency
of moving.

- Across the line
without the second weight

hitting the ground.

Incurred one penalty there.

He steps up to Ice Pick.

Well, that
he's making quick work.

- Making short work of that.

- Wow. Beautiful job.

- That is a scary blade.

- Here he goes.
Lifeline.

- This is a fast blade.
It's made to cut through flesh.

Let's just see if he has
the technique to do it.

- Beautiful cut.
Here we go.

The sudden death obstacle

that has taken
so many competitors down.

If you want to get through
that fish,

you need to swing
as if your life depended on it.

And again,

the fish takes down
a competitor.

Look at the disappointment
in his eyes.

Where'd he go wrong?
- The follow-through was great.

I just didn't think he had
enough blade to cut through it.

- Sword fighting combat

is measured
in fractions of an inch.

I missed the mark on the fish.
I cut through the bone,

but I just didn't have enough
depth to finish the cut.

We don't always get to have
our hand raised at the end,

but we do get to go back
and train harder,

be better, and come back
and fight again.

- I'm Dave Frank, and I'm
from Montrose, Colorado,

and I'm a retired chef.

Chefs have had knives
in their hands

for thousands of years,

and we train with them far more
than most martial artists do.

The blade I'll be competing
with is a German messer.

I'm of German heritage,

and I felt it was critical
to acknowledge

that part of my heritage
as well.

My chef knives are so sharp,
you can shave with them.

- What have you brought today?

- It's a 15th-century
representation

of a peasant's knife.

In the 15th century,
it was illegal

for peasants to carry swords,

so they got around it
by making a long knife.

In German,
"messer" means knife.

This sword actually is
cold steel manufactured,

although I have modified it

with the etching on the blade.
- Okay.

- And that is a 15th-century
German scrollwork

that I've done on that blade.

- I'm just gonna take
a few chops right now

and assess the wieldability

and overall safety
of the piece.

- You bet.

- Congratulations.

Your knife makes the cut.
- Thank you.

I have a lot of confidence,
both in my own abilities

and in my blade.

I am so excited,
because this is one of those

once-in-a-lifetime
opportunities.

- Dave's a chef,
but he's told us

he's never been in
a cutting competition before.

This is a far departure from
what he uses in the kitchen.

- Well, Dave's coming in
with the messer sword

with 22 inches.

It's a heavy blade,

so I see him having a hard time
wielding it.

- Here goes Dave, Trail Blazer.

First one.
Destroys the second one.

Little bit of an issue
with the third.

Right through the fourth.

On to the fifth.

Destroys it.

Final dowel broken.
Dave crosses the line.

Next up, Stick and Move.

Dave's on the move.
First container.

Nice. Beautiful.

Destroyed it. One shot.

The second.
But did he move too fast?

We got to wait
for the counterweight

to come down, remember.

- He should have
knocked down that target

prior to moving on
to the next objective.

- Making quick work of the box.
Beautiful.

Weights down across the line,
but as you see,

he did not take time
on the second bucket.

- Ice Pick may hurt this sword.

It may roll the metal.

- Dave's off on Ice Pick.

- I like how he's coming down
at an angle.

He's chipping away
at the same area.

- Beautiful. Complete.

That ice was toast.

- 22 inches of blade,

and Dave definitely knows
how to use it.

- Steps up to Lifeline,

which has taken a number
of competitors down so far.

Let's see if he has
the patience to get it done.

- This thing is dangling
on a rope line,

so he needs to come down fast
with speed at an angle.

- Beautiful.
Right through the chicken.

For the third time in a row,

the fish takes down
another competitor.

I'm thinking
he rushed through it.

- The issue that I've seen here
with Dave is,

he had a good stance,
good position,

but he did not follow through
with that strike.

- The professional chef
was taken down by a fish.

What irony is that?

- This blade actually
developed a bend.

- I think that happened
on the ice.

My first blow, I made a little
bit too shallow of an angle,

and when I did that,
I felt the blade roll.

That flustered me
a little bit,

and so when I got to the fish,

I didn't attack it
from the spine,

and that was my downfall.

- We'll see you
in a little bit

if your time is good enough

to put you outside in Dead Run.

- Thank you.

- My name is James Clifton,
I'm 35 years old,

and I'm from
Gallatin, Tennessee,

and I'm the 2017
BladeSports world champion.

I was in a pretty gnarly
motorcycle accident,

messed my throat up.

Because of my injury,
I usually have

about 60 seconds of full-bore
energy and breath.

After that,
I'll get a little wheezy,

so I'm just gonna have
to finish this thing

in under a minute.

- What you got there?
- That's my knife.

- "That's my knife."

That's kind of how
I'd phrase that too.

All right, now,
that's a competition chopper

if I ever seen one.

- This is a blade that I made
for knife competitions,

and I firmly believe

I have the sharpest knife
in the game.

- All right,
what's the blade steel?

- It's CPM Rex T15.

- And you having
a BladeSports knife

that meets the requirements,

I have no safety concerns
with it,

and I just get to play.

- Sounds good.

- That's what I thought.

Congratulations.
Your knife makes the cut.

- Thank you, sir.

- James Clifton.

This guy is arguably the best
BladeSport competitor

in the world.

- But James did sustain
an injury that may hinder him.

- His endurance is in question.

- Here we go!

- I love how he's going wide.

You can definitely see
the competition.

- And look at the power
he brings to it.

Right across the line.
Dowels destroyed.

- That is almost flawless.

- Talk about
full-body movement.

James was bringing the power
from the floor

all the way to his hips
into that blade.

Awesome.
Here he goes.

- It's all about
cutting out the bottom.

- Now what is James doing here?
He's moving on.

He's not through the bucket
yet.

- Well, what we need
to understand here

is that's a double-insulated
bucket,

and I don't agree
with him moving on

without making sure
the content's released.

- Will he look back
and take his time?

The second weight
hits the ground.

James crossed the line without
that first counterweight

hitting the ground.

In his haste,
incurred one penalty there.

- James' breathing
is already labored.

Let's see how it comes
into effect with Ice Pick.

Drives right through.

Beautiful job by James
on Ice Pick.

- You can see
where his experience here

is shining through.

- Understanding
that it has taken down

a number of competitors prior,

how is he gonna attack
Lifeline?

- He only has
10 ioh, my God! t obstacl-

The blade sliced
right through it.

Beautiful job!

On to the tube.
No issues.

James is right through.
That was impressive.

- Tell you what, if James
is winded, I don't see it.

- The way that he distributes
the weight,

he knows that blade.

This is a competition
chopping expert.

- James steps up
to Curtain Call.

Final obstacle.

- Whoa.
- One swipe. Beautiful.

Here he goes
to the sheet metal.

- There is no stopping.
- One shot, two, three,

four, five, six,

and he's through.

That's domination.

- Wow.
- He's done.

Completed Knife Fight.
Beautiful performance.

Moving between
each little course,

I got a little winded
before them,

but I did have enough time
to catch my breath.

- Ha!

My name is Sara Laterza.

I'm 30 years old, and I'm
from Adairsville, Georgia.

I have been doing martial arts
for almost 20 years.

I'm a competition veteran.
I know how to handle pressure.

- So what do we have here?

- The blade I'm using today
is a Japanese katana

with a 27-inch cutting edge.

- So this came from online?
- Yes.

- Do you have any other
information on this sword?

- I don't.
- Okay.

Now, the Japanese design,
that hamon or temper line

is where the hard steel stops
and the soft steel begins.

Now, they did that essentially
because they're cutting flesh

and not planning on
encountering hard objects

like the blocks of ice
or the wood crates.

We've already seen one katana
bend pretty severely,

but the edge held up.

The nice thing
about the Japanese swords

and the curve is,
they're very easy to wield.

They have good indexing,
and they do well.

It's definitely not as sharp
as it could be.

However, I don't see
any major safety concerns.

Ultimately, it's not about
what I can do with it.

It's about what you can do
with it.

Congratulations.
Your knife makes the cut.

- Thank you.
- Good luck.

- Thank you, sir.

Normally, my sword work
is in sport martial arts,

so I feel really pumped
about this experience today.

I am excited.
I'm so ready to go.

Let's get this started.

- Mother of three,
16-year martial arts veteran.

- Sara is coming in
with a traditional katana.

It was designed for combat.

The samurais believed
in mind, body, and spirit.

- Let's see her mind, body,
and spirit come together

with that blade
and take on Trail Blazer.

Sara's off.

Whoa!
- Power, overhead strike.

- Destruction!
- Look at her footing.

Look at her movements.
- Look at that.

- Full-body movement.

Follow-through,
speed, accuracy.

Trail Blazer
has been dominated by Sara.

Sara's on Stick and Move.

Oh, plan of attack.
- Got to hit at an angle.

She's hitting it dead on.
- Dead on.

- She has to hit down
at an angle.

- Oh, there she's going,
changing her technique.

She tried to--oh, beautiful!

Total destruction.

The second bucket is made
out of a different material.

Okay, there has to be a
different plan of attack here.

- Lot of power.

- Lot of power
in those movements,

and it could be wearing on her.

- There's no question.

Now it's kind of out of reach.

It's gonna be an issue.

I'll tell you what,
that blade is taking a beating.

Stick and Move--
it's been the downfall

of a number of competitors.

Sara put in a lot of work,

and unfortunately, she got
two penalties for her time.

Let's take into consideration

how dull she made that blade
on the Stick and Move.

Is that gonna become a factor
in Ice Pick?

- Oh, absolutely.

See the blade bending.

- Yeah,
but you can also see her

making quick work
of that ice block right there.

Nice move by Sara.

She moves on to Lifeline,

which has taken down
a number of competitors prior.

- She's definitely gonna have
the penetration she needs.

Wow, you can definitely
see that blade bending.

That's definitely gonna play
in Lifeline.

- Here she goes.

Beautiful cut.
Right through the chicken.

Can she become only
the second competitor today

to get past that fish?

- And again, the fish
takes down another competitor.

- Bill, she attacked it
straight on.

It pushed the fish.

- Do you think the edge on
the blade or the lack thereof

was part of her downfall
with the fish?

- Oh, absolutely.

This course is made
to destroy the blade,

and that could have been
a disqualifier,

her trying to get through
that fish.

- I used a custom sword.

I didn't know a lot about it,
and it was a gamble.

This is the first time
I've used this blade

in a competition, and I wish
I had gone all the way,

but I feel like
I did the best I could do.

- My name is Michael Allenson,

and I'm a bladesmith
professionally.

I love all things medieval:
armor, swords.

I'm wearing a kilt
and ghillie suit

as I would at the Ren fair
smithy booth,

because it's most fitting

for the type of sword I brought

and what I'm gonna be doing.

- So what have you got there?

- I have a long sword
in the style

of the Oakeshott
circa early 15th century.

The sword has some
Scottish intentions to it,

and so does the outfit.

- Now, did you make this
yourself?

- I did.
- Awesome.

- Careful.
The edge is a little sharp.

- Oh, yeah. What was
your heat-treating process?

- Salt pot up to critical
into Parks 50,

and then it was tempered
in a secondary salt pot

at 450 for an hour.

- It's nice to see
someone use a salt pot

in heat-treating a sword

that they're gonna go
and perform with.

- You need it to be solid
through there.

- Yes. Thank you.

I'm gonna take
a few safety cuts.

- Good luck.
- All right.

The grip's nice.

Your sword definitely
makes the cut.

- Thank you very much.

I'm out here competing
in honor of my father.

When I was younger, I handed
him one of the first blades

I bought to do competition
cutting on my own,

and I told him,
"When I'm a man,

you give this back to me."

He passed before
that was able to happen,

so this is my way to honor him.

- Michael Allenson steps up
to Trail Blazer.

What we're seeing here
is a double-edged sword--

heavy weight, great for power,
but you sacrifice speed.

- The Oakeshott sword was used
to cut through heavy armor,

so that's a heavy sword.

That swing--

it's gonna be a little bit hard
to recover from.

- Let's see how it holds up.

And he's off, right through
the first dowel.

Double-handed smash.

Uh-oh, little bit of a problem
on that one.

Final dowel cut,
through the finish line.

As expected, with that blade,
took him a little bit of time,

but as he steps up
to Stick and Move,

this is where we want to see
this big blade in action.

Oh, different plan of attack.

Look at the power.

He's moving on too soon.

He's gonna incur a penalty

unless he goes back
to finish the first bucket.

Moving on before the obstacle
was totally taken care of.

We have one weight down.

Michael's attacking the box.

- And he's just destroying
that box!

- He is destroying it.
- He has power.

And with the length
of that sword,

it's gonna give him
that height that he needs.

- Okay.

His haste
in completing the box,

he went across the line

before the first counterweight
hit the ground.

Michael steps up to Ice Pick.

Michael is off.

One, two, three, four...

five chops.

Done!

Very impressive.

That thing isn't oozing.
It's gushing.

Okay, now, as he steps up
to Lifeline,

the obstacle that's taken down

so many of our competitors
so far,

he needs to take his time.

This is a sudden death
obstacle.

Goes right through it,

but almost gets taken out
by it.

Right through the fish!

Right through the tube.

On to Curtain Call.

Sliced right through the pork.

Stepping up to the sheet metal.

One more and he's done.
- Wow.

- And right through
the sheet metal.

He completes Curtain Call,

therefore completing
Knife Fight.

Michael with an impressive run.

The double edges on there,

I think that was
a huge advantage for him.

- Michael definitely knows
how to use his weight.

He has power.

And using double hands...
- Yep.

- He can double up
on the cutting power

behind this thing.

- I'm only imagining
the sense of pride,

having made that sword,

and what better opportunity
to test it?

- Through the roof.

I came into this with concern

that maybe I wasn't bringing
the right blade for this.

Any concern I had
has now been put to bed.

I made the right choice.

I'm extremely proud
of this sword

and my performance with it.

- James.
- Sir.

- Michael.
- Sir.

- You were
the only two competitors

to complete
the Knife Fight course.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.

- You will now move outside.

You will take on the elements,

and you will also
take on Dead Run.

We'll see you outside,
gentlemen.

Dead Run inviting
its first competitor,

James Clifton,

the 2017 BladeSport
world champion.

This guy is the real deal.

James has a couple
of advantages.

Most glaring:

his competition
BladeSport résumé.

I mean, this guy's as good
as they get,

and he comes outside

to go one-on-one
with Michael Allenson.

This is Dead Run.

While Knife Fight was
the ultimate test of blades,

Dead Run is the ultimate test
of speed, timing,

accuracy, and precision.

- I believe Dead Run
will be the hardest test

that any of my blades have
ever been put through so far.

- Steak Knife:

from the platform,
cut each steak in half.

A solid slice will keep
the swing moving.

Extinguisher:

cut the rope,
release the bottle.

Cut the bottle
on the downswing

to extinguish the flame.

Weight Cut:

cut the necessary
40 pounds each

from the meat
and the ice block to advance.

Free Fall: you cut each
watermelon as it drops.

Only exposed red fruit counts.

Strike Zone:

behind that curtain
is a variety of objects

that you must attack.

Cut the rope
to bring down the curtain,

and the objects are revealed.

Every object
must be cut in half.

Dead Run ends
with Fire Storm,

where you must cut two ropes
to release the platform,

fight exhaustion to ascend the
stairs,

and the clock stops only if
you can make one final chop

through a stack
of hard sugarcane.

- I'm feeling
a lot of excitement.

Normally I'm nervous
before a cut,

but I'm not so nervous today.

I'm a BladeSports
world champion.

I'm ready to rock it.

Right through easily.
Nice cut.

- Yeah, he's coming down
at an angle.

- Oh!
There, a little slip-up.

He's losing a lot of time
that he cannot lose.

- Okay. On to Extinguisher.

Let's see how clean James
can run through it.

Completely different technique
here,

and that technique
is not gonna work.

- Mental error.

- I don't think the blade
is long enough

to put it where he needs to
to put out that candle.

That reverse hand cut
is not working for him.

He needs to try a new strategy.

- Flame is out.

Three penalties.
- That's gonna hurt him.

- Moves on to Weight Cut.

Cut the necessary
40 pounds each

from the meat and the ice block
to advance.

- He's cutting way too low,
Bill.

- Way too low.

He's losing a lot of time
there.

Lot of time.

- He spent a lot of time there.

And look how low
he started there.

Whoa! Right through it.

40 pounds instantly.

On to Free Fall.

- You can tell he's winded.
- He's definitely winded.

He missed that one.

- Very interesting.

- I don't know if I agree
with that reverse cut.

That angle is an awkward angle.

- Unfortunately,
the most experienced competitor

is getting eaten alive
by Dead Run.

Finally, James is on the board.

Missed again.
His timing is completely off.

Only one chance left.

Got it.

Okay, he's on to Strike Zone.

The clock's ticking.

Does James have the stamina
left?

- One slice through the rope.

Right through the fish.

Wasting a lot of valuable time.

- Just really bad strategy.

- Plus you have to wonder
if he's gonna be too exhausted.

- No, I am worried
about his injury.

- It took James
way too many strikes.

Goes to the meat.
Right in half.

He spent a lot of time there.

Moves on.
Fire Storm.

He's exhausted,

but he's got to cut the stairs
free.

Ascend the stairs,
cut the sugar cane,

time will be revealed.

His strained breathing from
his injury has slowed him down,

but it doesn't have to be
the fastest time,

just faster than Michael's.

- And the time is...

5 minutes, 17 seconds.

- As a BladeSports
world champion,

I definitely expected
to do a little better.

I was definitely
at a disadvantage

with the short knife.

- It was
a very interesting run.

He did a lot of things
technique-wise

that I just don't know
what he was thinking.

James racked up 11 penalties.

- Well, this is
a world competition chopper,

and he's having a hard time,

so you can tell that this run

is different from anything
you see out there.

- The heavyweight battle
continues.

Competitor number two,
Michael Allenson,

steps up to the ring of fire
to take on Dead Run.

- I'm very excited,

but I'm a little shaky
in the arms

and the legs right now.

- He needs to beat 5:17.

Michael is off.

Hegoes to Steak Knife.

- Interested to see
how this goes.

- Wow.
- Oh, my.

- Beautiful!
- Beautiful angles.

- Right through, beautiful
angles, follow-through.

I have yet to see anybody
tackle Steak Knife

with this precision.

Absolutely flawless.

- That long sword gave him
the reach that he needed.

- Very impressive.

As he steps up
to Extinguisher...

- It's all about timing
and accuracy.

- Boom! First one.

Second one.

Precise hit.
- Nice. Nice.

- Flame is out
on the second one.

- He definitely found
his kill zone.

- Up to the third.

Third one's out.

Oh, someone's swinging
like a baseball bat,

but he missed the flame.

He moves on to Weight Cut.

- Wow, look at that power,
Bill.

- That was beautiful.

Oh, beautiful.

That thing is sharp.

Moving on,
heading to Free Fall.

This is where he may
have an issue.

Upswing.
- Oh, nice.

- Beautiful!

- Oh, he has total control
over that sword.

- Beautiful technique.

Look at this guy go.

Michael Allenson
is destroying the course.

- He has total control.

Even his recovery
is total control.

- Michael was
one watermelon slice away

from perfection,
but he failed to slice

completely through
that watermelon--

only hit the top,
and no red was exposed.

Now he's up to Strike Zone.

Curtain's open.

- One chop.
- Oh, flawless.

Right through the canisters.

Right through the fish.

He's got to go to the rope
over there.

He forgot the rope!
He moved on.

He forgot the rope.
Penalty.

- You have to be systematic
on how you approach things.

- On to Fire Storm.

Obviously, he can't go back
to Strike Zone.

Here he goes.

- What a run.

- Clifton's time of 5:17.

Michael's time of...

2:51!

- Whoa.
- Oh, my God!

What a performance!

- He has got to be proud
of that.

- That is a new record.
- Unbelievable.

Michael Allenson
is your winner.

- Good job, bud.

In Knife Fight, my blade took
quite a bit of damage.

It was not cutting as well
as it should have,

so that slowed me down,

but no regrets had I.

- I'm still in shock
about all of this.

I almost can't believe
that I won.

- You took out the 2017
BladeSport world champion.

How does that feel?
- Unexpectedly awesome.

- We will see you at
the grand champion showdown.

- I feel that I did my family
and my father proud.

Hey, Dad, I am a man now.