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Steven Seagal is……Lawman

December 4, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: Martial Arts,Opinion,Recent Events,TV Shows,reviews

Bob Patterson over at Striking Thoughts must be absolutely thrilled. The much anticipated “Lawman” has finally premiered.

For those of you not paying constant attention to the activities of Steven Seagal, shame on you. You SHOULD know that he has been working on a new series called Lawman, aired on A&E. In the series Seagal reveals that he has been an official deputy for Jefferson Perish Louisiana for the past 20 years. In between making martial arts movies he serves as a real life cop hitting the streets.

The series is set to focus on Seagal and the Jefferson Perish crew taking on bad guys ala COPS. When they aren’t on patrol Seagal takes the time to help fellow officers in learning shooting, combat, tactics, etc.

Is Your Interest Piqued?

I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t Seagal a bit on the old and fluffy side for this kind of work? He doesn’t think so, and it seems like his police brethren are willing to hang on for the ride. If you’d like to see the first two episodes for yourself, the magic of the internet will provide:

A&E did the smart thing and posted the episodes online. They must have realized that the viral value of a show like this is going to be significant, and online chatter is what makes shows like this and Deadliest Warrior a success.

The first episode, The Way of the Gun, focuses on Seagal’s shooting capabilities and (of course) some street busts. The second episode, The Deadly Hand, shows Seagal running the officers through some basic Aikido and then (you guessed it) some street busts.

Impressions

It’s a surreal experience watching this show. Anybody who follows Seagal knows he has a bit of an ego trip going on, and while he is indeed skilled at aikido, he excessively takes on the ‘master’ role. As I was watching I could tell the other cops humored him for the sake of the show.

That being said, Seagal does show off real skill from time to time. His shooting is undeniably good and his aikido is still effective. One thing I noticed, and was disappointed by, was that he never seems to run during chases. Seagal-Running is a classic part of his movies, but his larger self doesn’t seem too up for it anymore. Through clever camera work it seems like he is in the thick of every arrest though.

When I first started watching Lawman, it felt weird. I wasn’t used to what I was seeing. By the end of the second episode however I actually started getting into the groove of it…a little. I think I could stay tuned for a few more episodes to see where they go with this. I would like it if they deemphasized the “busts” because that is where things seemed most forced. Forced drama, forced Seagal-activity, forced Seagal-advice, etc. His cutaways in helping the officers I thought were more genuine and interesting.

Bonus! Games!

A&E gets another high five from me. They included a game on their website called ‘Firearms Qualification‘ that puts you in the hot seat (watch the first episode and it’ll make sense). Hold on to your hats because it’s actually kinda fun.

You go through three rounds of slick shooting and try to accrue a high score. Each round relates to events in the first Lawman episode.

I tried it out three times and got a high score of 108 (which makes me a Zen Master under Seagal Ryu shooting). Think you can top me? OHH we shall see.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 and is filed under Martial Arts, Opinion, Recent Events, TV Shows, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-super-powers-...

    I considered putting the link to your post on this article, but the result would be a lot of trolls visiting this website... It's in your hands...
  • Remo1366
    Watched it a bit seems interesting so far.On the ego comment, I would have agreed until I met and trained w/him over a weekend a few years back.In person he is much more humble then he appears on camera.He has the most serene and stable energy I've ever felt in a training situation.
  • I'll differ to you when it comes to Seagal's personality. All I have to go off of is the on camera stuff. That must have been a cool experience training with him!
  • The only thing we would spell would be PAIN!
  • hahaha
  • Like it! I'm booking my flight now...
  • So we did. How about we ditch the martial arts and go in for spelling bees instead? Less taxing, I would think!
  • I'm sold on the idea. And if anyone beats us we can just beat them up!!
  • He still has the moves, there's no doubt about that. When you've had that much training, as Seagal obviously has, I don't think you ever loose it. It forever remains a part of you whether you like or not. I took a long sabbatical from training once, and during that time I never lost any of my moves. I remembered every technique and I could still perform if I wanted. When I did return it was just like picking up were I left off.

    As for the show, I haven't seen it yet, but my interest is piqued after reading this. I'll have to check it out. Yes the man has an ego the size of Pluto but somehow he gets away with it- he's Seagal, man...
  • I'm really proud of us - we both spelled piqued correctly. That's no mean feat.
  • Years ago, I had a long running correspondence with a student of Seagal's aikido dojo in LA. While not involved in the day to day running of the school, or with the kyu ranked students. Seagal took a strong interest in his dan ranked students.

    I was told he ran frequent seminars and clinics for his dan ranked students and conducted all the dan testing.

    Among other things, as a celebrity martial artist, he didn't want a student to make him look bad.

    I didn't see the show, but a friend did and reviewed it for me. He said that Seagal looked awful in sweats, but still moved as smooth as glass, and still had the speed.

    There is learning and there is LEARNING.
  • Interesting Rick. I would agree with your friend, Seagal's aikido is definitely still there for him.
  • bobpatteson
    You have no idea. Part two should be up tomorrow!

    :-)
  • I'll be there!
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