Rise of the Samurai – Isao Machii Cuts Fired Pellet in Half

The 1980s was a great era for the ninja, everywhere you turned there was a costume for sale, bootleg throwing stars being sold at flea markets, the biggest characters in G.I. Joe were Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes and biggest of all kids trying to emulate Sho Kosugi from the numerous ninja flicks that were busting off shelves in the video rental stores.

Isao Machii has the skill to make martial arts cool again but this time it will not be men masked in black and white, the sword wielding heroes will come in the form of the Samurai.  Most recently Machii-san appeared on “Stan Lee’s Superhumans” a show that chronicles abilities today’s people have that could be viewed as superhumans/superheroes in his comic creations.

The episode showcase Isao Machii first in a batting cage able to unsheathe his katana and cut a fired baseball in two, quite a feat but by no mean superhuman… yet.  Isao then tested his reaction speed on a simulated computer program and his results placed him in the above average range, but still in no way superhuman.  Why is this anything special?  Wait for the other shoe because here it comes.

They then took the testing outside to a shooting range where Machii intended to have a gunman fire a pellet at him from a BB gun.  Unlike a high-end baseball pitch machine which can aim the baseball with some precision ask any man who had a BB gun the accuracy is anything less than desirable.  Meaning any blind swing learned over time in the batting cage would be useless due to the numerous variables when using a gunman and not a machine.  Machii lined up about 70 feet away while the gunman aimed directly at Machii and fired, in the 3/10 of a second it took the bullet to travel Machii had already unsheathed his sword, a feat in it self, and swung.  Upon slo-motion replay it was clear he was close deflecting the pellet with the bottom of his blade, missing by a mere millimeter.  If you are that close why not try again you say, Machii did.  His next attempt much like the first, but this time upon viewing the replay it was clear he cut the pellet – in half.

The amazing eyesight to pick up a fired bb is amazing, but the reaction to hear the fire, pick up the BB and draw your sword and attack is clearly not only superhuman, but a Samurai.  Legend has gunman shooting quarters and archers splitting arrows, our children will talk about the Samurai who can cut a BB pellet.

Isao has been training since the age of 5 with an old master and has perfected his skills to become the master and teacher.  He has showcased his skill cutting a green bean in half, slicing through a steal pipe like it was butter and also putting a smooth angle cut through several logs all at once.  I wonder if this guy will cut my grass for a huge fee?

Here is a link to the video on the History Channel [LINK]

Amazing.  This guy could be a Stan Lee comic.