Brutally Honest – Master Series – Dan Inosanto DVD

Normally known for their clothing collection, Red Lizard has started to branch out into other areas including books and DVDs. This DVD is exclusive to Red Lizard, i.e., you can’t buy it anywhere else and looks like the start of an exciting new range of products.

Assembly 20

None needed.

Appearance
15

Nice cover with Dan doing his bit and the rear cover has some good screenshots of both the DVD and Dan in action in ‘Game of Death’. The DVD label leaves a bit to be desired as it does look slightly home printed but this is a minor niggle.

The case as a whole is going to look good on your shelf and matches any of the Hollywood covers for neatness.

Build Quality 15

As before I mentioned the DVD label.

On my copy I found the picture to be slightly grainy, not ‘pure’ DVD which lead me to think that either this is a transfer from VHS to DVD or that the lighting they used wasn’t strong enough during filming.

Aside from that, everything is fine with good audio and a couple of camera angles that clearly show the techniques being demonstrated.

Ease of use 20

To me the sign of a great martial artist isn’t how well they can perform their techniques but how well they are able to pass these techniques on to others. Dan Inosanto is excellent at this. He’s clearly well-practiced in the delivery of this seminar and his partner needs no prompting but just flows from technique to technique whilst Dan keeps up a running commentary. His presentation style is awesome and I only wish I was able to present anything as well as he!

The techniques are demonstrated sufficiently slow enough for anyone to see what’s required and then at full speed to show them at their best.

I found the DVD menu difficult to navigate as I prefer to use the arrow keys rather than the number pad but again this is a tiny niggle and one that most people will be able to get over quite easily. The sections on the DVD are broken down nicely which let me get through to the knife-fighting in seconds.

As with all DVDs this has great portability and if you have a DVD player or laptop you can take to training you’re pretty much set to work through it at your own pace without demolishing the lounge.

Price 15

This is a good DVD that will appeal to anyone with an interest in weapons. Look past the fact that it’s ‘stick fighting’ and apply the techniques to magazines, umbrellas etc. As Dan himself said the techniques can be applied to whatever’s in your hand. Well worth adding to your collection.