MythBusters

Please, don't try anything

that you're about to see us do at home.

Ever!

On this episode of "Mythbusters"...

Hyah!

...it's martial-arts mayhem...

That's intense, man.

...as Adam and Jamie focus,

once again, on the secret world of ninja...

Pain is your friend.

... to check out the one-inch punch.

-Ow. -

Hyah!

Then Tory, Kari, and Grant explore the myth

of the underwater blowpipe assassin.

-Ninja! -Yeah!

And the boys settle once and for all

-if a real ninja... -Hyah!

...can snatch an arrow.

Archers, draw.

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

...and Jamie Hyneman.

If I'm really good, I'll get nine fish.

Between them, more than 30 years

of special-effects experience.

Joining them -- Grant Imahara...

Or I be the scurvy dog!

...Tory Belleci...

That bus just came out of nowhere!

...and Kari Byron.

But right on the money penny.

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

Hyah!

There are a lot easier ways to kill a fly.

Ah, yes, but none more precise than the ninja method.

I suppose that means that we're doing ninja myths again.

Indeed, you are correct, flying walrus.

Three is the number of myths we must test in this journey.

The first is underwater blow-dart assassination.

The second would be the famous one-inch punch.

And the third -- ha! --

they say we must catch an arrow again,

for we got this wrong the first time.

- -Nice work.

Why, thank you.

Unlike the samurai,

ninjas don't have a fighting code.

They just do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Their ruthless dispatch of enemies

spawned a rich mythology,

and that's why they're familiar territory to the Mythbusters.

But ninja rep took a nose dive

when Adam and Jamie proved ninjas couldn't walk on water...

...or catch a sword with their bare hands.

Slides right through.

And it was 0 for 3 when the boys proved

shadow warriors had no show of catching a full-flight arrow.

Myth is busted. This is what it would take to catch an arrow.

But the fans disagreed,

and hell hath no fury like a ninja fan scorned.

What did they say we got wrong?

Well, the fans complained that our robo-arrow-catching hand

was way too close to our robo-arrow-shooting bow

and that if it was farther away,

they reasoned the arrow would be going slower

and that would make it easier to catch.

That's easy enough to test. Is that it?

Sadly, no.

Tons of people wrote us and said they've seen footage

of people catching arrows.

Why didn't we bring one of those people

on to the show to test with.

So we've got to get a real ninja and bring him on the show.

I don't know where we're gonna find one,

but, yeah, I think we have to.

We'll let them find that ninja later

and start with the arrow-speed test.

One of the primary complaints

was that we were firing all of our arrows

for the arrow-catch test from too close --

from point-blank range --

and that if the arrows were going from farther away,

they'd be going slower and thus be easier to catch.

Well, our understanding of the physics is,

there's very little difference between 10 feet and 50 feet.

And we're about to do some tests that hopefully will prove that.

To find out,

Jamie will fire arrows at increments of 10 feet.

In this test, we're gonna use the high-speed camera

and this scale to measure the speed of the arrow

right as it hits the target.

Ready to take the first shot from point-blank?

I am.

Jamie is going to use a full-strength pull

on each arrow.

That's it!

And 60 feet.

Oh.

Well, I think you killed something, sir.

Now, where did that arrow go?

All right, this is 70 feet.

I thought this was a ninja special,

not knight special.

This is what I had lying around. Go!

-Oh! That ought to work.

So, what did they find out?

Well, we did pretty good.

Uh, there's effectively no difference.

You were consistently between

171 and 179 miles per hour.

So, what this means for our tests is that it doesn't matter

how far away the shooter is from the catcher.

The arrow is gonna be going about the same speed.

And that means

the iron fist in the leather-glove experiment...

- -...gets the thumbs-up.

Those results were pretty clear.

They were. It's true.

This is something we've known about for a while,

and I'm really glad we got to show it on the show --

that the speed of an aerodynamic projectile like an arrow

has a very low drop-off in speed

from the moment it leaves the shooter

to the moment it hits its target.

That means we were right, and the fans were wrong.

I guess if you want to harp on that, yes, that's true.

Now I think we can put this one away.

And it's time to bring out our real ninja.

Just wait till you meet him.

Getting an elusive shadow warrior wasn't easy.

But the Mythbusters research team

not only tracked one down, they got the best in the world.

Have you seen our ninja?

No, but I'm not sure we'd know whether he was here or not.

Hi. I'm your ninja.

I'm Anthony Kelly.

You don't look much like a ninja.

No, I only have my street clothes on.

Give me one second.

Hyah!

-Wow! -That's more like it.

Okay, fans,

you, the viewers, demanded we get a real ninja.

And despite his non-ninja appearance

and Australian accent, he is the best in the business.

Well, Anthony might not look like

your classic idea of a ninja, but don't take our word for it.

We're gonna put him into our "holodeck" here

and run him through some of his paces to see what he can do.

So, is our ninja fast enough

to catch a full-speed arrow?

Well, there's only one way to find out --

see if he can catch... tennis balls?

A thoughtful person might just ask,

"What does catching one of these

have to do with catching one of these?"

Well, it's all about reaction time,

and Anthony has fast reflexes.

That's what this is about.

So before the ninja catches any arrows,

they're going to measure the speed of his handiwork.

Okay, I'm gonna keep time on the stopwatch

and count on the clicker.

All right, let's go, boys.

He's so ready.

Now, catching tennis balls

may not seem all that hard.

And go!

-Hyah! -One.

But those balls are traveling at 85 miles an hour.

That's more or less the speed

of a major-league fastball.

But at 26 feet away,

he's standing twice as close to the pitcher.

15!

The ninja has less than a fifth of a second to react.

If he blinks, he'll miss it.

Five seconds.

22!

And time!

Wow!

Oh, goodness me!

22!

This could be a new world record.

It sure is.

We have it clear as day on high-speed camera --

Anthony catching that ball as it comes into him.

Apparently, he has set a new world record.

We'll see how Adam does.

A ninja arrow is hot stuff,

but can a shadow warrior catch one in full flight?

To find out, a real ninja

has been put through his reaction paces

with tennis balls.

-Hah! -21!

But Adam didn't think it looked too difficult.

I have to try this. Can I try this?

And Jamie is more than happy to oblige.