Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, has become really big news in recent years.  The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has come a long way from its early beginnings when it was misunderstood and compared with bare knuckle, no-holds-barred brawls.  As people begin to understand the true martial arts and wrestling roots of MMA, however, the sport has enjoyed increasing popularity.  This phenomenon spawned MMA-inspired apparel created by Tap Out, RVCA, and Affliction.  Once found only through online MMA specialty shops, you can now find these t-shirts in any mall.  The UFC, once condemned as a brutal sport of barroom brawlers, has launched its highly-trained fighters into household names.  In fact, The SciMark Report indicates that MMA has inspired a new trend in fitness equipment.  Acclaimed mixed martial artists and UFC fighters Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, and Bas Ruten are all currently endorsing infomercial fitness equipment.

So what does all of this have to do with Way Back Wednesday?  As a huge MMA fan, I am really interested in the unprecedented growth of this sport.  With so many MMA standouts selling exercise equipment through television marketing, I started thinking about the beginnings of martial arts as an infomercial fitness phenomenon.

One of the first martial-arts inspired fitness trends seen on TV was Tae Bo, marketed by fitness guru Billy Blanks.  Designed as a blend of Tae Kwon Do, boxing, and aerobics, Tae Bo launched a cardio kickboxing craze.  Even after the success of the initial Tae Bo series in the late 1990′s, Tae Bo continued to evolve, with Billy Blanks expanding the series to include Amped, T3, and Boot Camp videos and DVDs.   Take a look at this clip from the original Tae Bo Basic video:

Now, I’ll admit that I was an owner of this original series, and these exercise videos did, in fact, work really well.  The major drawback was that I felt like I had to constantly avert my eyes from Billy Blanks’s barely covered chest (I think it was cold in that studio) and from his embarrassingly tight, shiny pants.  That’s more information about Billy Blanks than I need.

The martial arts inspiration continued with everyone’s favorite roundhouse kickin’  Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris, and his Total Gym.  Even Tony Horton’s P90x includes a martial arts element through its Kenpo X routine.  As the pure martial arts evolve into the highly popular mixed martial arts, Randy Couture, UFC Hall of Famer and repeat champion in two weight classes, comes on the scene with the Tower 200.  Touted as “The Ultimate Workout,” the Tower 200 attaches itself to the fame of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its most prized fighter.

As MMA continues to grow, I’ll be interested to see how its popularity further impacts fitness trends.

One thing as seen on TV products are designed to do is make you feel like your ordinary way of doing things is completely ineffective.  Without these innovative infomercial products, you will be doomed to a mundane, fruitless life.  This is particularly true when it comes to kitchen products and cooking utensils.  How anyone ever managed to prepare a healthy, delicious family meal in the days before Ron Popeil is anyone’s guess.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a complete sucker for kitchen gadgets.  I once spent $45 on a tomato slicer (a fact which shall forever remain unknown to Mr. Way Back Wednesday).  Now I am able to slice tomatoes of perfectly even thickness, without squishing them into odd little oval-shaped slices and getting tomato guts everywhere.  Now isn’t that worth $45?  I’ll also admit that I’m going to be more than a little disappointed if there isn’t a Big Top Cupcake waiting for me on my birthday, and that the Slap Chop is the perfect way to take out frustrations in the kitchen.  And every time I feed the Way Back Wednesday Toddler (or as we call him, Way Little Wednesday), I long for a Gyro Bowl.

On the subject of today’s Way Back Wednesday, though, I’m a little torn.  I mean, this thing is either one of the more ridiculous things I’ve seen, or it is brilliant and I absolutely need one.  I’m talking about Pancake Puffs here.   With the Pancake Puffs pan, you no longer have to suffer through boring, flat pancakes–you can have round, giant-doughnut-hole looking pancakes!  Christopher Columbus would be proud:

Oh, wow.  How would you like to be the kid who wakes up on his birthday to find not a birthday cake, but a giant mound of frosted balls?

Now, some of those puffs sounded pretty delicious, but others made me want to throw up a little.  Plus, it the whole filling injector seemed a little creepy to me.

But hey–it comes with 50 flippin’ sticks.  What more could you want?

On last week’s Way Back Wednesday, we discussed the overwhelming desire to get results with no effort.  With the Hawaii Chair, the goal is to achieve a toned core while sitting on your tuckus doing nothing.  For today’s post, we’ll look at an infomercial that encourages its viewers to “get off your butt and do it!”

In the late eighties and early nineties, Tom Vu appeared on late night television promoting a free 90-minute seminar that promised to show its attendees how to make millions in real estate.   Profiting from real estate investments is a popular money-making method, and many programs, including the Carleton Sheets Real Estate Coaching Network  and Dean Graziosi’s Profit from Real Estate Right Now, can still be seen on TV today.  What made Vu’s infomercials so unique were his “rags to riches” story as a Vietnamese immigrant, his entourage of bikini clad models, and his complete lack of command of the English language:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K853GykeGH0

Actually, it seems that none of the speakers in the infomercial are native English speakers.  That also reminds me of last week’s post, what with its “thawed and loosened redundant fat.”  For a man with such strongly accented speech, however, Vu had some great lines, including:

• “Do you think these girls like me? NO, they like my money!”
• “Are you afraid to ask your Boss for the day off to come to my seminar? Well then you don’t deserve to be rich.”
• “Don’t listen to your friends. They’re losers!”

Tom Vu became so popular through his late night real estate infomercials that he has been frequently referenced in pop culture, including an “appearance” on The Family Guy and in the lyrics to “Professor Booty” by The Beastie Boys.  

Vu has since retired from real estate, but he continues to make the money necessary to be surrounded by mansions, yachts, and bikini babes as a tournament poker player.  To date, he has won over $1,500,000 playing poker and placed second in the 2007 World Series of Poker.

From busboy to babe magnet, Tom Vu is living the American dream.

We’re not quite going way back for today’s post, but this little number is too good to pass up.  Lazy people all around the world (myself included) are searching for the perfect way to lose weight and trim their waistlines with absolutely no effort whatsoever.  The geniuses at Perfect Creations have heard the cry of the lethargic and fat, and they have answered with . . . the Hawaii Chair.  You’ve just got to love an infomercial product with the slogan, “You don’t have to exercise.  The Hawaii Chair will do it for you.”   Seen on TV shows such as Ellen, the Hawaii Chair seat swivels around to move your bulk in a hula-like fashion to tighten your waist and make you look like a complete fool:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_amg-Aos4

Is it just me, or did anyone else do a double take when the guy says, “Oooh.  This feels great on my a . . . bs”? 

Now, the product itself and the infomercial are not the only ridiculous things about the Hawaii Chair.  In fact, Hawaii Chair’s website offers even more fun.  You see, it has been quite poorly translated and includes such gems as, “Old men can use the Hawaii Chair easily to help improve the operation of digestive and cardiovascular systems.”  Take heed, Old Men!  According to the website, you can also use the Hawaii Chair to “thaw and loosen redundant fat” on the buttocks, thighs, and waist.  And let me tell you, there is nothing worse than frozen redundant fat. 

Seriously.

Today we bring Way Back Wednesday to you all the way from 1992.  Jane Fonda, aerobics guru extraordinaire, could be seen on tv frequently, promoting her various aerobics videos and workout equipment.  Nearly 20 years ago, she brought us her New Step Aerobic Workout (how’s that for a great title?).  Along with the 45-minute step workout, you received a bench step with a FREE intensity level.  I mean, you could have just received two lousy levels with your order, but they threw one in FREE!  You could step on four inches, six inches, or tumble gracelessly from a height of eight inches:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvjT0d1kqds

Now, personally, I think that the true secret to the effectiveness of the workout lay in the size and thickness of the socks.  I mean, those suckers had to add a good five, ten pounds at least.

In the infomercial, Fonda notes that step aerobics provides less stress on the joints, but through the years, we have discovered that step aerobics is, in fact, jarring on the joints.  As workout philosophy and technology has evolved, trainers have learned ways to maintain the quality of a step workout while eliminating the stress on the bones and joints.  Two notable exercise equipment products include the TreadClimber, made by the fitness geniuses at Bowflex, and the AirClimber, which gives you the benefits of an aerobic step workout, but cushions your step through air-filled bellows beneath the steps.

Ginormous socks are optional, but do you really want to minimize your efforts by wearing normal socks?