Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Katar - full transcript

[Wil voice-over] Since the
dawn of human civilization,

mankind has made weapons.

[fire whooshes]
- Whoa!

[Wil] Bladesmiths have
honed and perfected their craft

over thousands of years.

And now, for
the first time ever,

these men will go head-to-head

and put their skills
to the ultimate test.

Welcome to the forge.

[Wil voice-over] It starts
with a lump of raw steel

and a ticking clock,



and by the end of three rounds,

the bladesmiths must
deliver handmade weapons

that are works of art

as well as deadly
instruments of war.

These weapons must
survive explosive tests

as well as the scrutiny
of an expert panel judges.

In the end, only one bladesmith
will take home $10,000

and be crowned a
Forged in Firechampion.

[dramatic music]

♪

♪

[Arnon] My name is Arnon.

The first time I ever made
a blade I was 20 years old,

standing guard
in the Israeli Army.



[Jaime] I'm Jaime Vining,
and I'm 28 years old.

Not having trained under
a master bladesmith,

everything I know is from online
research and reading in books.

[David] I'm David Goldberg.

I was born and
raised in Philadelphia.

My Japanese name is
"Kinzan"... means "gold mountain."

[Jimmy] I'm Jimmy.
I've been making blades,

I'd say, since the sixth grade.

I get a deep
personal satisfaction

out of every knife I make.

Gentlemen, welcome.

There are three
challenges designed to see

how well you can work that forge

and use tools as time ticks down

and the pressure goes up.

After each round you will
hand your work off to our judges.

They will decide who stays

and who has to
surrender their weapon

and leave the forge.

Now it's time to
meet our judges.

♪

[Wil] American Bladesmith
Society master smith, J. Neilson.

World-renowned rare weapons

recreation specialist
David Baker.

And last, martial artist

and edged weapons
expert Doug Marcaida.

They will decide who stays,

and who has to
surrender their weapon

and leave the forge.

In front of you, on
your anvils, is a cloth.

Go ahead and lift that up.

♪

[Wil] That is a stack of six
bars of high-carbon steel.

Your challenge is to forge,
from those bars of metal,

a fully functioning weapon.

You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.

And this week,
because the challenge

is so technically demanding,

you will have four hours
to forge your blades.

We have to harden
it, shape it, forge it...

All this in four hours.

Are you kidding me?

The blades themselves must fall

within the following
size parameters.

The length of the blade,
not including the tang,

must be at least 11 inches,
but not more than 15 inches.

And just to test your
skills even further,

you must also use
a hata technique.

A hata technique involves
forging multiple layers of steel

into one billet, from which
you make your blade.

Your hata must include
at least 12 layers of steel.

Remember, gentlemen,
after this first round,

one of you will be
dismissed from the forge.

Good luck, bladesmiths.
Your time starts now.

♪

[David] Hata means grain.

It means there is layers.

I have an idea of how
I want to approach this.

I decided that I was gonna go

right to a very formidable
hunting and fighting knife.

It's a Japanese style, but I
have a wide range of skills,

so I believe that my training

both in Japanese and
contemporary knife making

will help me stand out.

[Jaime] I would describe
my bladesmithing style

as pretty rustic.

So that's what I'm going with,

a nice kukri small machete.
It fits the parameters.

I'd love to win this
competition for my fiancé.

We're getting married
in a few months,

and I would love to take
her on a great honeymoon.

[Arnon] My style is a mixture
of the East and the West.

Obviously I'm a westerner,
but I spent 12 years in Japan

and studied blacksmithing there.

But it's a substantial
chunk of steel,

and it will be a
fairly long blade,

so I'm thinking well, maybe
I'll make a really big dagger,

something I've
seen in my childhood,

with a all-steel handle.

[Jimmy] You know,
I grew up in Texas.

I was always hearing about
Jim Bowie and the Alamo,

so I love the Bowie knife.

It just appeals to me.

Only problem is, my
signature blade is 5 inches long.

This had to be
between 11 and 15,

so it was out of
my comfort zone.

Bladesmiths, your
ten-minute design period is up.

You may now start
forging your blades...

Now.

♪

I live a pretty traditional
Japanese lifestyle

in an American setting.

Gonna weld!

When I do my sword
making, I have a Zen mind,

so the style of life
lends to the Asian way.

The challenge is to
have at least 12 layers

in the hata when we're finished.

However, I can get 21 layers

as quickly as I
can get 12 layers.

[pounding]

I have some ideas about
not using all six pieces.

I'm gonna use five, draw it out,

cut it up, stack
four stacks of five,

and then the
single in the middle.

So I'll have 21
layers when I'm done.

It's going to make
such a strong blade.

It's gonna really
be good-looking too.

And odd numbers are
for me. I don't do even.

♪

How Dave is using the
machines, that long stance.

He's got that martial arts,
Zen thing working for him.

♪

Unfettered mind is the samurai.

♪

[Wil] We've given these guys
four hours instead of three

because forge welding adds

that extra wrinkle
in the competition.

[Dave] They have such
a process to go through

to get everything to bind.

Giving them the extra
hour gives the opportunity

to do that correctly.

[Jimmy] For me, if these welds
don't stick, there's no coming back.

The challenge is too tight.

I saved up for 13 years
to open up my shop.

Two weeks into the
process, unfortunately,

I was burglarized.

Got a lot of my equipment

and a lot of my
custom knives stolen.

If I win $10,000, it will
certainly take a lot of pain

out of the $20,000 loss I took

when I first
started up the shop.

♪

[Jaime] I need to make
sure my welds stick,

'cause if I don't create
a solid weld here,

it's all over.

♪

So right now I'm working
part time as a farrier

for a friend of mine,

and I'm working part-time
as a bladesmith for myself.

And my end goal would be
to be a bladesmith full-time.

♪

I know that I have to fuse
these pieces of steel together,

and I have to take
every possible precaution

to make that happen.

♪

You can screw up while making
a blade in many different ways.

Maybe when I pull it out,
it's warped like corkscrew.

Or maybe it bend like a spoon.

♪

[Dave] Those welds aren't set.

The other thing that
we could see happen

is they get everything
ground beautifully,

and then we test it,

and then the welds
fail as we're testing.

[Arnon] Cannot be too
short. It cannot be too long.

I have to fit with a
narrow parameters,

because as you forge the
steel, it elongates and stretches,

and you can't always predict
exactly how far it will stretch.

♪

When my daughter was very young,

she asked me for her birthday
present... she was seven,

so I made her a dagger
with a 7-inch blade.

If I win the prize, I'll take my
daughter and wife to Japan,

where I studied my craft.

[Wil] One hour has elapsed!

♪

[Jaime] So I put
my billet in the forge,

and I'm waiting
for it to heat up,

and I'm rotating it, making
sure it's heating up evenly.

- Oh, you lost it.
- Oh, it fell off.

And my rod breaks off.

♪

And I'm like, "Ugh, how
am I gonna get around this?"

So I re-strategize.

I go over to the rack of tongs,

and I get back to work.

♪

[Dave] More than anything,
I think he's forced himself

into a much slower pace
by working with the tongs

and not going over
and re-welding that stick.

[Jaime] When I'm going over
to the press or power hammer,

I have less of a billet to use,

so when I get it stretched
out to my desired length,

I'm losing more and more metal

just because I don't have
the full disposal of the rod.

♪

[Jimmy] I'm checking
out the other bladesmiths,

seeing how far along they are,

how far behind I am.

I am so screwed.

I'm so far behind. I
really got to get going.

♪

- We got a fire on the floor.
- Broken stick.

[Jimmy] As I took the
billet off the hammer,

the weld I made didn't
stick, and it fell on the ground.

♪

Come on. That's
such a rookie mistake.

♪

It's catching the floor
on fire, and I'm just like,

"Oh, my God. What
am I gonna do?"

♪

Ack up.

[Wil] Like a dog
picking up a Frisbee.

I'm just so off my game now.
It messed me up so much.

♪

It changed my mentality.
Now I got to rush everything.

Now I'm no longer calm.

Poor Jimmy's got the whole
Deputy Dog glove smear going on.

[laughter]

From here, it looks like
he grew a mustache.

[Jimmy] I'm just telling
myself, "Hey, calm down.

You got plenty of
time. You can do this."

♪

I immediately go over there,
and I weld a new handle on there

out of a thicker piece of steel.

I need every second I
can to get caught back up.

Two hours gone! This
is the halfway point.

♪

The plan is now to
bend the steel over

and forge weld it again.

To do that I heat up the
first forge-welded billet,

and I make an incision
with a hot chisel.

♪

After that, I can reheat the
billet, and bend it onto itself.

I have to keep heating up

and keep hammering
and stretching it

until I get the desired shape.

It's a lot of elbow grease.

♪

I'm cruising along pretty
well. I'm finished grinding,

getting the grit to
where I want it...

Mother... Phew!

So I know that I
can make a hamon

and make the sword strong.

It ain't over till
the fat lady sings.

[David] So I used a
Japanese technique.

I resist portions of
the blade with clay.

♪

You're really seeing
some craftsmanship

out of David at this point.

He's putting some
detail into that blade.

[J.] It's nice to see these
guys doing the extra stuff

that we keep expecting to see.

All the choices that I'm making

are a little above and beyond,

but it's what I do best.

So it gets hot, I quench it.

Success.

♪

[Jimmy] Holy cow. I've got
so much more forging to do.

So I've got to hurry
up, forge it to shape,

then get straight
to the grinder.

Jimmy looks like he's in a
little bit of a daze over there.

I mean, look at him right now.

He could be doing
something else.

I agree.

[Jimmy] I'm just so off my game.

I start making
stupid little mistakes

that I normally wouldn't make.

Okay, brother.

I can't believe how
thick this knife is.

♪

I've got a lot of
grinding to do.

♪

There's 20 minutes
left. I'm hot. I'm tired.

I'm sweaty. I'm dirty.

This is my
make-it-or-break-it moment.

I don't know how
I'm going to do this,

but I'm not giving up.

♪

Never had to forge
a blade so quick.

There's about ten
minutes left on the clock.

As I plunge the
blade into the oil,

and as I pull it out,

I look at the blade.

I might be patting myself
on my own shoulder here,

but this is one
hell of a dagger.

I don't have
anything else to do.

I put it on the anvil, and I
go sit down and stare at it.

Feel pretty good.

♪

[Wil] Ten, nine,

eight, seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two,

one.

Your time is up!

Bladesmiths, your time is up!

♪

I am devastated that I
just didn't do a better job.

But at the same time, I'm
relieved that it's finally over.

♪

Gentlemen, that was an
epic round of competition.

Now it's time to see what
the judges have to say.

So, Jimmy, please present
your blade to the judges.

♪

Well, Jimmy, I like
the big Bowie profile.

You looked like you here
having a little bit of trouble

with your hata technique.

When the handle fell off, it
really threw me off my game.

And then I was just
trying to catch up,

and, you know, it just
messed me up mentally, so.

But you got your 12 layers.

Yes, sir.

[J.] Was a requirement.

And everything looks clean.

Nicely done.

Thank you.

[Wil] David, please present
your blade to the judges.

♪

While you were working,
we saw some interesting stuff

going on with your
hata technique.

Wanna tell me about it?

I wanted to make four
bars, five layers each.

Then I took the extra bar
and stuck it in the center,

so I had 21 layers.

So I chose this
cut-and-stack method.

I like the shape. Good job.

Jaime, please present
your blade to the judges.

♪

Congratulations, being
the rookie of the group

and finishing through
with a nice blade.

Thank you.

Tell us about your hata.

[Jaime] I got the 12 layers.

A little bit of a
struggle for me

because I don't
forge weld that often,

so I was just
happy to see it took.

Very good. Thank you.

[Wil] Arnon, please present
your weapon to the judges.

♪

First of all, I'm a huge
fan of the dagger design.

It was nice also to see you
doing a more traditional route

with your hata technique,

folding, as opposed
to cut-and-stack.

Yes, I'm very familiar
with that technique.

And you got your
12 layers in quickly.

Yes.

Nicely done.

Thank you.

♪

[Wil] You did an
excellent job of making this

a very difficult
decision for our judges.

But they need
some time to decide

who's going through
to the next round

and who's leaving the forge.

Thank you.

♪

- Well, here we go.
- Yeah.

[Wil] Let's go ahead and
start with Jimmy's blade.

♪

[laughs]

It's really heavy. The
tang is just massive.

[J.] Very thick, yes.

He's got a lot of grinding to do

to get this blade
to a finished point.

It's a good shape
for a chopping cast.

[Wil] Let's move
on to David's blade.

♪

- Boy, is it heavy.
- Yeah.

There is so much
material in that blade.

Then I like what he did
with 21 layers in his hata.

[J.] That was nice, yeah.

You got some, you know, cojones
there, making all these layers.

But he's going to wind
up grinding 50% of that out.

But it's got a good
slashing feel to it,

and it's got a good
belly for the chop.

We asked for the
best that they could do.

I think he went above
and beyond with that.

Let's move on to Jaime's blade.

♪

I like the design, because
it's got that straight back,

which is gonna
be a good chopper.

Don't like the handle.
It's a little bit big.

Which, once again, how's
he going to design that

so that it could
feel comfortable.

Let's move on to Arnon's blade.

[J.] I mean, I
enjoyed watching him.

All his hammer work and
doing a traditional fold on it,

and I'm a big fan
of the daggers but,

I mean, there's a lot there.

It's going to be a lot to swing.

The blade itself had to be
between 11 and 15 inches.

There's no way
that that's 15 inches.

- I think it's a bit long.
- It's longer.

[Dave] It's a full,
what, 16 1/4?

- I mean, this isn't 1/8 over.
- No.

This isn't 1/4. This
is over an inch.

That's a consideration,

but is it a disqualifying
consideration?

♪

[Jimmy] I'm looking
around at my competitors,

and honestly, I don't think
anybody did worse than me.

I think I'm going home.

♪

Bladesmiths...

The time has come for
one of you to leave the forge.

♪

Arnon, you did not make the cut.

Arnon, the rules were
laid down for a size,

and you wound up an
inch over that length.

Don't know what
else I can tell you.

I understand.

[Wil] Arnon, please
surrender your weapon.

I do feel a bit of
a disappointment

about being eliminated.

It would have been
nice to continue.

In the end, that one extra inch
of blade is what defeated me.

I'm just awful with numbers.

So that's a very obvious
thing to get axed for.

♪

Gentlemen, congratulations.

You've made it to round
two of our competition.

Your second challenge is to make

a working fit and
finished weapon

worthy of your
name and reputation.

You will have three
hours for this challenge.

You can use that time to
address any problems or issues

that you had with your
blade in round one.

But you must also use that time

to design and fabricate
a handle for your blades

out of the range of
material provided for you.

At the end of this challenge,

your blade's
strength and durability

will be tested in a wood chop

as well as its ability
to hold an edge

in a specially designed
sharpness test.

At the end of this round, one
of you will have to go home.

♪

You have three hours on
the clock. Your time starts...

♪

Now.

♪

I definitely wish I would
have forged the blade

a lot thinner in round one.

[grinding]

Because now the
first thing I've got to do

is move a ton of metal.

He's got a lot to
do in three hours.

♪

His blade has gone
into a SlimFast program.

[J.] It has.

♪

In only one hour, your blade,
too, can lose four pounds.

♪

[Jimmy] I have so far to go.

♪

Doing a two-piece handle
here, with a bolster of black,

and I don't really know
what this is, but it looks nice,

so I'm going to go with that.

♪

Cutting down the
scales to length.

About to drill a
hole through 'em.

Jaime must not like
his thumbs very much.

[laughter]

[Jaime] The trickiest
part of building my handle

is if I don't align
the scales properly,

I'm going to have to start
all over with a new handle.

Crank it down, it
goes right through,

and everything
lines up perfectly.

♪

[J.] Uh-oh.

Checking to make
sure nothing separated.

I inspect it.
Phew! And it's fine.

♪

[David] One of the criticisms
that the judges gave me

was that my blade was too heavy.

I'm going to have to change
my strategy, lighten up the blade.

So I'm going to go
right to the grinder.

♪

Things are going well.

And then I need to have a
platen instead of a wheel.

So I go to the other side.

So, Wil, Dave's got a
great system working here.

He's just running from
one machine to the other.

[grinding]

♪

Now he's going back
to the first grinder.

I was offered the whole space,

and I was offered
to use any tool.

So this is a big blade;
there's a lot to do...

Making a handle, drilling
holes, putting a guard together.

I need... I'll be lucky to
get my blade done in time.

If the other fellas wanted
to use the grinders,

they could too.

It wasn't like I was
pushing them off the grinder.

♪

One hour, gentlemen! You
have one hour remaining!

[Jimmy] I know
it's getting close.

I still have an hour
to do the handle.

Extremely tight,
but it's doable.

[J.] I really wish he had
picked a piece of bone or antler

instead of having
a block of wood.

Now Jimmy has to
shape that whole piece.

The first hole I drilled,
it went pretty smoothly.

As I'm drilling the second
hole, it bores into the first hole.

Ugh.

[J.] Jimmy's looking
a little frustrated

at the drill press over here.

I realize it's not
going to work.

Crap.

He seems to be way
behind everybody else.

He's still got a raw block of
wood that he's dealing with.

It's frustrating
to me. I'm like,

"Hey, the safest and
fastest way to get this done

is to go ahead and
just burn the handle on."

[Dave] It looks like Jimmy's
bringing the torch over to his table.

So he's going to burn that
tang through the handle.

[Jimmy] I'm going to heat
up the tang, get it pretty hot,

and slowly work the handle on.

You can't control
that burn, can you?

That's just it.

It's fine when you've
got a lot of time.

45 minutes left on the clock.

This isn't going to be pretty.

[Jimmy] I have to make
this work, or it's over with.

♪

Aw, come on.

[Jimmy] I couldn't
think of any other way

that I could possibly do
another handle in time.

I'm going to heat up
the tang, get it pretty hot

and slowly work the handle on,

and it will burn itself a hole.

[Dave] I know it's
very traditional, but...

The traditional
method is called that

because hardly
anybody does it anymore.

There's a reason for it.

We found a better way to do it.

♪

[Jaime] There are some divots
and imperfections in my blade.

And I'm thinking I really
only have two choices

with the time I have.

I can go back to
the belt sander,

and I can grind away
at the side of this

until hopefully the
imperfections are gone,

or I can start texturing it.

♪

I've never put this particular
pattern on a blade this long,

so not quite sure
how it will turn out.

♪

So Jaime might be
actually fashioning

a design into the blade.

Either that or, like Dave just
said, maybe he's chasing a flaw.

[Jaime] It gives it a weird
mirror reflective image,

so it draws your attention
away from the actual blade itself.

♪

[David] I'm going for a
traditional Japanese handle shape

for a hunting knife.

I saw a really nice piece of
wood that was yellow and black,

impregnated with plastic
so that it'll hold together.

Stabilized wood, they call it.

So it's time to go
to the drill press,

and I start to drill, and
it grabbed the wood

and flung it around...

♪

And slammed my finger
in between the vice.

I need a Band-Aid.

We've got blood in the
forge. Blood in the forge.

[Dave] You're not bleeding,
you're not working hard enough.

[J.] Tell me about it.

[David] Okay. Take your
time. Relax, Dave. Breathe.

[breathes calmly]

I will finish this knife,

come hell or high water.

♪

I have a lot left to do.

I'm going to work
down to the last minute.

I'm sure of it. I'm not
worried. I'm focused.

♪

At this point, things are
starting to flow smoothly.

[grinding]

I believe I've done everything
the judges have asked for.

I'm confident with my blade.

I know it's going to
chop like a mother.

♪

Pretty sharp.

♪

Right now Jimmy's got the
"What the hell was I thinking?"

going on in his mind.

Forge heavy, grind thin.

This is a case where he could
have drilled heavy, glued lots.

- Yeah.
- At this point it'd be quicker.

♪

[Jimmy] The tang's
burning slowly

because there's
just too much wood.

All they had was
really hard woods,

which is a really difficult
material to burn a handle on.

[J.] We got less than five
minutes. He's got a block of wood.

Why he doesn't grab something

that's already got natural
shape to it, I have no idea.

[Jimmy] When I see that my plan's
not going the way it's supposed to,

I kind of panic.

♪

This is just desperation.

Time is so short, and
if I can get this to fit,

I can still possibly
make this work.

♪

I take it back to the
vice. I'm hammering it on.

So maybe, maybe, maybe...

♪

Just split it.

♪

Time's up, gentlemen. Time's up.

Good job, man.

[Jimmy] I have failed everybody
who was rooting for me.

I let myself down.

♪

There was so many other
directions I could have gone.

But, no, I had to do it the
way I've always done it,

and that was the
wrong way to do it.

♪

Gentlemen, your
challenge was to forge

a fully functioning
weapon of your own design.

[Dave] Jaime, there are
a couple of visible flaws,

but your creativity,
the handling, the look...

Really enjoyed it.

Thank you.

[Doug] Dave, you've
got 21 layers put in there.

The handle construction...

It's a beautiful weapon.

♪

[J.] Jimmy, if you'd put any kind
of rudimentary handle on this,

I think this would have
been a great blade to test.

I'm very disappointed.

♪

Jimmy, you did not complete
your weapon in round two.

Your weapon cannot
compete in these challenges.

Therefore, you
didn't make the cut.

Doug?

Jimmy, we saw your meltdown.

But if you stayed in the
fight and you put a handle in,

even if it's just to
make it functional,

I believe you would
probably go through.

But I hope this experience

will only strengthen
your will to forge on.

Thank you, sir.

Jimmy, please
surrender your blade.

♪

The rules are pretty clear.

You had to put a handle on it
to advance to the next stage.

I made the wrong decision,

and I dug in my heels,
instead of stopping and going,

"Hey, just figure
something else out."

I thought the message that
Doug gave me was very deep,

and I absolutely
intend to follow it.

♪

David, Jaime, congratulations.

You guys have made it
to the Forged in Firefinal

and are one step
closer to $10,000.

When you showed up to the forge,

we asked you to create a
weapon of your own design

using our tools and equipment.

For this next round,

we're sending you back
to your home forges,

and you're going to create
a weapon of our choosing.

It's time to reveal what
that mystery weapon will be.

♪

The katar.

♪

The katar is a punching
and thrusting weapon

originating from southeast Asia.

It was the special weapon

of the fearsome Rajput
warriors from India,

who were said to hunt
tigers with a pair of katars

to prove their skill, bravery,
and nobility as warriors.

It has a distinctive
H-shaped handle

which places the large
triangular blade, or blades,

directly over the
wearer's clenched fist.

The experienced warrior
would use the katar

like an extension of their arm,

allowing for fluid,
fast, and agile attacks

in much the same
way as the famous

Marvel superhero Wolverine
uses his deadly claws.

♪

Your challenge is
to forge an authentic,

fully functional version
of that iconic weapon.

♪

[Jaime] I've seen a katar
before. I've seen 'em in movies.

But I've never made one
so it should be pretty fun.

♪

I've never made a katar before.

But I'm going to
knock it out of the park.

♪

In five days, you will return

to present your finished
katar to our judges,

who will put your katars

through a series of
dynamic and grueling tests.

Once those tests are completed

they will determine
who will be crowned

the Forged in Firechampion

and receive a check for $10,000.

♪

I'm gonna do everything
I can to beat David.

I'm gonna make sure my
weapon can pierce, slice,

whatever's possible.

Going home to my home
forge, I understand the tooling.

I know how to use
all my machines.

The cards are in my favor.

The stars are aligned.

This challenge is mine to win.

- Good luck.
- Okay, man.

♪

I'm back at my forge.

I'm very excited
to start my project.

♪

I decided to sketch
something myself.

I am going with a
two-bladed katar.

It's a little more unique than
your standard single piece,

so I'm really hoping that
impresses the judges.

♪

Going up against David is going
to be a real challenge for me.

I'm really going to have
to pull out all the stops,

but I really think I can do it.

♪

I'm pumped to make this blade.

I have five days. I want
to make this thing solid.

I'm going to make
a seven-layer bar...

One bar for every budovirtue.

I always make a seven-layer
bar for the center of my swords

because I represent budo.

I'm a warrior.

♪

Five days is not enough
to make a masterpiece

if you're working
at normal pace.

So I ramped it up.

I'm running from
forge to grinder,

back to the
hammer, to the press.

I'm going crazy.

♪

[Jaime] Yesterday,
I was able to get

most of the shape
of my blade done.

Today, I'm going
to finish the handle.

This is actually the
first time I've ever done

a handle and blade
combination like this,

so we'll see how it goes.

♪

There's really not much
metal there to secure it,

so everything needs to
line up perfectly to work out.

Everything's lining up nice.

Blade will be up here.

My biggest concern for
today is hardening my blades.

I don't exactly know what the
tempering process should be.

I don't know if
it'll crack or warp.

♪

[sizzling]

Success.

Now onto the next step.

♪

[David] My plan today is to
bring the steel from the blade

down into the handle
armatures, and I've never done it.

♪

Shaping any metal takes
a lot of care and precision.

It's a make-or-break-it day.

♪

I notice a crack on
the side of the blade.

[David] While I was
shaping my sword,

I noticed a crack on
the side of the blade.

I'm not going back with a
blade that's sub-standard,

so I'm gonna forge
another sword.

♪

I put on traditional
Japanese work uniform

in order to set myself up

mentally, physically,
and emotionally.

It's going to be tough.

I'm going to work every minute.

[pounding]

"Ichiban, number
one," is what this says.

There can be only one.

♪

[Jaime] Today's day four.

I need to attach the
blades to the handle,

sharpen the blade,

and do a lot of detail work.

Nothing's gonna stop me
from getting this $10,000.

♪

Day five: gonna take
that knife out and finish it.

I got ten hours.

♪

♪

[makes whooshing sounds]

[laughs]

[Jaime] My katar is
as solid as it can be.

I'm happy with the
way it turned out.

[David] That's a
$10,000 knife all day long.

I'm winning this thing.

♪

Gentlemen, welcome
back to the forge.

Both had five days
to work on your katars.

You were asked to do
a historical recreation,

but with your signature stamp.

I hope that you've done
your very best work.

David, how did you put your
signature stamp on your blade?

[David] Well, I used a piece
of Damascus for the blade.

I wanted something that
had an ancient feel to it,

so I left it gray and
polished it up just a little bit

so you could see the lines
and the veins running through it.

I call it the
bull's-eye pattern.

[Wil] Great.

Jaime, how did you
make this blade your own?

In my research, I saw that the
katar normally had one blade.

I put two blades on it.

I wanted to give it a
little something extra.

And I really tried to make the
whole katar a weapon, you know,

from the side, from the piece
running down your forearm.

I really want it to be a weapon.

♪

Well, gentlemen,
both of your weapons

are beautiful and intricate.

But all that matters
in this competition

is how they hold
up during our tests.

Doug?

♪

To test your katar's balance

and ability to slice and slash,

we have created this
multilayered strike zone.

It consists of different
targets at varying positions.

Jaime, you're first.
Are you ready?

Absolutely.

♪

♪

Nice.

Definitely's got
good swing to it,

cuts through the air.

As a slasher...

That will cut.

- Good job.
- Thank you.

David, you're up. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

♪

♪

It is a good slasher,

but I wish you didn't
extend this guard here.

It has some issues
turning my wrist around.

♪

Good balance, though.

Thank you.

Both of our blades
performed really well.

It's anybody's game
until the fat lady sings.

To test your weapon's
ability to deliver a lethal strike,

I will take your weapons
to punch and thrust

into this ballistic gel dummy

that is wearing the kind
of Indo-Persian armor

that these weapons would face.

Dave, you're up. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

♪

I'm feeling a
little trepidatious.

I'm hopeful my blade will
cut through the chain mail.

♪

[Doug] Well, that went
and disemboweled him.

That punctured right
through the chain mail,

definitely went
right into the heart.

♪

That, sir, is a killer.

Thank you.

All right, Jaime, you're
up next. You ready?

I'm ready.

I'm ready.

♪

Disemboweled him there.

It didn't quite go
through the chain mail.

But because this splits apart,

it got in a little
nick right in there.

And on the final kill right
above there, it got through.

Jaime, it will kill.

Thank you.

Two kill shots, I was
pretty happy with that.

I think anybody on
the battlefield would be.

♪

For the strength test,
your katar will be placed

in this pneumatic
arm thrusting device.

This device is calibrated
so that every thrust

is going to be the same
for each of your designs.

And just to make
it more interesting,

we've doubled the layers.

Your katar will have to go
through two sheets of metal.

Dave, are you ready?

I'm ready.

♪

Three, two, one. Engage!

♪

Very nice.

That went right
through both sheets.

This blade is strong.

Thank you.

My blade pierces
both sheets of iron.

Awesome. Philly steel.

♪

Okay, Jaime, we've loaded
your katar into the device.

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

♪

In three, two, one. Engage!

♪

Well, Jaime, it went through
the first sheet of metal.

It didn't go through the
second sheet of metal.

And your alignment on
the tips are now warped.

But it still went
through the first sheet.

Good job.

Thank you.

It's really disappointing
to see that my katar

didn't go through
both sheets of metal.

But as far as design
and performance,

I'd say we're about
neck and neck still.

♪

[Wil] Jaime, David,

in five days, we asked
you to forge a katar

and have your own
personal stamp on it.

You've both done that.

But there can only be
one winner of $10,000.

♪

J.

Well, David, I love your
one-piece design setup.

You've built a lot of strength
into your blade that way.

It was a very nice design.

Thank you, J.

I like the fact that you kind of

stayed with a
historical pattern.

It's very large for the
handle you put on it.

So it had the
tendency to want to

kind of roll out of your hand.

Overall, a beautiful piece.

Thank you, David.

Comments for Jaime?

[Doug] Jaime, you're
creative. You're imaginative.

And you can make it a reality.

But in this forge, we will
hold you to that reality.

And your split blade
didn't cut through the metal

as well as we thought it would.

Jaime, it was a great
creative design you have there.

The imagination that
went in to it was really cool.

Big problem I have is
that one of your blades

ended up being loose
during the testing.

Actually, have one blade
that's flopping around a bit now.

♪

You've both been
outstanding competitors.

However, there can only be
one Forged in Firechampion.

♪

David, you are the
Forged in Firechampion.

Congratulations.

[sighs]

♪

Jaime, you did not make the cut.

The creativity that
went in to your blade...

All really, really good.

But I think historically,
there's a reason

that most bladed weapons
have a single blade.

And that second blade just
winds up slowing everything down.

And because it didn't pass the
tests as well as David's blade,

that's how we made our decision.

Thank you.

Jaime, please
surrender your weapon.

It's validating for me
to have made it this far.

Thank you.

Now I know I can
compete with guys

that have been doing
this for 20, 30 years.

- Thank you.
- All right, brother.

Congratulations, David. You
are the Forged in Firechampion.

You're gonna get
a check for $10,000.

How do you feel, man?

What a road.

Dave, you've never
made a katar before

and look what you came up with.

Your Japanese masters
would be so proud of your work.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Doug.

A 10 G purse? Phew.
It's coming at the perfect time.

Thank you very much.
Domo arigato gozaimashita.

♪