As someone who has been in martial arts for almost 20 years I enjoyed this documentary. It brought attention to this sport and two athletes stories as they compete in it. This sport can be seen as shocking quite when it's portrayed in a cage. It's actually pretty safe and would allow my kids to do it if they really wanted to. I appreciate that they showed multiple perspectives from those on the outside, leaders in the organization, the athletes and of course the parents. A&E definitely got their shock value out of this show. The commercial definitely made this look like the kids are actually doing MMA. They do clarify later how it is NOT and how this sport IS safe. Unfortunately the visuals definitely lean more to sway those that may be uncomfortable about this to slamming the door on the topic all together. I think they miss the background of the martial arts that go into this. Karate, Muay Thai, BJJ and wrestling, all that have much more to them than just getting in a cage. They did not once touch on the history of Pankration, which is what this actually is and it's history as one of the original Olympic sports. It's basically a glorified BJJ match that this show displays in a cage rather than a Mat. It makes me wonder how authenticity they captured the lives of these kids and their parents. Perhaps they didn't give this show time to go deeper as it's only one episode. I definitely could have watched some more and it would have probably added value and more clarity most viewers deserved. If you do martial arts, are interested in them or are curious what these kids are actually doing? Check this show out.
Review of Kids in a Cage
