First, how did the concept for the XMA documentary come about?
Sharkey: The concept for the show actually was biomechanics of martial arts. As they were doing the theme of biomechanics, they wanted to find a supporting story. So they came up with idea of a student-instructor relationship. They auditioned 800 different people and got 1200 tapes sent in. They wanted to show all the power associated with the biomechanics but knew that alone would not support a full documentary. Originally it was going to be two one-hour shows. One would be the biomechanics without weapons, one with weapons. So they did the auditions, James Lew saw Matt Mullins do a demonstration at Warner Brothers so he called Matt in to audition and talk to him about the show because Matt had a story to go along with the abilities they were looking for, he was right for the part. His childhood, how martial arts helped him through adversities growing up. That was the original story that they wanted, they also wanted to show an instructor-student relationship. So, Mike Chat, one of Ma
