Wednesday, April 22, 2009

How to become Batman

Could a real person become our most famous unsuper superhero, Batman? The University of Victoria's E. Paul Zehr, a professor of neuroscience and kinesiology, put considerable effort into working that out. Assuming a real person, like the fictional Bruce Wayne, started off with no health problems and unlimited money, access to top instructors, etc. Zehr (a martial arts expert himself) looked at the main disciplines Batman needs to be familiar with, plus the strength and conditioning work, plus the training exercises, etc. needed to get him ready to put his skills to use instinctively in split-second situations. The verdict: Becoming Batman would take at least 15 years. The real bad news? The accumulated effects of all those injuries would mean a Batman's "useful life" as a crimefighter on the street would be short.
COMMENT: Ah, well. Most of us would rather get bitten by a radioactive spider anyway.

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