INTO THE FIRE
Looking at Doug Marcaida, you might think he’s an artist of some sort with a gallery on Rodeo Drive. He’s got that goatee, the suave hair, and the elegant demeanor. He’s articulate and refined. So what’s he doing swinging swords, axes, and knives on the History Channel’s Forged in Fire?
Forged in Fire (in case you’ve just emerged from your underground bunker) is a competition series with three judges (including Doug), one host, and four bladesmith contestants. Each episode focuses on forging a cutting tool or edged weapon from scratch. The winner walks away with a cool 10 grand in their pocket, and the episode’s championship title. How cool is that? Weapons, fire, forging, information, and fine edges are all displayed in full boob-tube brilliance. That explains why this year marks the fifth season, and even spawned a spin-off series titled Forged in Fire: Knife or Death.
Marcaida’s involvement in the show involves pressure testing the weapons and evaluating each blade for combat effectiveness. As a master of the Filipino art of Kali, he’s a natural for handling edged weapons. We recently caught up with Doug between filming episodes and cut straight to the chase with his observations of the hit show, what martial arts he secretly wants to study, and his attitude toward survival.
RECOIL OFFGRID: How did you get hooked up with Forged in Fire?
Doug Marcaida: I got a call from their casting producer who found me through my YouTube videos. They were looking for an end user of edged weapons to be a judge on the show.
What’s the filming schedule like?
It’s taken over my time. We film an average of 30 to
