I realize that a real athlete was used when the ring scenes were shot. But the actor himself didn't look like he'd even be able to pull it off in real life simply because his arms and shoulders were so small. He was a pretty thin guy. The guys I see at the Olympics doing that are way bigger.
shareheh, before he graduated from West Point, the number one ringman in the country (USA) was a small Asian kid who you'd never think to be able to do some of the strength holds he was doing. I personally am more along the fit of broad shoulders, larger arms, wider back, etc; but this guy was short and thin, but defined and would just absolutely decimate me on rings.
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He didn't have muscles but he had definition and tone. He also had a build. A lot of people equalize muscles with strength but that's really not the case. Plus, Scott Mechlowicz wasn't THAT skinny to begin with.
shareI kept getting confused because Scott Mechlowicz stunt double was noticeably bigger than he was. So it was like Dan Millman kept losing 20 + pounds of muscle between when he did gymnastic routines and when he stood around talking to different people. For a while I thought they were showing how out of shape Dan became after his accident. But the difference was throughout the whole movie.
On the DVD, they show the stuntmen next to the actor he played. You can definitely see the size and age difference.
It didn't take away from the movie in my opinion. I really enjoyed the gymnastic routines by all the characters.
No two persons ever watch the same movie.share