‘Physical 100’: Kim Chun-ri Defends Her Fight With Park Hyung-gen, ‘Isn’t It Entertainment?’
Netflix’s Physical 100 is a cutthroat game. The cast, full of bodybuilders like Kim Kang-min, MMA fighters, and more, was cut in half through one-on-one matches. But one of them angered fans. Kim Chun-ri addressed those who were mad at Park Hyung-gen for how he held her down to run down the clock.
Kim Chun-ri was surprised when she was picked on ‘Physical 100’
The second episode showed the entire cast rank from one to 100 based on the hanging match. The bigger competitors, like Chun-ri were noticeably in the low rankings therefore, they couldn’t pick who they’d fight in the one-on-one death match.
The higher-ranked cast members were able to pick whomever they wanted. We saw different strategies. Some wanted to fight someone of equal size as them for a fair fight. Other picked someone of a bigger size, assuming they wouldn’t be as fast. There was even someone who picked MMA fighter Choo Sung-hoon, because he was a fan of his.
Several men chose women to fight. Chun-ri looked surprised when Hyung-gen chose her.
“For real?” she asked. “What? This is unbelievable.” Chun-ri gave her reaction in an interview.
“I never imagined that a man would pick me,” she said. But the men were competitive with her when they first saw her. One even did one-arm push-ups with her.
Women yelled at Hyung-gen for holding her down
Fans finally got to watch the fight in episode 3. The MMA fighter started by walking out with his hands in his pockets. He flipped her over and was using knee on belly to hold her down.
The women watching yelled at him to release her because it wasn’t fun. He let her go and then motioned them to zip their lips. Once again, he flipped Chun-ri down on the ground and put his knee on her chest. The female spectators yelled again, and he did the motion again.
The referee made him back off of her this time. In the end, Hyung-gen took the ball and held it for the rest of the time and won.
Kim Chun-ri says she had ‘no complaints’ about fighting Park Hyung-gen
Many people were upset about the men picking women to fight and their comments. On Jan. 30, she posted a picture of female cast members on Instagram and addressed the controversy in the caption.
“I saw several articles and comments (including bad words). I didn’t expect the pre-release video to be discussed so widely,” part of it read. “The main controversy is that Park Hyung-geun, who chose me, pressed his chest on his knees during the competition. Let me tell you where I stand.”
“Me and Park Hyung-geun competed fairly as athletes and I had no issues or complaints about it,” she continued. “We all knew that all the participants were competing regardless of gender. Besides, I knew that my opponent was a combat player and of course I expected that he would have a martial art. If I were a fighter, I would have used this technique to win. Bodybuilder fighting skills (? I don’t know) lol All I can do is try to get rid of it anyway.”
She then addressed the controversial move. The bodybuilder reminded everyone that the reality TV show is entertainment, and she believes it’s “catchy” to paint the male players as bad.
The post ended with an update on the competitors’ relationship. “There are people who comment bad things about their opponent’s male players on my Instagram, but that’s not for me,” the caption reads. “It’s quite uncomfortable. Park Hyung-geun and I still communicate on Instagram without calling each other.”
