After the latest in a series of skirmishes between real fighters, professional or amateur, against a variety of kung fu or tai chi masters, the Chinese are increasingly realizing that an integral part of their culture is slowly losing the battle with modernity, and some will say with reality.
A few months ago, a new, somewhat comical video toured the world in which the controversial master of tai-chi, as he declared himself, Ma Baoguou, confronted an amateur kickboxer in his 50s. It should be said that Ma Baoguo is 70 years old.
The bizarre match didn’t last a minute, and the tai-chi master was knocked out.
Various “masters” fall against the average fighters
It was just new in a series of similar matches, organized at the amateur level, but which received a lot of media attention because there are more and more real fighters in China who are fed up with such masters who claim that their skills are superior to modern MMA fighters.
There were also various fog sellers who claimed that they could defeat the fighters with energy, but even such characters ended up in a heavy knockout after only a few seconds.
A few years ago, Chinese MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong came under attack from many of his compatriots, and then the communist authorities themselves, for defeating Wei Lei, a kung fu master of the tai-chi skill. He claimed that with an outstretched palm from which invisible energy radiates, he can defeat an MMA fighter. Of course, the fight lasted barely 20 seconds before the judge stopped it to save Wei Lei’s bigger beatings.
Authorities do not like breaking myths
In 2017, the video was a real hit in China, where it caused a conflict between modern and traditional admirers of martial arts. Xu Xiaodong has managed to prove that some fake kung fu masters, as he called them, have no chance against real fighters. But in doing so, he insulted the traditionalists in his homeland who, as in all countries, base their beliefs mostly on myths.
Death threats were launched against him and his family, and he just wanted to say that Chinese martial arts did not live up to the real fight. The top of the Communist Party, in turn, saw this as a glorification of Western culture and its supremacy over Chinese.
“Many people are simply brainwashed with these fake kung fu masters,” said Xu Xiaodong, adding that he just wanted to show people what real kung fu skills are.
With the advent of modern MMA in its country, China is increasingly facing this challenge. The ancient martial arts, which the West learned mostly through movies, are in that country today a blend of self-defense and meditation skills.
But kung fu masters in the real world don’t fly, they can’t stop the attack of a real fighter with two movements, and they don’t radiate invisible energy that destroys everything around them. And everything else that the Chinese authorities would like you to believe… Just look at some of them below.
