Two Real Kung Fu Masters Battle!
July 22, 2008
This is video of a real challenge match in China from 1954. A White Crane master versus a Wu tai chi master. They signed agreements before the match that would prevent anyone from being held liable in the event a death resulted from the match.
This is one of the sorriest examples of "kung fu" I've ever seen. It makes you wonder that if these guys were masters of their day, more than 50 years ago, just how inflated are the tales of old masters that have become legends? I believe many of these tales have been embellished over time. People, after all, are people, and we tend to hold our idols up to ridiculous heights. This video might bring us down to earth a little bit.
My sifu often said, "Why shouldn't we be better now than the old masters? People run faster and jump higher now. We're better at science and medicine now. Everything else is getting better, why not martial arts?"
And who's to say that the two fighters in the film represented the pinnacle of martial arts achievement at the time? To be called a "master" all you need to do is open a school.
Posted by: Doctor Jay | July 22, 2008 at 08:58 AM