In the November, 2003 edition of Inside Kung-Fu magazine, my challenge to so-called "chi masters" was published -- 21 years ago. That's when I began offering $5,000 to any chi "master" who could knock me down without touching me. 

The challenge was triggered by an article in the August, 2003 issue showing an alleged Tai Chi "master" knocking his student down without touching him. The headline on the magazine's cover said: "No-Touch Chi Force: Is it For Real?" And, of course, the article, written by a student of the "master," said yes, it is real.

The teacher was Henry Wang, and the article was written by his student Peter Uhlmann, a psychiatrist from British Columbia. The article describes how Henry Wang learned over time how to "interrupt" the chi of an attacker. Some of Wang's students quit over this nonsense. I consider them the students with integrity. 

Here are three photos from the Inside Kung-Fu article showing Henry Wang knocking down his student.

Here is the letter I wrote that was published in the November, 2003 issue:

Headline: He'll Pay $5,000 For Proof!

   The cover of your August 2003 issue asked the question, "No-Touch Chi Force! Is It For Real?" The article answered that question with an unqualified "yes." In fact, the writer, Peter Uhlmann, not only claimed that his "master," Henry Wang, can knock people down without touching them, but Uhlmann also claimed in the article that he can stop other students "in their tracks" using his chi, too.

   And the article dismissed anyone who was not a believer, including some of Wang's own students, who showed tremendous integrity and intelligence by quitting the school over the empty force issue.

   I will give Uhlmann or Wang a check for $5,000 on the spot if either can cause me to wobble, fall back or fall down without touching me by using their chi. I would like to issue this challenge through your publication. You can videotape and photograph the event with witnesses, and publicize the results in your magazine.

   I've studied martial arts for 30 years and the internal arts for 16 years. It is people like this, and articles like this, that continue to drag down tai chi. How could you possibly publish a story written by a "master's" own student making these claims? Why is it that so-called "chi masters" can only perform this stunt on their own students, or on a few people who pay money to attend a seminar or class?

   Isn't anyone in publishing or the internal arts applying critical thinking skills to this issue? Anyone who claims to be able to knock someone down using empty force is either self-deluded or simplying lying to make himself or his teacher look good. Human beings can't do a "no-touch knockdown." It is impossible. Why would you encourage this fantasy?"

   If Uhlmann or Wang can do this to me, I will not only give them $5,000 on the spot, I will also publicize them and become a true believer. I will travel to meet them so that they can perform this demonstration. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. It's the only way we can stop this ridiculous empty force lie and bring some dignity back to tai chi and the internal arts.    Ken Gullette, Bettendorf, IA

I never heard a word from Peter Uhlmann or Henry Wang. Peter wrote a very flattering book about Henry, which said Henry could control people without touching them. Henry wrote his own book, which I haven't read yet, about "searching for center," and how he stopped studying the physical force of tai chi and focused on the internal "life force" aspect. In my opinion, what he decided to focus on was the ability to deceive students and earn money from martial arts fantasy. His book is subtitled "A Tai Chi Master's Journey," and the author doesn't call himself Henry Wang. On the book cover it is written by "Master Henry Wang" and a co-author. Insert a deep, skeptical sigh here.

Shame on him, and shame on Peter Uhlmann and all the students who played along. I would hate to be a psychiatrist who is now in his eighties, has battled cancer, and near the end of his life faces the prospect of either reclaiming integrity or leaving a legacy of spreading the type of information that, in my opinion, has damaged the reputation of tai chi. A psychiatrist, of all people. It goes to show that just because you are intelligent and educated does not mean you can't be fooled, or fool yourself. From a psychiatric perspective, I think there are so many layers to this. A student wants to believe his teacher can do miraculous things. A student wants to belong to a group, and invests time and money in his teacher. If he tells people a teacher can do things that are outside the scope of physics and natural laws, there is a direct implication that the student is learning this, too. So the student gets to bask in the glow of this mysterious power.

What Henry Wang claims to do is no different than the "faith healers" in churches who touch someone in the congregation and the entire row of people falls to the floor, shaking and shimmying and twitching with the power of God. The minister, or the chi master, lets the audience know what they are supposed to do, and then the audience does it. If you are in a church and don't react when the faith healer touches you, that means you don't have enough faith. If you are a student of a chi master and you fail to fall down when he wants you to fall down, you make the teacher look bad and you show that you are not "in the know." You risk being booted from the club, and you desperately want to belong.

Over the years, as YouTube was created and gained popularity, it offered many Tai Chi teachers and others like George Dillman an outlet to show off their supernatural chi abilities. 

I challenged a few "masters" over the past 21 years, and NONE OF THEM has accepted my challenge. There is one reason they will only do their stunt on their own students -- because they know it's a crock of malarkey. They should simply invite a local MMA school to test their skills. See if they can knock an MMA fighter down before the MMA fighter can touch him. Or hell, just invite a BJJ guy or a wrestler from a local high school. Bring in a black belt from a local karate school and ask him to take you down. See if you can stop him before he touches you. We all know what would happen, and so do folks like Henry Wang.

Twenty-one years later, the $5,000 Chi Challenge is still in place. I should raise it to $10,000. I don't think anyone is likely to step up and try to claim it. And that is a pity. If they truly had these abilities, it would be the easiest $5,000 (or $10,000) they ever made. Shame on them all, and shame on the students who play along.

--by Ken Gullette