If you’ve ever wondered how a real-life fight between a Chinese martial arts practitioner and modern mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter would go down, here’s one example.
Spoiler alert – it does not end well for the former.
A viral clip circulating on Chinese social media sites shows the lightning-fast takedown of the tai chi ‘master’, Wei Lei, just 10 seconds after the fight begins.
The fight took place in the city of Chengdu, China on April 27.
According to NextShark, Wei said he thought his “Thunder style” of Tai Chi could match up against Xu Xiaodong, a Beijing-based MMA fighter and promoter who happens to be nicknamed “Madman” for his ruthlessness.
Well with such a reputation, perhaps Wei should have known better.
It probably explains how barely five seconds after Xu lands his first punches, Wei is brought to the ground while continually being pummelled by Xu as the crowd watches in shock.
Wei is later seen being helped to his feet by two men as he wipes blood off his face.
In his defence, Wei did clarify in an interview before the match that his ‘Thunder style’ of fighting is only a ‘primary’ student in the long history of Chinese martial arts.
But that didn’t stop netizens in China for accusing Wei of being a fraud and lamenting the ‘weakness’ of traditional Chinese martial arts. Ironically, it was reported that the fight took place after Wei got into an online dispute with Xu over the merits of traditional Chinese martial arts.
Now, where’s Ip Man when you need him?
Watch the video here:
candicec@sph.com.sg
