TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- In another challenge match allegedly meant to test the effectiveness of traditional martial arts versus modern mixed martial arts (MMA), gym owner Xu Xiaodong (徐曉冬) on Sunday (March 18) easily pummeled an obscure martial artist who claimed to be a "4th generation descendant of Yip Man," Bruce Lee's master.
At the opening of the 3-minute bout, the alleged "Wing Chun" practitioner, identified as Ding Hao (丁浩), launched a flurry of rapid Wing-Chun-like punches, however Xu simply shrugged them off and quickly hurled Ding to the turf. The referee then separated the two fighters as ground fighting was apparently not allowed this time around.
For the rest of the fight, Xu easily punched and tossed Ding to the ground for a total of six times, each time with the referee leaping in dramatic fashion to protect him. Despite the fact that Ding was dazed, bloodied and confused at the end, the referee bizarrely declared the lopsided affair a "tie."
The match was a sequel to a bout which took place between Xu and an equally obscure "Tai Chi master" (who is a massage therapist by day) in April of last year, during which Xu made even quicker work of the timid "Tai Chi" practitioner and quickly triggered a nationwide backlash by Chinese who felt that he was disrespecting traditional Chinese culture.
Xu's blanket claims that all traditional Chinese martial arts are fake and his gloating over his swift dispatch of the massage therapist angered millions of netizens and countless Chinese martial artists, who rapidly began lining up to challenge him, well before any cash prize was announced.
Such outcomes are to be expected as the fighting applications of many traditional martial arts have been lost since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized power in 1949 and began to systematically eradicate Chinese traditional culture. A large number of martial artists were imprisoned or even executed, a process which was accelerated during the Cultural Revolution.
After eliminating most traditional martial arts, the CCP introduced modernized wushu (武術, martial arts) and simplified tai chi, removing the spiritual and martial aspects of the arts, while adding gymnastic skills to more closely resemble Olympic gymnastic floor routines or acrobat performances.
Contrary to Xu's statements, kung fu practitioners who have kept the fighting tradition alive outside of China have actually excelled in MMA, including notable fighters such as Cung Le (who has already called Xu out), Peter Davis, Pat Barry, and Roy Nelson, all of whom have winning records in the cage. UFC fighter Roy Nelson started his martial arts training with the Lohan School of Shaolin in Las Vegas and still trains in kung fu on a daily basis.