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Old Forum Madness in Shaolin

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Calthrop

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There's a clip I've found on YT in which a Shaolin monk proves capabilities of a human mind (as they do regularly).

Contains: lying on the blades of two spears (one to the stomach, the other one to the throat) and having a heavy plate hammered on one's back; drilling through the stomach, throat and head. Yes, with a real, drilling drill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTSXx1ks0I

Any thoughts on how is this even possible?
 
Adam, I firmly believe in "Chi". But these things can be explained differently than the usual patterns of our understanding processes. A very crude example would be doctors or healers of the ancient studied life and well being and doctors of today studies death and disease.

I also have questions like HOW did those people in the ancient times came out acupuncture? How did they even know those specific points which deal with specific organs or meridians?

Check this out...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QobppHslhZs
 
"Qi" is a valid concept in training and understanding life.  Just like "matter" is valid, neither expresses some fundamental reality but are phenomenal groupings indicated with words.  Like everything.  That said, the "magical" things you see with these types of folks are no different from the magic you see at a child's birthday party.  In the case of the Shaolin "monks" (who are technically corporate employees of a publicly traded company,) these are parlour tricks involving not much more than a bit of training and some balance.  Specific training to do those stunts, not general martial arts skill.  The "drilling your head" trick is a very simple one to spot....anyone can do it.  A drill needs to be forced into the object it is drilling or it will not proceed.  You will notice that while it appears the Shaolin employee is pushing very hard, he is just huffing and puffing....one hand pushes while another hand pulls and the drill stays put.  The movement of the drill will scrape the skin a little which gives the impression that it really was driving hard against the skin.  These Shaolin tricks are undermining true martial art.  Unfortunately the social and political atmosphere in mainland China these days is not conducive to true skill...Shaolin is like kung fu Las Vegas, full of titillating shows and colourful character, all working with the sole purpose of taking your money.
 
Charles, agreed - just a bunch of tricks. I have studied martial arts in Hong Kong and China and none of the masters I have trained with took such stunts seriously.

Adam: Qi training is about strength and long life. Pavel often mentions Sanchin Kata, I myself practice "Iron Wire Set" and I can say it is very HardStyle compatible. Anybody who attends StrongFirst Bodyweight  Course or Certification will learn a lot of "Hard Qi Gong" principles and will be able to apply it immediately for strength gains (and health in the long term as well), guaranteed. There you will ask yourself "how is this even possible?" :)
 
@Charles Humphrey. "You will notice that while it appears the Shaolin employee is pushing very hard, he is just huffing and puffing….one hand pushes while another hand pulls and the drill stays put."

The pressure gauge attached to the drill was said to indicate a pressure of between 50-200 psi, probably between 100-200 psi. Hardly trivial. Regardless of the mechanical explanation (the man does say he toughened his body by some sort of impact training), it's an impressive and dangerous feat.

IMO, using "qi" as a portmanteau term for a collection of phenomena or processes is possibly convenient but it's also obscuring and misleading, and vulnerable to exploitation by charlatans.
 
The pressure gauge is on one side...he is using two hands....one hand pushes, the other pulls, the pushing hand registers a high pressure.  The drill goes nowhere.  No feat has been demonstrated except showmanship.
 
Lol! A plausible explanation indeed. But I'm not sure it's all fake. At 6.30 and 7.50 he does appear to be pressing the drill hard enough to pucker the skin. That's pretty dangerous and probably quite painful. Of course, nothing as convincing as allowing someone else, preferably the show host or the engineer, to press the drill in.
 
I did the first two sections of Iron Wire Set too.
It put mass on my "bag of bones" body  without doing any lifting , not even push up.
It was in the 90s back home :-D
 
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