shaolin skillz

[laukarfei]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P_cGTaGdAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p4uLxni ... re=related

[PM]

well... i do not want to insult anybody, but... circus, or - as Chinese put it, daai lik hei, strongman show. i can bend the sharp spear myself btw., nothing special about that.

being a pragmatic, i would rather see an iron fist/palm in the Octagon (i bet so do you, mate).

[laukarfei]

lol, i wouldnt wanna see iron fist only cause it can kill and i think sport is sport, fighting is fighting. and i hope no one ever dies in this sport

honestly i like the back and forth better then the ko's. honestly submissions to me are better then a ko cause, its like you dont really have a choice when u get ko'ed if someone gets you its over. a submission u got a choice, lights out or something is breaking etc or you can submit and thats just to me something that is cool, not to mention its not so easy to do

anyhow as for these demos

i like the iron spear to the throat only cause i never seen anyone do it with a real spear, ive seen them use spears and bend iron bars etc that stuff is cool but this guy used a real spear, first time i seen that and i agree it doesnt "prove" anything just thought it was cool

[TenTigers]

yeah, I used to do it at parties when I was a teen,with kitchen knives, arrows, anything sharp. It's a trick.

[laukarfei]

whats the trick to it?

[laukarfei]

i still wanna know what the trick is of putting something sharp enough to pierce a stool or something and put it through your throat. not saying its not a "trick" but i wanna know what it is

im not stupid enough to try it or anything its just i wanna know.

[Itinerant_Phenomenologist]

Well I'm not entirely sure how sharp the spear is. I have friends that do Contemporary Wushu and the spears they use have rounded tips. However, they are still able to stab holes in tree trunks and shoot into wooden benches. So the actual "point" of the spear is debatable. Just needs a firm tip and some speed behind it to get it through solid objects.

Two ways I've seen it done. One is against the bone in the neck region. One is against the cartilage covering against the throat that does thicken to an appreciable degree with certain exercises (but not to a noticeable degree... there is a difference). No Chi involved. Just good showmanship and a level of calculation. Obviously the calculation comes from a degree of training... but that training does not involve magical powers.

The metal break against the head... they use pig iron for that. It's brittle and will shatter upon hard impact. Now obviously it would still hurt so a level of conditioning is required, but don't make the mistake that the metal they shatter on their head is the same they use for making claymores and baseball bats.

[Asmo]

"Skills of the Vagabonds" by Leung Ting is a good book for anyone interested in learning this and many more things performed by street artists. Was lucky enough to find a copy on a second hand book market...

[TenTigers]

bending anything agisnt the throat-spear, staff, arrows, rebar, etc.
The tip is placed against the suprasternal notch. with downward pressure it simply bends.
You can also bend it up using the chin as the pressure point.

The bar bends because it is swung against something that is immovable.
If it breaks, it is because as IP says-pig iron or pot metal, or just over tempered until it becomes brittle.
This is obvious when it breaks into more than one piece upon impact.
The one that still puzzles me is when they balance on a trident.
Basically, they are resting on three points. I understand it is possible, but it's still gotta hurt.

[TenTigers]

bending anything agisnt the throat-spear, staff, arrows, rebar, etc.
The tip is placed against the suprasternal notch. with downward pressure it simply bends.
You can also bend it up using the chin as the pressure point.

The bar bends because it is swung against something that is immovable.
If it breaks, it is because as IP says-pig iron or pot metal, or just over tempered until it becomes brittle.
This is obvious when it breaks into more than one piece upon impact.
The one that still puzzles me is when they balance on a trident.
Basically, they are resting on three points. I understand it is possible, but it's still gotta hurt.

[Daifong]

[ironpalm]