90-year-old Kung Fu Master Does Finger Stand

Plus the fact that he's leaning against the wall doesn't make it very believable.

Oh and "This is a pride of China"? :lol:

I'd better clarify my last comment. I'm not laughing at the slightly dodgy interpretation of Chinese to English. I'm laughing at the fact that the makers of that video have called this "feat" as (in my interpretation) something/someone that the Chinese are proud of.

The movie doesn't give any more information than the still photo. There's some video of him sitting, then a cut, then he's in the position shown in the still photo.

Hidden wires, my ass! That's clearly the result of putting his LifeWave patches on backwards.

Notice he doesn't move at all while in this position. It seems if all that strain was on your finger, wouldn't your tendon in your arm stick out a little our veins pop out? Maybe he is laying on his side and the video is turned.

I hate to go against popular opinion, but it looks real to me. If you look at the closeup of his hand, he is moving a bit. As to his body not moving... if he were wiggling all over the place, then I'd be SURE it's fake.

The 80 year old father of my wife's Qi Gong teacher can sit on the floor in lotus postion, put his thumb and two fingers of each hand on the floor, and lift himself off the floor. No big trick, doesn't make it look like a big deal, just a six-finger pushup.

I just find it easier to believe that someone could learn to do this than that someone bothered to fake it.

Standing on his finger. Big deal. I could stand on his finger any time.

Is it just me, or does it look like he's holding something in his left hand. I could see it as technically do-able if he's holding a thin wire (conveniently "hidden" by the room corner.)

Actually, yoga people can do some wild balancing stuff. People can, thru years of practice, delvelop odd specialized strengths. Like people who balance on sticks held in their teeth. It could be real.

I do believe that this can done, considering that it is scientifically acknowledged, that some buddhis monks simply decide to die, sit down and do so.

i agree with Mark..
i have that documentary,and i can olnly say that man
are reel to me,watch closer of his finger!!
there s no wire in his hand ,cuz that man is training this style almoust a 20 years...
this is a one finger zen style,and only man can to that in the china culture is that man monk hai-tank.

I actually believe this......after seeing my Sifu put a nail into a piece of wood with the palm of his hand (Iron Palm) this looks believable.....

This can be done, because famous movie-star/martial artist Bruce Lee performed a stadium show when he was alive, and one of his techniques was to do a push up without his feet touching the floor, and only balancing on both is index fingures, so I reckon this is possible as well

Ryan Zorro said:

"This can be done, because famous movie-star/martial artist Bruce Lee performed a stadium show when he was alive, and one of his techniques was to do a push up without his feet touching the floor, and only balancing on both is index fingures, so I reckon this is possible as well"

I don't know if what you say is true, but even if Bruce Lee DID do this, that by no means proves that a 90-YEAR-OLD MAN could so something similar. For most 90-year-old people, getting out of the chair is a major feat.

X said:

"I actually believe this......after seeing my Sifu put a nail into a piece of wood with the palm of his hand (Iron Palm) this looks believable....."

That isn't logical. First off, just because a particular unusual thing can be done, that isn't proof that a DIFFERENT unusual thing can be done.

Second, whenever I've seen the "Iron Fist" trick, the person performing it has had a very padded hand, wrapped in tape. They are also driving the nail into pine, which is a very soft wood. Not that big a trick, really.

This reminds me of that documentary about shaolin monks that I saw a while back. It featured some really weird stuff, like someone being able to throw a needle through a pane of windowglass and people balancing on two fingers. So yeah, I think that this is quite possible.

Lore said:

"This reminds me of that documentary about shaolin monks that I saw a while back. It featured some really weird stuff, like someone being able to throw a needle through a pane of windowglass and people balancing on two fingers. So yeah, I think that this is quite possible."

I once saw a movie where a giant lizard destroyed Tokyo so I guess anything is possible.

Are you absolutely sure that the things you saw in this "documentary" were legitimate? I haven't seen it so I can't say for sure but I DO know that not everything portrayed in a movie, even a "documentary" is necessarily accurate.

This is such a cynical bunch, and so trapped in western ideas of strength. If you want a real discussion of "one finger skill" and similar things, take a look at http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/search/topic/14454-1.html

in china the older u are, the stronger ur chi is. so the older u doesn't neccsary mean the weaker u get

one finger skill said:

"This is such a cynical bunch, and so trapped in western ideas of strength. If you want a real discussion of "one finger skill" and similar things, take a look at http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/search/topic/14454-1.html"

That's right. I forgot that anything that comes out of a Western culture is automatically "out of harmony with nature" and anything from an Eastern (or indiginous) culture is automatically ancient, IN harmony with nature and inherently superior.

I'm going to save up some money so I can take a trip to Tibet where I will no doubt see streets filled with 90-year-old men walking around on their fingertips. Ah, the powers of Chi.

You'll have to excuse me. I have to turn my computer off and move it. I just found out it's in the wrong corner of my room and its feng shui is making my aura bounce around and cause the bad weather we've been having here on the Oregon coast. Duh. I should have known. It's SO obvious.

That trick is no more skillful than a clown riding a unicycle over a horizontal rope in mid-air blindfolded at a circus.

This is almost equally impressive as those two twin brothers who made guiness world book of records balancing one ontop of the other using two knives with their tongue, balancing at the tip of each knife.

i would be more impressed if I one day see a 190 year old Shaolin monk balancing on one finger without any support at all.

Yes, the power of Chi. The ignorance of the West will soon one day be matched by the wisdom of the East.

PaiMei

I have been practicing Yoga for many years. I have pictures of my 1 finger balance...also other cool yoga pictures on my myspace. Check it out

http://www.movecars.com/states/arizona.htm

We have a video of this monk at home. It is a National Geographic documentary done in the 80's, just before Shaolin started taking foreign students. He is supposed to be the only monk at the temple who can do that. It is called one-finger Zen. They do some incredible things with their body. I have tried to mess around with it a little. It is much, much harder than it looks. You should see his hands. His fingers have probably been broken dozens of times. A few of the other monks do two-finger Zen, balancing on the first finger of each hand.

you are all so dense other than one guy that mentioned something about yoga.
its 100% its a skill called shaolin steel finger.
Shoalin monks can manipulate chi and do next to imposible things, ican do it with three fingers and the guy that monk hai tank was master to can do it with two. its also not a movie its from a documentory featuring jet li.

Wh1tk1d said:

"you are all so dense other than one guy that mentioned something about yoga.
its 100% its a skill called shaolin steel finger.
Shoalin monks can manipulate chi and do next to imposible things, ican do it with three fingers and the guy that monk hai tank was master to can do it with two. its also not a movie its from a documentory featuring jet li."

It's a power SO amazing that it is only evident to people who don't understand spelling, punctuation or syntax.

Clearly, if it's in a "documentory," it CANNOT be fake.

As much as I respect and venerate chinese culture, shaolin and kung fu in general,having watched the whole documentary theres little doubt in my mind this is fake. The young monk who later attempts this fete uses two fingers (one of which is nearly bent 90 degrees by the time he's in position.
Some aspects of the film come across a bit like a communist china nationalist propoganda film (did the goverment have a hand in making this movie?) and no doubt this scene was staged to add a little mystique. An earlier scene depicts this same poor old guy supposedly taking full force blows by a younger monk with a 3 section staff who is clearly only soft tapping him.
The majority of the show was quite impressive, shame on the filmmakers for talking the monks into the less sincere parts.

It's fake. If it wasn't fake, then the video would show the monk getting into position. If it isn't fake, it wasn't shot in a manner that is very convincing. It reminds me of that missing reincarnated buddha who had been meditating for months, except when they hid him with screens at night so he could eat and drink and sleep.

ever heard of masters of the iron crotch.. 1 can pull a truck with his penis.. 8 masters can pull a jumbo plane with it.. lol o wait they had wires tied on them hahahaha!

Just because most of the old-aged in America are unfit and cannot get out of bed, that does not mean that there aren't old people in this world who are fitter than you. What this old man is doing is entirely possible, whether or not the video is a fake. Open your eyes to the world outside of your TV guide. You'll find that the range of human ability, both intellectual and physical, extends far beyond what you are typically exposed to. Read and travel. And don't fall for the trap of being a skeptic who is addicted to the illusory high of feeling as if they escaped being duped through their own intelligent deduction when faced with something they consider new and possibly unusual, when in reality, they have closed themselves off a little more from their own capacity to learn.

Omar in Canada said:

"Just because most of the old-aged in America are unfit and cannot get out of bed, that does not mean that there aren't old people in this world who are fitter than you. What this old man is doing is entirely possible, whether or not the video is a fake."

Oh, you are SO right, Omar. Once I threw off my Western concepts of fitness and physics, I learned how to fly. Yes, thanks to my rigorous study of Eastern philosophy, I can now fly like a bird. You should see it some time, it's truly amazing. And all I had to do was discard my silly Western notions of what is possible. How I pity those of you who still think that some things are impossible.

I recommend all the people that dont believe this to watch the entire video that last 1hour and 30 min to understand the live and the incredible power of shaolin kung fu.

as a martial artist i can tell you that everything is true

Hello,

I am a 23 year old Frenchman living in China since February 2006. I am very fit, a good runner and amateur bodybuilder (meaning I'm not a crank, just someone who keeps an attractive body).

I saw those guys on the stadium ... 80 yrs old +, total freaks. One of them could push some 120 Kgs 15 times in a row, I was like: "oh my f****** god !!!". Guys, as another poster said, just because Americans and Europeans are packs of shapless fat doesn't mean everyone is like that.

I have seen this video in a jet li documentary. I'm not 100% convinced this is real, but I am more inclined to believe that it is true than not. After many many years of practice and training a specific muscle group, I would think it is possible to do this, esp. for monks, I've been to Shaolin temple several times, they probably have tons of free time lol.

There's alot of other "unusual" or seemingly impossible feats, of course it doesn't directly prove this particular one is true, but it does make the statement that certain feats which we think are impossible could certainly be achieved.

To those that think "chi" is a mythical thing and is about as real as as a leprechaun, keep in mind that while there might not be an actual unpalpable force moving through your body, alot of the results of "chi" can probably be explained in western/scientific terms such as contracting/relaxing of certain muscle groups.

When I saw the video I wondered why they didn't show him actually getting into the finger stand, my only guess is that he got into the stand with 1 hand then slowly placed his weight onto that 1 finger?

Could it be perhaps that this is video shot upside down, and that "platform" is really something stuck to the roof, and he's standing on something sticking out of the wall that is obscured by his feet? Consider...

all those comments are noob comments!
You just dont accept to be beaten by a 80 years old guy who can stand on 1 finger. It is pride because hes the only 1 able to do that and itsb thanks to his meditation damn noobs... Your just lowbie humans lol.

The only thing I can say to you is LARZZZ!!
You Crazy...ofcourse it's true...

This footage was filmed back in the mid-80s. Monk Hai Tang was around 80 at that time. He is not around anymore. So it is hard to confirm the validity of the finger stand in the footage.

I am not confirming whether the footage is real or not because I cannot, but the one-finger stand does exist and is possible. I have personally met and seen a number of masters doing many of these wushu feats. There are also chi kung competitions in China every year where people from around the world compete in all sorts of kung fu, such as throwing needles through glass, hard or iron body strength, breaking a stack of bricks without spacers, finger stands and push-ups, breaking pebbles or tiles with fingers, etc.

For skeptics or outsiders, nothing you say can convince them, and there is nothing wrong with that. This ignorance cannot be blamed because there are so many swindler and fake masters out there that give Chinese martial arts a bad name. Also, the circle of wushu and chi kung, even in China, is relatively small, although it has been gaining popularity around the world in recent years. So for someone not interested or inexperienced in the field, standing up with one finger may not be a believable thing, and if he's skeptical, he probably wouldn't want to spend the time and/or money to find out.

This is part of a 1 - hour long documentary of the monks of the Shaolin Temple, Hunan province, China.
Let me tell you, those of you who have not seen the whole thing, these men are tough. No, more than tough. They train since childhood to withstand physical punishments that would put us all in the hospital right now. Hai - Tank was not faking this. However, he is not the only one who has ever done the Finger Skill, but very few others have the discipline to do it.

Obviously most of you know nothing about real martial arts. If you did, you would understand why doing a handstand on one finger is such a feat. By being able to do a handstand on one finger shows that you can focus all of your power to a small area. It's done by alignment of the spine and I will leave it at that.

Damn you are ignorant lot. This man's feat is well documented.

He practiced at the major Shaolin temple in China where children are tought martial arts skills, rigorous training and meditation from a young age. There are alot of training methods that are similar there such as finger push-ups and standing on few fingers but he's the only man to be able to stand on only his index finger. He probably was a Shaolin monk but each monk is hand-picked by the Shaolin teachers at the temple to make up the "elite of the elite" practicioners of Shaolin.

I actually first read about his feat in a local scientific journal called "New Science" in a column about "natural wonders". The theory there however wasn't about chi but that his finger has special anatomy.. I don't remember the details written there anymore. I also heard a reference to this man in a NBC documentary about Shaolin.

Sigur said:

"Damn you are ignorant lot. This man's feat is well documented."

Great way to start a debate, Dude You'll understand if I ignore you from this point on, I trust.

unknown said:

"It's done by alignment of the spine and I will leave it at that."

Nice way to avoid explaning something that seems probably impossible.

"Alignment of the spine" in no way "explains" a VERY old man doing a handstand on one finger. Sorry. Yes, I realize I'm bound by my Western concept of reality and all that other nonsense people say when they try to justify the impossible and/or irrational, but I'm not buying it.

Looks real to me. I don't know why leaning against the wall makes it look fishy. You want him to balance like that?

I'm reminded of the people in David Blaine's TV specials.

"I saw him doing something that resembled levitation. Clearly the laws of physics have been suspended and this is not a mere trick."

Just because you can't immediately figure out a trick could have been accomplished, that is no reason to jump to the conclusion that the impossible (or highly improbable) has occurred.

ALWAYS keep open the possibility that it's a trick.

simply put, you don't have evidence to prove it to be fake. Therefore it's real, by American standard.

"simply put, you don't have evidence to prove it to be fake. Therefore it's real, by American standard."

I assume that was sarcastic, in which case I'm laughing along with you.

Actually your wrong on this assumption. This is actually real. Its called "Finger Skill" and he has been training it for a huge portion of his life. This
monk unfortunately is dead now but he has current successors that are training the finger skill. The current person can do this on 2 fingers. This clip is a portion of a Discovery Channel Documentary on Shaolin. Its NOT fake.

Shaun said:

"This clip is a portion of a Discovery Channel Documentary on Shaolin. Its NOT fake."

Are you under the illusion that if something airs on The Discovery Channel, it MUST be real?

Sorry, I'm just not buying this whole thing. It would be fun to live in a world where 90-year-old men can balance on one or two fingers, but I don't think that's reality on our planet. I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this, but I'm not going to hold my breath (even though as a master of the martial arts, I can do that for hours at a time).

No, its not a fake. Shao-lins are not normal people

Mind said:

"Shao-lins are not normal people"

They have Super Duper reinforced fingers?