Chinese kick-boxer knocks out tai chi master with one punch in latest blow to traditional martial arts
- Zhu Chunping, 47, lasts only five seconds against Yao Hantian
- The 22-year-old Yao has been training kick-boxing for just six months
Traditional martial arts has suffered another blow in the battle for supremacy with more modern forms of combat after footage emerged of a Chinese kick-boxer flattening a tai chi master with just one punch.
The 47-year-old expert Zhu Chunping, who has been practising tai chi for decades, hit the canvas five seconds into a bout with Yao Hantian, a 22-year-old amateur who has only been training kick-boxing for six months.
The cross-disciplinary fight took place earlier this month at an event put on by the Shanghai-based Shengshi Yinghao Club in Suzhou, eastern China. The card also featured seven kick-boxing matches and one MMA bout, with around 1,500 spectators watching.
Doctors rushed into the ring to check on Zhu, with Shengshi Yinghao Club director Li Yong admitting the organisers had not expected things to end so quickly.
“Upon examination, Master Zhu was fine. He recovered for one minute then walked down the ring by himself,” Li, who also coaches Yao, told MailOnline.