Tai chi "master" Wei Lei (left) vs. MMA fighter Xu Xiadong (right)

An excellent, honest video discussing how aikido would fare in MMA

David Rogers' brilliant vlog on the recent Xu Xiadong v Wei Lei debacle

Xu's post-fight interview - possibly the last one we'll hear for a long time - sheds a

significantly different light on the fight and the events leading up to it.

In the end, the Xu v Wei fight has actually taught us nothing about the internal arts.

It might, however serve as a long-overdue wake-up call to the many who still cling to the deluded belief that they can overcome a trained professional fighter despite having zero experience in actual fighting - all with the help of some sort of "magic". While I can see how this notion might be appealing to many a middle-aged martial enthusiast, it is nothing but a mirage. And as much as I love the internal arts for their sophisticated, refined techniques and intelligent philosophy - relying on softness to overcome hardness - none of the usefulness of the internal arts is remotely related to this mirage. The real "magic" of an internal art like taijiquan lies in its knowledge - the honest and diligent application of which has been sorely neglected.Footnote:1. I've been told that:My response is that the theory sounds like just another after-the-fact obfuscation by the Chinese Wushu Association officials etc. to offset/avoid embarrassment. Wei might be okay, but he still copped a fairly nasty thumping. I doubt he would have put his hand up for something as painful, not to mention humiliating, as that: it's just not human nature.And Xu really has become a marked man: he won't be fighting or talking to anybody for some time (unless, perhaps, he starts to sing from a different songsheet and throws some fights etc.).No - I'd say what is "all over Chinese cyberspace" is yet another excuse for Wei, this time clothed in slightly more credible attire than "my shoes were slippery" or "my techniques are too deadly". In fact, the excuse is embarrassing in its desperation and implausibility.