There's the silent, contemplate-y monks, and then there's the Shaolin Monks, who attain spiritual harmony by mastering the sort of skills you tend to see in Mortal Kombat. I mean, they can't freeze you or anything, but it's not impossible to imagine that some of them could remove the spine from your still-living body with a single stroke.
Check out this guy's action, as he throws a needle through a sheet of glass. Oh, and better yet - the clip is slowed down to 1000 frames-per-second. Badassery personified, ladies and gentlemen.
Check out this guy's action, as he throws a needle through a sheet of glass. Oh, and better yet - the clip is slowed down to 1000 frames-per-second. Badassery personified, ladies and gentlemen.
2) Monks practice throwing nails at glass?
3) Skip to the 1:00 mark instead of watching a slow-mo warm-up.
I think some of you have been watching too many super hero special effects movies.
Most people with enough practice and a decent enough throwing arm can wail a headless framing nail through thin glass when their hand is 2.5" from the surface.
Now the guys on "Fight Science" on NatGeo, they do some Genuinely sweet stuff.
...then film him trying and failing. Repeatedly. Those guys train to the peak of physical perfection in the name of religion from the age of 5. They train, they pray, they tour and display their skills to earn funds for the upkeep of the monasteries. Don't nay say till you've gotten off your ass and seen them in person kiddies.
"Most people with enough practice and a decent enough throwing arm can"...
...pitch for the Yankees.
Sure, with many years of practice and dedication and a good throwing arm (talent) one can accomplish many things.
How odd you give such respect to Fight Science, when these munks spend a life time mastering their martial arts. I have no doubt the fighters you respect on these shows have a lot more respect for the Shaolin Munks.
That's Not a sewing needle, so the name plays on our perceptions.
Online you can buy 12x12 sheets of glass that are .05" thick... 1/20th of an inch. You can break it with a flicked finger. That you can crack it with a piece of steel is not as impressive as it seems.
I noticed this on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fVM_sJ9uFs
The glass looks more like 1/8 inch. That is a needle, large but it is a needle.
On the video you see an average guy try it, and it bounces off the glass and sticks in his camera man's arm.
Now, I realize the average guy has no training at all, but if the glass is so thin and the "nail" so big, the result would have still been a broken glass. If it bounced, there must be more too it than exploiting the brittle nature of glass.
You can also see that what is stuck in his arm is pretty light and sharp like a needle, leaving just a pin prick in his arm, not a hole like a nail would have made.
If you can do this, then you can be a douche on the internet about it.