Don't forget all of those European witches who could fly on broomsticks. Perhaps they used the same methods...

China now has about 1.3 billion people. There is great prestige in being a wushu champion; I would humbly suggest that those champion athletes on the national team demonstrate the current limits of the human body. Think Jet Li - without the wires.

And this is not to suggest that kung fu for sport is the same as kung fu for combat, only that leaping abilitiy, strength, etc, would be comparable.

How wonderful it would be if masters *could fly! And yet, and yet... they don't

I do not know the limit of the human mind for processing kinesthetic data - but competitive athletes would do *anything to win, and none of them seem to have learned these abilities. Ask yourself which is more likely: that some people can fly, or that many people exaggerate stories of ancient days?

I just want to be able to throw a punch without wobbling.