68-year-old tai chi “master” knocked down 3 times in 30-second match against MMA fighter
Despite appearances, he is still claiming victory
by Alex Linder May 19, 2020 in News
An elderly tai chi “master” has become the latest of his cohort to not last long in the ring against a more modern martial artist.
The fight staged on Sunday in the Shandong city of Zibo pitted a 50-year-old MMA and kickboxing hobbyist named Wang Qingmin against 68-year-old Ma Baoguo (马保国).
Ma claims to be a master of Hunyuan Tai Chi. He also claims to have a ball of energy in his hand and to have defeated a British MMA “champion” a few years ago.
His fight against Wang, however, didn’t quite go so well. He was knocked to the ground three times in 30 seconds after being repeatedly punched in the face.
Fortunately, Ma was okay after the match and suffered no significant injuries. It’s unclear if the fight promoter will face any trouble for organizing a match where a senior citizen was KO-ed.
Despite appearances, Ma has gone on to claim victory, claiming that he stopped the match before breaking his opponent’s nose.
Here’s how his face looked while making that argument:
The trend in China of unmasking self-proclaimed kung fu masters by knocking them out was started by MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong who infamously beat one such tai chi “master” to the floor in 10 seconds in 2017.
Xu went on to issue a challenge afterward to any traditional Chinese martial arts masters who believed that they could take him down in a no-holds-barred fight. He even bragged that he was willing to take on two or three “masters” at the same time to prove to the world that they are nothing but frauds.
Ma Baoguo was one of those to accept Xu’s challenge. However, their match was stopped by police in Shanghai just minutes before it was set to take place back in 2017.
Ma has always been outspoken about his own abilities. He has bragged that he would be able to beat Chinese MMA champion Zhang Weili without hurting her or even breaking a sweat.
He has also claimed to have beaten British MMA fighter Peter Irving in a match.
As proof, Ma has showcased footage of the two sparring. Irving says that he was paid to be an actor in the video, which he understood as some sort of vanity project for Ma.
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