Mixed Martial Arts
Canadian wing chun master Pierre Flores turns up outside Xu Xiaodong’s gym in Beijing to issue challenge
Pierre Francois Flores says the outspoken Chinese MMA fighter is a ‘brave warrior’ but is confident he can beat him
‘I am here to prove to Xu Xiaodong another version of wing chun’
Nicolas Atkin
Published: 4:21pm, 11 Jul, 2019
Pierre Francois Flores says he turned up at Xu Xiaodong’s gym to challenge the Chinese MMA fighter. Photo: Facebook/Pierre Francois Flores
Canadian wing chun master Pierre Francois Flores has taken things a step further in his bid to challenge Chinese MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong.
Flores flew from Vietnam to China this week and turned up outside the outspoken 41-year-old’s gym in Chaoyang District, Beijing. “Mad Dog” was seemingly not there, but that didn’t stop Flores, who wants to strike a blow for traditional martial arts against Xu, from talking some smack.
“He’s a very brave warrior, and I know him because I watch his training, he’s just like a lion,” Flores said of Xu. “But there’s a saying in Vietnam – before you get into the battle, know yourself, and know your opponent. When you do, you know the result of the battle.
“And I know Xu Xiaodong, and I know myself and I know what’s gonna be the result. That’s why I’m here. To prove to Xu Xiaodong there’s many other wing chun versions to face, and I am only one of the many.”
Two years ago, Xu issued an open challenge to all traditional martial artists after dishing out a brutal 10-second beating to the so-called tai chi master Wei Li, launching his mission to expose “fake kung fu”.
“I accept this challenge and that’s why I’m here,” Flores said. “Xu Xiaodong not only defeated Wei Lei, the tai chi master, but after he beat up many masters of wing chun.
“So wing chun has lost some credibility because of this, but you cannot judge because of a few bad apple masters a whole system.”
Xu’s actions and words have seen him censored in China where he has been delisted on some search engines and regularly has his social media accounts removed.
He also had his social credit score reduced to a D-level – banning him from travelling on high-speed transport, and from staying in star-rated hotels, among other societal sanctions.
Xu said these sanctions were lifted after he paid around 400,000 yuan in damages and issued a public apology for calling tai chi grandmaster Chen Xiaowang a fraud. But he wants to become an Australian citizen so he can countersue Chen there.
Pierre Flores and Xu Xiaodong. Photos: YouTube/Facebook
“Wing chun has existed for more than 300 years and wing chun is like a big family, a big tree with many branches. And my branch is from Vietnam, it is an orthodox wing chun branch, a Shaolin wing chun branch actually,” Flores said.
The 43-year-old Flores first caused a stir in 2017 when he challenged Vietnamese kung fu “fraud” Huynh Tan Kiet.
He instead competed in a full-contact bout with a local karate practitioner and has won other bouts with local fighters since.
“My master is Vietnamese, and he raised me like my father for more than 21 years. So his cause is my cause,” Flores said.
“I came here to wave the Vietnam flag, to represent this beautiful country and to show there is a big branch in Vietnam and I’m wearing this flag on my heart. I’m here to prove to Xu Xiaodong another version of wing chun.”