Chengdu contest a blow to traditional martial arts hype

ON FRIDAY, a martial arts competition between a mixed martial arts expert Xu Xiaodong and tai chi master Wei Lei was held in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province. Wei was knocked out within 20 seconds, which triggered fierce online discussions about the effectiveness of traditional Chinese martial arts. Beijing News comments:

Some worry that traditional Chinese martial arts, such as tai chi, are not effective in real fights and competitions.

That worry is unnecessary. Neither Xu nor Wei is a top practitioner of their martial art; even if they were, Wei's failure could not possibly mean the failure of tai chi, let alone traditional Chinese martial arts as a whole. It was only a competition between two individuals, that's all.