Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

Why I'm Not Always Polite with Tai Chi Con Artists

$5000 chi challenge chi powers qi powers tai chi con artists tai chi fantasy Jul 17, 2026

The video above shows me (blue shirt) in a full-contact match in 1991 - the Toughman Contest. They went to towns around the country, set up a boxing ring, and invited all the "Tough Guys" in the area to come down and fight.

I was 38 years old and had studied martial arts for 18 years. I had been studying Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua for four years at this point. I had to test my skills.

My opponent was much younger, bigger, and stronger. But I had done a lot of sparring, mostly non-contact or very light contact point sparring. I had good strategy and was pretty accurate with my punches. Very often, his punch missed and mine didn't.

Going up against a bigger guy wasn't unfamiliar. Growing up, I had fights with several bullies who were bigger. So I had a very good idea what a real fight was like.

When a grown man is coming at you, trying to hurt you, it puts everything you have studied into perspective.

His motivation is to damage you. His fists are heavy and deliver painful blows.

It...

21 Years Ago Inside Kung-Fu Ran $5,000 Chi Challenge - Still No Takers

$5000 chi challenge chi powers qi powers Dec 23, 2024

In the November, 2003 edition of Inside Kung-Fu magazine, my challenge to so-called "chi masters" was published -- 21 years ago.

That's when I began offering $5,000 to any chi "master" who could knock me down without touching me.

The challenge was triggered by an article in the August, 2003 issue showing an alleged Tai Chi "master" knocking his student down without touching him. The headline on the magazine's cover said: "No-Touch Chi Force: Is it For Real?" And, of course, the article, written by a student of the "master," said yes, it is real.

The teacher was Henry Wang, and the article was written by his student Peter Uhlmann, a psychiatrist from British Columbia. The article describes how Henry Wang learned over time how to "interrupt" the chi of an attacker. Some of Wang's students quit over this nonsense. I consider them the students with integrity.

Here are three photos from the Inside Kung-Fu article showing Henry Wang knocking down his student.

Here is the letter I ...

We Lost an Important Critical Thinker: James Randi Dies at Age 92

$5000 chi challenge chi challenge critical thinking in martial arts Oct 22, 2020

James Randi has passed away. He was a magician and a critical thinker who inspired many of us as he debunked supernatural BS, including chi powers. He had one million dollars in escrow that he offered to anyone who could prove, in a double-blind setting, that they could perform any supernatural acts that they claimed to do.

Richard Mooney was one of the martial artists who claimed to knock people down without touching them. He was featured in a martial arts magazine many years ago now, with photos showing his students falling to the ground without being touched.

Mooney tried to claim Randi's million dollars, but it was a double-blind test. Around 18 people were chosen, and none of them knew what Richard was going to do. One by one, they stood behind a screen as Mooney tried to knock them down without touching them. None of them even flinched.

In a double-blind trial, video of the event was given to judges who also did not know what Mooney was attempting to do....

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

Why I'm Not Always Polite with Tai Chi Con Artists

21 Years Ago Inside Kung-Fu Ran $5,000 Chi Challenge - Still No Takers

We Lost an Important Critical Thinker: James Randi Dies at Age 92

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