Shaolin Spear Monk

[CFLarsen]

A Shaolin monk, resting on spears.

Explanations?

 

[steenkh]

Some questions: What is this monk's weight? 60 kilos? There are 5 spears. That gives 12 kilos on each spear. What is the force necessary for a spear to break the skin?

 

[H3LL]

Isn't it the same principle used with the bed-of-nails?

Those spears aren't even sharp.

There is a nice bed-of-nails site here.

I wish there were more teachers like this one.

His Newton's Laws Quickies are quite good too for a young audience.

 

[Yahweh]

A Shaolin monk, resting on spears.

Explanations?

Ch'i, and the Mother Goddess.

 

[CFLarsen]

Isn't it the same principle used with the bed-of-nails?

Those spears aren't even sharp.

There is a nice bed-of-nails site here.

I wish there were more teachers like this one.

His Newton's Laws Quickies are quite good too for a young audience.

The trick about a bed-of-nails is that the many nails even out the pressure. That's not what we see here.

But I agree that the spears aren't sharp - if they were, they would break his skin.

 

[CFLarsen]

Some questions: What is this monk's weight? 60 kilos? There are 5 spears. That gives 12 kilos on each spear. What is the force necessary for a spear to break the skin?

Good point. I wouldn't even put him at 60 kilos.

 

[Operaider]

Good point. I wouldn't even put him at 60 kilos.

Plus, is that a spear in the middle?

It looks to me like it's made out of wood, where the others are metal.

 

[Xeriar]

Some questions: What is this monk's weight? 60 kilos? There are 5 spears. That gives 12 kilos on each spear. What is the force necessary for a spear to break the skin?

Skin is pretty resilient to being cut. What really 'cuts' is actually getting pierced or sheared.

If those spears aren't sharp, wooo...

I played knives as a kid. I messed up once, and the wound didn't even bleed.

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

I observe that the monk is tilted feet downwards, so that more of his weight is on his leg-spears than his chest-spears. His legs are also covered by his monk pants.

Perhaps part of the effect is facilitated by pads of some sort on his thighs that spread out the pressure of the spears enough to make it relatively comfortable?

That said, holding the monk with his legs pointing down slightly and his face up to the audience is good theatre. It allows you to see his face and all the spears. So it's not in itself suspicious.

 

[Wudang]

You might not even need thigh pads - thigh muscle can be incredibly dense and shaolin training uses a lot of low stances that build up very strong thigh muscles. This guy seems to have every muscle clenched.
This photo doesn't show it well but the spears are not sharp. I have sharper spoons. This is clearer when they do the trick with a "ring" of spears pushed into his waist from all angles. Except that the monks are pushing down with the lead hand to bend the spear and just resting the spear "points" on the guys pelvis.
Again a clearer view of the wooden post (?) in the middle would be interesting.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

A Shaolin monk, resting on spears.

Explanations?

If there is anything super about the Shaolin, it is that they are super FIT. The discipline they show is truly amazing. I remember most of all from the show, the section where they have a young boy and an old man on stage together. The old guy can do everything the kid does, including the SPLITS.

I think if there is a "trick" here, it is similar to the lifting a seated person by four people using just their fingers. It is about weight distribution and balance. There may even be a technique to harden the skin somewhat. Think of the skin on the hands of a fisherman compared to the average office worker. My father had hands like leather. Guitarists use white spirit to help toughen their fingertips which initially bleed from friction on the strings. After a while, there is quite a hard pad built up and playing becomes painless.

Great showmen, the Shaolin! I wonder if there are any stats to show if they live longer and healthier lives than others. I certainly admire their commitment. No need for woo explanations for anything they do, though.

I've just remembered the "strongmen" who pull trucks with hooks in their skin. Skin must be pretty tough. Again the hooks distribute the weight.

And I've seen a girl balance like the monk on a single sharp spear in a magic show, and then slip to "impalement". Now, THIS IS a trick -- a very clever one that uses special equipment and requires a good degree of balance and strength on the assistant's part. I think it is traditionally called the broomstick balance trick, since that is how it started. Ingenious!

 

[steenkh]

On the shows I have seen on TV the monks throw the swords and spears to imbed them on a wooden plank in order to show that they are indeed sharp. I do not remember having seen exactly the number, though.

 

[DangerousBeliefs]

Fact of the matter is though... there are 4 spears making very small imprints in the monk and 1 wooden dowel 3-4" in diameter making a big imprint in the monk's body.

It's pretty obvious to me that the wooden dowel is taking the majority of the weight and the spear tips are mainly for balance.

 

[T'ai Chi]

I'd wager he wouldn't try it with Ginzus...

 

[CFLarsen]

On the shows I have seen on TV the monks throw the swords and spears to imbed them on a wooden plank in order to show that they are indeed sharp. I do not remember having seen exactly the number, though.

Just how soft was the wood? Hmm?

Didn't someone (Randi?) explain about how these Kung Fu Masters break planks, but fail to tell their audience that the planks are extremely brittle?

 

[Mercutio]

This thread purports to have some video clips from Canada's Discovery Channel on this topic. There was a thread here last year on Shao-lin physics, but I can't find it. I think the clips are the same. They show the Monk show, then the physicists explains it. On the thread I link, it is currently in the last post, most of the way down.

 

[DangerousBeliefs]

This thread purports to have some video clips from Canada's Discovery Channel on this topic. There was a thread here last year on Shao-lin physics, but I can't find it. I think the clips are the same. They show the Monk show, then the physicists explains it. On the thread I link, it is currently in the last post, most of the way down.

Saw the video... spears are pretty blunt and quite rounded. Monk was put on the spears (5 of them) all at once... and left on only for a second or two...

 

[richardm]

Fact of the matter is though... there are 4 spears making very small imprints in the monk and 1 wooden dowel 3-4" in diameter making a big imprint in the monk's body.

But is that middle one actually a dowel, or is it another spear that's reflecting differently due to it's angle? I'm not convinced that's a piece of wood, to be honest.

 

[The Don]

Looks very spear-like to me

 

[sackett]

On the shows I have seen on TV the monks throw the swords and spears to imbed them on a wooden plank in order to show that they are indeed sharp. I do not remember having seen exactly the number, though.

Knife throwers often use weapons with rounded points. They stick well enough in softwood targets, and are safer for "human target" stunts. (Oddly, you can often drive a thrown knife deeper into a target than you can thrust it.)

My "big ugly butterknife" throwers would probably bounce off that monk -- althoug he'd suffer some superficial cuts and yell bloody murder. Probably come for me with fell intent, too; them Shaolins is mighty sudden men.