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JUNTUN, CHINA – Wang Liutai is not just any kung fu master. The 65-year-old man from a village in central China practices a unique and unbearable-looking branch of martial arts called ‘iron crotch kung fu.
His most famous technique consists of a log covered with steel plates, 2 meters long and 40 kilograms in weight, which sways through the air and crashes against the crotch of a man.
“When you practice iron crotch kung fu, as long as you push yourself, you will feel great,” said Wang, director of the Juntun Martial Arts Academy.
Wang, who has been practicing the technique for around half a century and has two children, insists that with the right methods and enough practice, it doesn’t hurt and has no effect on fertility.
The iron crotch, mastered by taking blows to the weakest points of the body while using qigong breathing techniques to heal, is just one element of the Tongbeiquan branch of kung fu that has been practiced in the village of Wang for the past 300 years.
The style encompasses dozens of attack techniques, as well as resistance to pressure, pain, or blows to other sensitive areas.
“We also have an iron throat, an iron head, an iron chest, and an iron back,” said Master Tang Xiaocheng, 53.
The style of kung fu practiced by those in the village of Juntun on the outskirts of the ancient capital of Luoyang was historically a fiercely kept secret, but concern has grown that fewer and fewer people practice it and may not survive.
There were once about 200 people practicing regularly in the village, Tang said, but now there are just over 20.
The number of people who can practice the iron crotch technique has been reduced from around 80 to just five.
That is why Wang and his fellow masters began to actively promote their kung fu style, adopting the swinging log device in 2016 to demonstrate the iron crotch technique where villagers had previously kicked, hit, or used bricks or sticks.
Their efforts have helped them recruit several new students in cities across the country who learn using social media or personalized videos posted online.
“If there are more students who carry it out and spread it across the country and the world, if they can carry out this form of kung fu, then my dream will come true,” said Wang.
