On Monday, Shanghai police officers intervened before a planned mass brawl between mixed martial artists and tai chi practitioners could take place. The proposed fight is the latest in a string of incidents that have shaken up the Chinese martial arts’ scene. It comes on the heels of rumours that the government of China had taken action - via internet censorship - to squash the rivalry between MMA and traditional martial arts.
At the centre of this latest incident is Xu Xiaodong, head of of the Beijing MMA association. It was Xu’s streetfight with Wei Lei (a tai chi master) that caused the MMA vs tai chi/traditional martial arts rivalry to go viral last May.