Rare (less than ideal quality) 7:42 video of charity match held in Macao, 17 January 1954, between T’ai Chi Ch’uan grandmaster Wu Kung-I (å³åu2026Œu201eu20ac 1900-1970) and Tibetan White Crane stylist Ch’en K’e-fu (éu2122u02c6Ã¥u2026u2039夫 Chan Hak Fu, aged about 33).

There were numerous restrictions on forms of attack, but in under two rounds, the contestants grew heated, and contacts violating the rules were exchanged. It was thought too dangerous to proceed, and the match was declared “no winner, no loser, no draw.”

Early sound era (1930s) British clip of young lady demonstrating some techniques on larger male opponent.

2:51 video

A short 3:32 demonstration of Wushu (Chinese Kung Fu) by Wim Demeere for Belgian television (in Flemish).

video

The Wall Street Journal this morning published a sob story about the excessive difficulty of the California Bar Exam, which in 2004 was passed by only 44% of those taking the test. The WSJ does not tell its readers that the Japanese Bar Exam is passed by only 3% of aspiring attorneys. Lucky Japan! There must be considerably less unnecessary litigation in the Land of the Rising Sun.

But even the Japanese Bar Exam’s legendarily low pass rate looks like a piece of cake compared to the under 1% passing rate of the hardest test, the Japanese 8th dan Kendo examination (46:44 minute video).

There are more than two million practioners of the sport of Kendo, the art of Japanese fencing, in Japan. Since WWII, only 400 of these have successfully made it past the 8th dan examination. The Japanese Kendo Association actually distingushes ten levels (dan) of mastery of the sport, but the 8th dan, hachi dan, is the last level requiring a physical test, and the most difficult.