China orders Xu Xiaodong to publicly apologise and pay damages for insulting tai chi ‘grandmaster’ Chen Xiaowang
- Chinese court rules outspoken MMA fighter has to pay ‘world-renowned’ Chen Xiaowang around 400,000 yuan
- ‘Mad Dog’ also has to say sorry to Chen for seven consecutive days on Chinese social media
Outspoken MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong has been ordered by the Chinese courts to pay hundreds of thousands of yuan in damages and publicly apologise on social media for insulting a tai chi “grandmaster”.
Chen Xiaowang bills himself on his own website as the “19th generation lineage holder of Chen family taijiquan” and “one of the few holders of the highest rank of 9th Duan Wei conferred by the Chinese Wushu Association”.
These accolades have been bestowed on him “not only for his high level of achievements in tai chi, but also for the impact of his substantial worldwide contributions in introducing, promoting and developing Chen style taijiquan”.
That didn’t stop Xu from calling Chen a fraud a couple of years ago – but it seems he was playing with fire.
Chen is a board member of the Henan Institute of Sport and has the backing of the powerful Chinese Wushu Association, which has not taken kindly to Xu’s mission to expose “fake kung fu” by pulverising traditional martial artists who he believes are swindling the public.
