Li Qian is akin to a part-time journalist. She is a specially appointed freelance reporter for Migu. Whenever there's a UFC match, she's there to cover it. During times with no matches, she pursues other opportunities. As a result, she's spent a considerable amount of time in the United States, allowing her access to relatively accurate information.
Now, let's discuss someone who has witnessed Ye Chen's development firsthand—Li Qian certainly qualifies as one of those people. She holds Ye Chen in high regard, and through multiple encounters, Ye Chen has left a positive impression on her. Because of this admiration, she relayed some insights she had about him in front of the camera, aiming to clarify some misconceptions surrounding him. Then, she posed another question: "I believe many viewers are curious—who do you think is more skilled: you or the special forces? What about Tyson? And what's Chuanwu like in real combat? Why can't Chuanwu compete in professional contexts?"
Ye Chen raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't shy away from providing an answer. Back when he was in China, he often listened to heated arguments among two factions debating these very topics. Tyson's reputation was unmatched; he's known for defeating opponents in street fights and even bizarre claims of combating animals like silverback gorillas, special forces, tigers, and lions. Throughout these discussions, Tyson maintains an impressive win rate, contributing further to the ridiculousness of ongoing debates surrounding these subjects.
Ye Chen had received not just 100,000 but around 80,000 messages asking similar questions; he usually opted to ignore them. Li Qian found herself laughing at the situation, amused both by Ye Chen and her own inquiries. The truth was, she was at a loss herself; she merely compiled prevalent questions. She remembered that he had interviewed domestic athletes who faced similar queries. It baffled her that Migu couldn't find a different angle; after all, they also aspire to gain popularity. These questions not only captivate fight enthusiasts but also draw a larger crowd of casual viewers. Especially with Ye Chen responding, any answer he provided could spark a fierce debate. Just a few days prior, a domestic fighter had faced backlash over comments about Tyson and eventually issued a public apology.
With a smile, Ye Chen replied, "What do you think? How do you feel I should respond?" Li Qian cleared her throat, suppressing the urge to giggle, and said, "Just share your thoughts as a professional fighter... You see, fans really want to hear your take on this."
Ye Chen found her point to be valid upon first glance. There was already a whirlwind of chatter starting up. The same iconic phrases began surfacing again. [No rules, invincibility on the street.] [Kick to the groin, poke in the eye.] [Masters of the mountains.] [Killing techniques of special forces.] Ye Chen felt a little numb from it all. Despite his reluctance, Li Qian was obviously driven to pursue her line of questioning. He privately wished to avoid receiving such messages in the future.
After a moment's thought, he stood up and said, "Come here and hit me…" "What???" Li Qian's mind raced with questions. "You can strike me however you wish." Even though Li Qian was unsure of his intentions, she understood he wanted her to demonstrate. She decided to join in. "Alright, but you better be careful! Don't blame me if I connect," she joked.
With a poorly executed boxing stance, she positioned herself. While she was physically active, she had never formally trained in striking techniques. Likely, her stance stemmed from watching plenty of matches but appeared clumsy, unnatural, and uncoordinated. Afraid of genuinely hitting Ye Chen, her punches were gentle and slow. After a few moments of playful sparring, Ye Chen hadn't felt a thing, prompting her to speed up her attempts. Yet still, her strikes barely grazed him. Watching her efforts, he effortlessly sidestepped each time.
Since there was little distance to evade, he eventually raised his hand to lightly push Li Qian's hand away. "I can't believe I can't hit you!" As Li Qian grew more comfortable, nearly forgetting about the interview and live broadcast, she began to throw stronger punches and kicks. Now, her movements felt more instinctual, reflecting what one might witness during a tussle on the street as people threw punches wildly.
Ye Chen still deftly evaded her attacks, but now he also showcased some of his skills. As Li Qian launched more kicks, she quickly began to tire, yet still hadn't managed to land a hit on him. Suddenly, Ye Chen took a quick step sideways, grabbed the water bottle she had been drinking from, and handed it to her. "Here, take this." "What???" Li Qian was puzzled, standing there as she tried to catch her breath.
Without warning, Ye Chen pivoted and executed a swift motion, his legs creating an afterimage as his foot made contact with the bottle cap. As his foot touched down, the bottle cap flew off and landed in the pool nearby. At that moment, Li Qian finally processed what was happening and instinctively screamed, leaning back dangerously close to the edge of the pool. Ye Chen instinctively caught her. "Are you alright?" he asked, slightly embarrassed.
Li Qian burst into laughter. "Wow, that was incredibly fast! I didn't even realize it was happening! I thought you were actually going to kick me!" Ye Chen helped the startled Li Qian stabilize herself and then turned to the camera, saying, "As you can see, if you can't even touch others, how could you possibly execute your supposed killing techniques? What are these infamous killing methods, anyway? Joint locks? Groin kicks? Eye gouges? Yet, to perform such techniques, you must first make contact with your opponent."
He continued, "These techniques hinge on mutual capability. For instance, if I were to kick Usman in the groin, it's not as if anyone could do the same. You'd need to be at a comparable strength level to effectively deploy such tactics. The same principle applies to street fights—if you want to win, you must be able to engage physically." Ye Chen paused and went on, "I won't delve into special forces or martial arts actors; our objectives diverge, and our training regimens differ. For special forces, the prime objective is to complete missions leveraging firearms and various weapons, not merely fisticuffs."
Ye Chen elaborated, "Moreover, as technology progresses, special forces are increasingly required to utilize advanced equipment, leaving them scant time to hone hand-to-hand combat techniques. What purpose does it serve to spend years mastering bare-knuckle fighting when their focus lies elsewhere? Similarly, actors skilled in martial arts aim to create visually appealing sequences for movies rather than injuring their on-screen colleagues."
He summarized, "In essence, a martial arts actor's goal centers on ensuring that they can perform actions that look impressive while avoiding actual harm to their fellow performers. Our ultimate aim is to incapacitate our opponents as swiftly as possible while inflicting maximum damage."
Displaying a hint of sarcasm, Ye Chen questioned his own need to clarify such a trivial topic. He added, "It's not that Chuanwu is ineffective. Isn't Sanda essentially an evolution of Chuanwu? The problem is Sanda hasn't evolved significantly over the years. If you've watched early MMA matches, you'd notice they resembled street fights. When boxing began to emerge two or three centuries ago, it was just a rough-and-tumble affair."
He concluded, "If there were events showcasing Sanda or Chuanwu in our country that rivaled the profitability of UFC, I genuinely believe practitioners would capitalize on those forms. Money acts as a driving force—when profit potential exists, more individuals will invest their time and resources into that field. In due time, we'd see the emergence of fresh talent and systematic evolution. Much like electric cars—just a decade ago, how many successful models could you name? Now, they're thriving, with each new iteration outdoing the last."