DRIVEN by his fascination with martial arts legend Bruce Lee and nunchaku, Xie Desheng has gone on to win three Guinness World Records.

The nunchaku practitioner from Guangdong earned his first world record in June last year when he extinguished 52 candles in a minute using the weapon.

His second was earned in April this year when he hit 32 ping-pong balls in one minute.

The 28-year-old followed up on that feat by winning another title the same month, unscrewing 10 bottle caps with a nunchaku in 34.8 seconds.

Xie, currently a Shanghai-based freelance nunchaku instructor, first learned about this form of martial arts when he was a restaurant waiter in Dongguan, Guangdong in 2009.

“I love watching martial artist and actor Bruce Lee’s nunchaku scenes in movies. Once, when watching one of my colleagues use the nunchaku, I was impressed by the neat movements and thought that it could be a self-defense skill,” he recalled.

Since then, Xie has spent most of his spare time scouring the Internet for instructional materials. He even traveled to Hunan, Hubei and Henan provinces to attend classes and engage with experts. During the time, he stayed financially afloat by taking on part-time jobs.

“With an unstable source of income, I basically depended on my limited personal savings,” Xie told the China Daily. “But I didn’t give up.”

Xie said practicing nunchaku gives him a purpose in life.

Abandoned by his mom after his dad died in his teenage years, Xie didn’t succumb to fate.

“When I wield my nunchaku, I know I have dreams and the desire to change my fate.”

His persistence in the face of adversity eventually paid off.

In 2016, Xie took part in the 14th Hong Kong Wushu International Championship and was crowned the champion from among 500 nunchaku contestants. He went on to win competitions in Taiwan and Macao that year.

In 2018, he was awarded the gold prize at the 4th Malaysia International Wushu Tournament.

These days, Xie earns a living by conducting short-term training courses in Shanghai every year. He has coached over 5,000 people since moving to the city in 2016. Xie also promotes this traditional feat by sharing tips and information about nunchaku on his WeChat account.

Xie says he aspires to spread nunchaku to more countries and become an actor like Bruce Lee.

(China Daily)