20 Superpowers Monks Have in Real Life

You've probably always suspected it, but there's nothing ordinary about these superpowered warriors. For guys that inspired some of the most hardcore legends like Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen, you can bet that they're capable of things that the average human isn't. Having completed near-impossible trainings and unlocked secrets of the human body and mind, these guys might be the closest things we have to actual superheroes. From having superhuman longevity to possessing unnatural endurance that would give Captain America a run for his money, here are 20 superpowers that monks have in real life. Number 20. Monks live longer lives. You might have seen a few TV shows about really old monks with white beards that almost reaches all the way to their chest, yet their ancient bony limbs are still capable of breaking concrete. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that these guys might even be a hundred years old, but fiction aside, it has been statistically proven that monks do in fact live longer than the regular person. Now while it is difficult to scientifically prove why this is, there is still a great possibility that it might not really have anything to do with chi magic, but rather it might be a product of several things that are an integral part of the One of the most well-known of these is something you might all be familiar with, intermittent fasting. While it has been mentioned several times that intermittent fasting doesn't prove the general health of an individual, this is also hard to prove scientifically, without breaking some ethical rules like having people starve. Despite this, those who practice more intermittent fasting have been reported to have better health than those who didn't. Of course, there could be other things to factor in, but intermittent fasting would play a good role in it as well. Some of the other things that could be improving the health of monks include things like discipline, mental health, and faith. Before we begin, like this video, smash the subscribe button, and click the notification bell right now or this centipede will crawl on your face when you're sleeping. Number Nineteen The Kaihaugyo, Circling the Mountain The Kaihaugyo practice dates all the way back from 831-918, and was founded by a Tendai monk named Kaisho-hu. Kaisho-hu spent a good portion of his life performing practices where he denied himself of all the amenities that most people normally would never do without. He performed these ascetic practices on Mount Haihei, and the mountains close to it. Over the years, many other monks who looked up to the wise Kaisho-hu began adopting this same practice, and thus the revered system of Kaihaugyo was born. The philosophy behind the practice of Kaihaugyo was that one could achieve the heavily sought after state of enlightenment in his life by denying themselves all forms of physical pleasures and engaging in selfless services as a show of their devotion. All of this is the typical kind of thing that you'd expect from truly devout monks, but one thing you probably didn't know about this is that it was often traditional for monks to walk around the paths of the mountain, going from shrine to shrine to pay their respects. This journey usually took about a thousand days to complete, so you'd expect that the monks would take breaks in between the walks, right? If that was the case, then this wouldn't make it on this list, now would it? Number 18. Shaolin Monk Runs on Water No, this isn't a magic trick. What you're seeing is as real as my voice. This monk who hails from Guangzhou Shaolin Temple in Southeast China's Fujian province could probably put a water skipper to shame with his skill of his witch he had honed for more than a decade of his life. Shi Liliang had already held an impressive record of covering a distance of over 100 meters on water with nothing but his legs, but he wasn't content with this achievement. Wanting to push himself further, he was able to go beyond the distance he had covered before, reaching an impressive 125 meters over water on foot. If you ever had a good reason to respect monks, here's a good one. Now you should know that Shi Liliang isn't running on water alone. I don't think something like that is possible even for a monk. Situated barely at the surface of the water are strips of plywood which are connected to each other by strips of cloth. It's easy to be delusional by how impressive still it is for a human to be able to run on something as gossamer as strips of plywood on water. A single step would be enough to send any regular person falling into the water. Number 17. Monks Can Control Their Own Body's This is something that you'd expect from some kind of superhuman or from a cyborg. Monks have always been known for having some of the most unconventional trainings that help them achieve levels of superhuman control that you'd never believe was possible. To explore this inhumane ability, we make our way to northern India where some monks are in full meditation in a monastery. This area where the monastery is located is infamous for its bone-chilling cold climate. As training to be able to endure the cold, the monks are covered in moist fabrics which is already freezing as is. If any other human were to be put through this kind of harsh training, they'd most likely die of hyperthermia due to terribly low temperatures. But these monks are completely unfazed by how cold the whole place is, with temperatures reaching as low as 4 degrees Celsius or 40 degrees Fahrenheit. They are also unfazed by the wet, ice-cold clothes that were draped over them showcasing their incredible level of discipline. However, the thing that's most peculiar about all this is in the way that the monks are able to tolerate the extreme cold. They do this by literally dialing up their body's temperature which could reach degrees that were hot enough to steam up the wet clothing. This shows that there really is nothing that's impossible once you put your whole mind to it. Number 16. Shell and monk with a body of steel. Brace yourselves, folks, because what you're about to see might leave you in awe or might terrify you. How many people do you know that can take a power drill to the head with not as much as a scratch to show for it? Zhao Rui had dedicated his life to the monastery where he grew up as a boy. There, he lived, slept, ate, drank, and breathed martial arts. And the results were a body that could easily be dubbed as unfairly overpowered. This 24-year-old monk has already become an internet sensation thanks to some of the insane stunts that he's pulled off on live TV. Of all of them, what might perhaps be his most iconic stunt is a power drill stunt. Here, Zhao Rui held a running electric drill to the side of his head without it breaking, as is normally supposed to happen when you hold a tool designed to drill through concrete to the side of the head. As famous as his power drill stunt, Zhao Rui has also performed a series of other absolutely superhuman stunts as well, such as balancing the entire weight of his body on several metal spikes. I don't need to tell you about what would happen to anyone else who tries to balance the mass of their entire body like this. He's also used his neck to bend metal pipes before. Talk about a true superhuman in the flesh. Number Fifteen Monk Meditates in a Pot Filled with Boiling Oil This might be the most bizarre thing that you'll see all day, and I know that most days can have their own fair share of the bizarre. There might be some of you who are also devoted to some religion, but can you say that your faith would push you to the point of even attempting to cook yourself alive? This monk from Nang Bua Lampu province in Thailand is seen sitting in a cauldron filled to the brim with boiling oil with a lively flame underneath it. Despite the fact that most would surely be frying and screaming in agonizing pain should they be placed in a pot of boiling oil, this Thai monk looks perfectly fine. Many of the people present at the scene believe that he's only able to achieve such a feat through the use of strange powers which they believe themselves lack. A great majority of them are also his followers. These people believe that the powers that this Thai monk possesses could be passed on to others when the monk touches and prays on them. Usually, these trinkets are later sold around the province. Of course, there might still be some of you good people out there who still can't bring yourselves to believe that this monk is actually sitting on hot oil, and you might be right. Let us know what you think is really going on in the comments. Number 14. Shaolin Monk Throws a Needle Through Glass They say that the martial arts skill of monks are some of the strongest in the world, with very few being able to come close especially when it came to the use of all manner of archaic weapons. One of such were throwing darts which were believed to have been used by Shaolin monks since ancient times. Here we see a great demonstration of just how skilled a Shaolin monk is at throwing dart-like objects. Shaolin monk Feng Fei, featured in a YouTube video done by the Slow Mo Guy. In the video, Fei throws a needle at a pane of glass with so much force that needle goes clean through the glass, popping a balloon that was placed behind it. The mirror was made transparent so it would be easier to tell if there were any tricks involved, and as far as we know there were none. As impossible as it might look, there is a bit of physics involved. Glass has a lot of unique properties that sets it apart from other objects, so piercing with a needle would cause the glass to behave differently than say if you were piercing a chunk of ice with a of the glass, Fei was able to pull off such an amazing feat. Number Thirteen – The Gut-Wrenching Iron Crotch Technique What might perhaps be one of the most iconic things that most monks have ever displayed is the ability for their crotch to take a hell of a lot of punishment without the monk showing any signs of pain at all. For most men, all it would take to lose any fight would be one well-timed strike to the crotch, but it would seem that monks have somehow managed to overcome this weakness. Now I know what some of you might be thinking, and no, their manhood hasn't been completely removed. It is believed that the means by which these martial arts practitioners are able to achieve this is thought the mastery and use of a martial arts technique popularly known as the Iron Crotch. It has also been given various other names as well like Iron Eggs and Metal or Golden Cicada Exercise. As the name implies, the martial artist trains his crotch to literally become as hard as iron, allowing them to take strikes there without flinching. One well-known user of this technique is Master Wei Yaobin of the Central Chinese city of Luoyang. He and his students have mastered the art, which is said to function by overstimulating the genitals, giving the technique an added benefit of improving sexual health as well as giving you a crotch that could potentially break anyone's leg should they try to be petty in a fight. Number 12. Shaolin Monk Bends Spears with Throat. At this point, it's pretty obvious that the Shaolin monks are some of the most badass of all monks in the world. After all, inspiring the creation of popular characters like Liu Kang and Kung Lao could easily translate to this. We've seen the display of an iron crotch, which would never yield no matter how many bricks and battering rams are slammed into it. But here we look at another part of the body that the Shaolin monks have trained to be just as hard, the neck. In this live demonstration of the prowess of the Shaolin monk's training, he's seen bending not one but two spears with nothing but his neck. Of course it's no easy feat, of the screams of exertion that the monk kept giving off was any indication. Another monk is seen balancing a slab on his back, which he then proceeds to smash in with a sledgehammer. But despite this, the monk is thoroughly unfazed by it and appears to be perfectly fine, at least at face value. The way that the Shaolin monks are able to train themselves to be able to achieve this level of neck strength is unknown to us, but it'll most likely be in some unconventional way that's now become unique to them. Needless to say, try not to go for the neck when you're up against a Shaolin monk, you might never use that hand again. Number 11. Iron Head. You must have seen something like this at least once on TV. A martial artist who has trained himself to the point that every part of him is a weapon, including his head. Some martial artists often display their prowess by slamming their head through all manner of hard objects like concrete, wood, and ice, smashing right through it with their heads, collecting little to no damage at all. In the Shaolin, this ability to transform what was supposed to be one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body into a weapon is achieved through specialized exercises that are amongst many others which are collectively called the 36 hard Qigong. If you think about it, training oneself to be able to take and deliver concrete smashing blows to and from the head might actually be a very advantageous technique to learn, considering the fact that strikes to the head can easily result in a concussion, where the brain is shaken as a result of rotational forces which causes this organ to collide with the interior of the cranium. One famous practitioner of the Iron Head technique is Shaolin monk Yu Long. In order to fully master the Iron Head technique, Shaolin monks are put through grueling exercises to aim at strengthening both the cranium and the neck, transforming what was once the most vulnerable part of the body into a lethal weapon. Number 10. The Drunken Fist Fighting Style. If you've seen the movie The Forbidden Kingdom, then you'd probably never be able to forget the spectacular role played by Jackie Chan. One of the things that makes this character stand out is the unique fighting style which he calls the Drunken Fist. The martial arts style is literally the way the name implies it to be. The one using it drinks himself to a drunken state and then takes a rather odd stance with his two index fingers curving out like hooks. The fighting style takes advantage of the unpredictability which spawns from the drunken state of the practitioner. This fighting style is as old as Chinese movies, with it appearing in some of the most classic ones. So for something that's so recurring, the fighting style, as unethical and impractical as it might seem, must surely be real, right? For a martial arts style that makes you sign up for a sure hangover the next morning, the Drunken Fist actually has one heck of a rich backstory. The technique is otherwise known as Wee Kwan, and is actually just a remnant of what might be a more advanced martial arts style. According to Chinese legend, it is believed that the Drunken Fist was created by Emperor Taizu of Song for the eight drunken immortals. Over the years that passed, the ways of this powerful fighting style was lost, leaving behind a remnant known today as the Drunken Fist. Number nine, Iron Hand. Shaolin monks who have trained themselves to achieve near superhuman abilities, including training various parts of their bodies to be so hard and strong that it could not only take punishments from harder objects, but equally dish out blows that would destroy said objects, would also train the most important parts of the human body when it came to any kind of martial arts, the hands. Considered as one of the 36 hard Qigong, the Iron Hand technique might just be the most frightening about the Shaolin monks. Undergoing series of exercises in order to condition the hand to be as hard as steel, the Shaolin monks who have become masters of this technique are able to perform some unimaginable feats of strength with their hands, such as smashing through series of boulders like a sledgehammer through ceramics. Despite what some might think, there are no tricks behind this technique. A physicist at MIT, Michael Feld, said that punching with just the right amount of force and momentum and coupled the right kind of positioning, it would be possible to perform a move as insane as destroying large boulders with one's bare hands. According to him, it is Number 8. Enhanced attention and focus during meditation. Meditation has always been an important practice for monks and anyone who understands the purpose of meditation would immediately see why this is. Meditation helps to focus the mind and improve clarity, some things that are essential in the ways of a monk. One of the many kinds of meditational skills developed by monks is the ability for them to focus on a single point. This is usually their own breathy, the sound of their voice reciting a mantra, or the feel of their needed necklaces. They are also able to apply this technique to images as well, being able to focus on a single one out of many. This is known as one point meditation. Researchers wanted to test just how focused a monk could be during meditation, so they went and got themselves some Tibetan monks. There were 76 of them in and they were about to be subjected to something called perceptual rivalry, where during their meditations the Tibetan monks would be made to wear virtual reality headsets where two conflicting images would be displayed to each eye. This would lead to the brain switch between images. To put it simply, it's damn distracting. According to the results, the monks were able to lower the rate at which their brain switched from image to image, with some of them even being able to stop it completely. That right there is an insane level of concentration. Number Seven Shaolin monks can withstand getting pricked by multiple spears. Not many can boldly claim to have the kind of mental will to let anything sharp come anywhere near them, even from something as tiny as the needle on a syringe. Monks, on the other hand, are an entirely different story. Having trained from a young age to withstand some of the mortal weakness of ordinary men, these monks are able to expose themselves to some of the harshest conditions without so much as batting an eye. Just watching a Shaolin monk train on a regular day-to-day basis would be more than enough to make people understand just why they're able to achieve such a level of physical strength and most of all endurance. One of the most famed display of this superhuman endurance can be seen by this demonstration of balance and tolerance. A monk can balance his body over several spears without even flinching. This position is a lot more dangerous than most people would think. It takes an incredible amount of focus for the monk to keep his weight evenly distributed across the tip of every spear. All it takes is a single sneeze or an annoying bee to get in the way, and the monk might find himself getting perforated by most of those spears. Of course, there are those who think that this act in particular is a trick, but a few would disagree. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Number six, single finger handstand. Here's another show of the insane physical strength of a monk. There aren't many people who have enough upper body strength to suspend their bodies with a single hand, but these bald-headed fellows took theirs to a wild new level of extreme. They can suspend themselves not just with one hand, but even with a single finger. Many would say that it's impossible for a human to be capable of such a thing, but would you consider Shaolin monks to your average human? It can be mind-boggling when you try to think about it, but there's no real logical way to explain how these monks are able to do something like this. Even though they still require the support of a wall or post, which makes sense considering that there's no way they'd be able to stay upright like that for even a second since their center of gravity is way off. Still, the gravitational pull is still applying a great amount of the body's mass on just that poor single finger. According to them, physical strength is just a part of the story. The proper flow and control of the internal spiritual energy known as chi is also central to being able to pull off a feat like this. So for those of us who don't have access to Tibetan training, we can just forget about ever being able to do this. Number five. Shaolin martial artist hammers a nail into a wood with his bare hands. The show was nothing short of spectacular, and though it might make a few of you cringe as you imagine it being your hand doing the hammering down on the nail, this Shaolin martial artist has just shown that once again, these guys are anything but normal. To be able to hammer down on a nail till it went completely through a thick block of wood would have taken a lot of physical training to achieve. We've already seen that monks could train their bodies to the point that they could withstand unholy blows to the crotch, smash through boulders with their bare hands, and even take a power drill to the side of the head. So it wouldn't be too hard to imagine that their trainings would make something as insane as hammering a nail through wood possible, at least for them. I mean, just look at that hand. It looks thick enough to probably split a man's head in two with a single chop. As awesome as this might look, there are some who think that this is more trick than actual martial arts prowess, almost like watching a magic show. What do you guys think? Do you think that it's real or fake? Do let us know in the comment section with your reasons why. Number four. Monk sleeps on knife in nail's bed. No, you didn't mishear me. The level of physical boundaries that these monks are willing to cross keep getting more insane. Watching the demonstration of some kind of outworldly mind over matter display from these monks. First of all, they demonstrated that the blades that were going to be using was anything but fake, using them to slice cleanly through thick slabs of wood. Then they positioned the blade within a thick wooden block. After performing movements that one can only assume is the gathering and circulation of chi, or perhaps just a way for them to maintain that inhuman focus that they have, they get into place and here comes the scary, cringe-inspiring part. One of the monks stepped forward and took off his shirt. This one looked to be most advanced in age, so one can only guess that he's had more training as well. He wasted no time in positioning himself over the thick, bladed block, and back first, he laid down on it with no looks or grimaces of pain showing on his form, like he was a programmed machine. Another block of wood with several needles protruding from either sides of it, was placed on the chest of the elderly monk, which another monk lying on the other side of the block above him. Neither of the two monks had a single scratch on them at the end of the performance. Number three, monk pillar skill. This is another training exercise done by the monks of the Shaolin, which requires and trains the body to exceed human boundaries and achieve a near superhuman level of strength. At first glance, you can't help but think that you're looking at a monk getting punished for some bad deeds, and you wouldn't be blamed for thinking that. After all, who would be willing to want to be in a position like this, sitting on thin air in a squat position on two pillars, with your hands together and a bowl on your head? Some would even go as far as having spikes placed directly under the monk performing this painful exercise to better inspire them not to make the fatal mistake of falling from the pillars. When performing this exercise, the monks would often be made to stay there for an insanely long time, with it often being no less than two hours straight. One can only imagine how this kind of exercise would improve the leg muscles once done regularly. It's no wonder these monks have such powerful legs. Basically, these aren't your usual calisthenics, so maybe stick to the gym unless you want to fight in a moral combat tournament. Number two, Buddhist monk has the power of levitation. We've just left the realm of what is almost impossible to what surely can't be possible. It has been depicted in countless sources, my favorite being old Chinese martial arts movies, that monks have not only discovered secrets that can awaken the body to superhuman capabilities, but the mind as well, allowing them to blur the line between what is logical and illogical. A magician traveled all the way to China to witness this for himself, and boy was there a surprise waiting for him. After meeting with the Buddhist monk who had been rumored to be able to levitate, and speaking with him, as well as showing him some of his magic tricks, he was able to convince the monk to show him a magic of his own. The monk instructed him to not stay too close because he would interfere with his energy. Thankfully, the cameraman came with more than one cameras, so they were able to capture what was about to happen from multiple angles. After chanting his mantra for a little while, the monk began to slowly rise into the air. Even seeing it, many of us would find it hard to believe that something like this is real. I can't even say for myself, I'd really like to know your thoughts on this one. Number one. Monk breaks a rock with one finger. And that brings us to the last entry on this list. If you're having fun, do smash that like button. And if this is the kind of content that you like to see, then hit that subscribe button and turn on that notification bell, so that you can always know whenever I upload a new video. Now, let's get back to it. As far as martial arts go, there are black belt karate practitioners who can break thick blocks of wood with a single chop, and taekwondo masters who can kick their way through concrete. Here, we've already seen Shaolin monks push the limits even further, smashing through several boulders with their bare hands, and hammering a nail through wood with the back of the hand. But now, we've come to what might just be the scariest display of strength that a Shaolin monk is capable of. Smashing through rock with a single finger. He shows just how solid the rocks that he's going to be breaking through is by using them to smash other rocks. Then we just have to watch in amazement as he breaks clean through the rock with his bare fingers. Note to self, if you ever meet a Shaolin monk, never let them poke you. That's it with this list of superpowers that monks have. Which one of them did you think was the most amazing? And which did you think was a hoax? Also, check out some of the other cool stuff showing up on the screen right now. Until next time.