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In 2018 Xu was injured fighting in a series of sparring matches with kickboxers at a Chinese MMA gym. Xu continued to fight self-proclaimed tai chi masters. Following this, police stopped a fight against another self-proclaimed tai chi master, Ma Baoguo who allegedly called them in, and Xu was banned for organizing tournaments at his gym. Beverage tycoon Chen Sheng offered over a million US dollars to any traditional tai chi fighter who could beat him. Īfter the fight went viral, there was significant blowback on social media where he was accused of disparaging Chinese culture and his family received death threats. Xu started a dispute with Wei on social media, beginning with a demand that Wei provide evidence of his abilities, and culminating in a bare-knuckle fight in a basement in Chengdu in 2017 Xu won convincingly in less than 20 seconds. Some in China believe that kung fu masters have supernatural powers, and self-described masters, including Wei Lei, were known to make such claims online. Xu was frustrated by what he saw as fraud and hypocrisy amongst martial arts practitioners, and wanted to demonstrate the superiority of modern fighting styles.
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Pi would later go on to found the first professional MMA promotion in China, Art of War Fighting Championship. During the fight, Xu broke Pi's forearm with a kick however Pi managed to eventually get Xu to the ground where he won via Armbar submission. In 2003, Xu fought against Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, Andrew Pi (毕思安) in a televised bout. A year later, he, Anpei (安培) and Wang Yu (王宇) founded the first MMA team in Beijing, Evil Scouts (恶童军团). He was drawn to the fighting style because of how free it was. In 2001, Xu began training for mixed martial arts (MMA) and Muay Thai. He became a sanshou coach at Shenshahai School after graduation. He competed at least twice at the Beijing Sanshou Invitational Tournament, finishing as the champion and the first runner-up, respectively. In 1996, he entered Beijing Shenshahai Sports School, where he was trained in sanshou and boxing under Mei Huizhi (梅惠志) and Zhang Xingzheng (张兴正). Xu was born on 15 November 1979 in Beijing.