Chen Jia breaks a hard cobblestone.
Chen Jia, a 27-year-old man, recently demonstrated his rock-splitting skills at a park in Henan province. The skill is one of many that Chen possesses, joining an arsenal that includes blowing out a candle from 3 meters away using only wind created by his fist. The latter feat Chen accomplished for the first time four years ago.
After several attempts, Chen succeeded in splitting a hard cobblestone weighing 4 kilograms using nothing more than his hand on Oct. 12. Some passersby gave him a thick 1-meter stick to break, and he also managed to do that.
Chen Jia shows the broken cobblestone.
Later, at home, Chen gave another amazing performance. He cut in mid-air a candle that was stuck to a board. His movements could only be seen when played back in slow motion because they were too quick to be captured by the naked eye.
It took Chen over a decade of practice to accomplish this trick. By doing push-ups and strength exercises, he finally managed to recreate the movements in traditional Chinese martial arts. Both foreign and domestic media outlets have invited Chen to be a guest on various television shows, but Chen said he started practicing such movements because of pure interest - not to become famous or earn money.