Derren Brown, qigong master http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/M/mindcontrol/trick/phone.html http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/M/mindcontrol/trick/doll.html Perhaps all this 'empty force' stuff isn't so fake, per se, but it sure is useless in a fight.
DB did something similar on TV the other night - real nice takedown from about 6 feet away. Just reinforces my belief that this stuff is almost totally psychological. I'm sure there are practical uses for that but maybe not in the ways shown in those clips.
I totally agree, if Derren came along in the guise of a martial arts master people would be gobsmacked at the abilities he displays. Did you see the one where he does his stuff at a wing chun school, the look on the face of the master was priceless. The one aspect which really amazes me though is that for the most part he accomplishes these feats out of site of the 'victim' ie. he'll perform the 'trick' from behind so their are no visual cues as to when to react. Yet he makes it work - just don't ask me how..
See, now, video clips like that are why people think qi and qigong is a bunch of horse poo. Somebody PLEASE attack that guy with a samurai sword.