The Slow Mo Guys
Throwing a needle through a pane of glass is one of the 72 arts of Shaolin, one of the most complicated physical maneuvers mastered by Shaolin monks. It takes a monk at least 10 years of training before they’re able to master this skill. It doesn’t go straight through the glass and fly out the other side but the needle breaks through the glass and they’re able to tests this by putting a balloon on the other side.
In this ‘Super Slow Show’ episode from The Slow Mo Guys on YouTube they’ve enlisted several Shaolin monks to pull off this complicated skill. They’ve gotten the monks to throw a needle through a pane of glass and pop a balloon all while filming in slow-mo HD using the 4K camera.
Even after watching this happen several times in the video I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around how a needle can fly through a pane of glass hard enough to break it. Even though my eyes have watched this happen I still can’t understand how a needle goes through the glass when it’s so small.
I guess I’d like to know more about this needle. Is it made out of titanium? Stainless steel? Vibranium from Wakanda? What type of material is strong enough to be able to crack through the glass when it’s thrown from such a close range? And Id’ love a physicist’s take on this. Is it really all about the transfer of energy from inside the body through the throw or could someone learn to do this in just a few years time? So. Many. Questions.