Hong Kong martial arts superstar Donnie Yen Tze-dan took up the viral video challenge with a stylish jumping, spinning kick
Donnie Yen takes up the ‘Bottle Cap Challenge’ – but wearing a blindfold.
Hong Kong martial arts superstar Donnie Yen Tze-dan loves a challenge, and when it requires perfect timing and outrageous kicking moves he lives up to his reputation.
Which is why the 55-year-old just had to join the “Bottle Cap Challenge”, the biggest viral social media stunt since the ice bucket challenge in 2014, which raised awareness of ALS. But this one requires some serious skills in the kicking department.
The challenge has been sweeping the world, with Hollywood action star Jason Statham and mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor both getting in on the act.
And although they impressed with their successful attempts (they both posted videos on social media), Yen took it a step further: he nailed it blindfolded and kicked a glass bottle instead of the plastic ones used by some of his contemporaries.
The challenge, which requires untwisting a bottle cap from a bottle using a backspin kick, was started by UFC fighter Max Holloway on June 29 and it was passed to singer-songwriter John Mayer before Statham and McGregor joined in the craze.
Yen starts his video by looking at the bottle before putting his blindfold on.
He then jump kicks at the bottle, lifting the lid off with a flick of his shoe, finishing the move with his Ip Man kung fu stance.
Yen, who last month posted a video of himself on social media hitting the punchbags and showing incredible dexterity in training as he nears his 56th birthday on July 27, filmed his latest viral video in a gym in Hong Kong.
“Chirrut [from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story] feeling the force + Ip Man’s steady aim + no plastic bottle = the universe strongest,” wrote Yen on his Instagram page.
Within 16 hours of posting his video, the Ip Man star had received more than 1.2 million views, and had racked up in excess of 300,000 likes and 12,000 comments.
Statham, who stars in the Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw set to be released on August 1, shared his slow motion, rather dramatic video of the challenge, which has taken the internet by storm and received more than five million views of its own so far.
“This thing landed on my head from @johnmayer but will quickly go to a couple of fellas we’ve seen do push ups badly,” the British action star wrote on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) star “Notorious” McGregor couldn’t resist the challenge, posting his video on Instagram with a caption that read: “Excellent job @jasonstatham. I tip my cap to you. I’ll take it from here. I nominate Floyd Mayweather.”
Another MMA athlete, Max Holloway, got the ball rolling by becoming the first celebrity to successfully complete the challenge and he was clearly delighted when his kick left the bottle cap spinning on its top.
“Be curious my friends! #challengeaccepted #bottlecapchallenge Passing this on to our guy @JohnMayer …. hey John if you can’t complete this challenge @erlsn and I decided you have to come to Hawaii after your tour and kick it with us until you complete it!” wrote Holloway on Twitter.
