A Chinese factory worker says walking in huge iron shoes weighing more than 440 pounds each can cure back pain, but faces hefty competition in his bid to build the country's heaviest footwear.
"I've been walking with iron shoes for seven years," said Zhang Fuxing, before strapping two crudely-welded iron blocks to his feet.
"After they reach 400 kilograms (882 pounds), I felt very proud. Next spring I plan to add 50 kilograms".
Zhang took a deep breath before each wrenching step in the towering footwear, with every impact leaving him struggling for balance.
It took him over a minute to walk 10 paces, but he claims to walk up to 15 metres each day in the shoes, which he has gradually increased in weight and touts them as a cure for back pain and hemorrhoids.
Zhang, 52, credits his ability to move the shoes - which he leaves outdoor, safe in the knowledge
that they are close to impossible for most people to lift - to the Chinese spiritual martial art Qigong, said to involve controlling the flow of supposed bodily energies.
"It's not strong muscles that make you walk like this, the power comes from internal organs," he said, adding: "When you walk with your heart, it will walk."
Zhang believes his shoes to be the heaviest in china, but admits that competition from a number of other eccentrics renders his claim uncertain.
One of two Chinese iron shoe wearers to share a Guinness World Record for walking 10 meters backwards in a heavyweight iron boots is Zhang Zhenghui from Changsha. According to a 2010 report by the official Xinhua news agency he has gold-painted shoes weighing more than 200 kilograms.
"After they reach 400 kilograms (882 pounds), I felt very proud. Next spring I plan to add 50 kilograms".
Zhang took a deep breath before each wrenching step in the towering footwear, with every impact leaving him struggling for balance.
It took him over a minute to walk 10 paces, but he claims to walk up to 15 metres each day in the shoes, which he has gradually increased in weight and touts them as a cure for back pain and hemorrhoids.
Zhang, 52, credits his ability to move the shoes - which he leaves outdoor, safe in the knowledge
that they are close to impossible for most people to lift - to the Chinese spiritual martial art Qigong, said to involve controlling the flow of supposed bodily energies.
"It's not strong muscles that make you walk like this, the power comes from internal organs," he said, adding: "When you walk with your heart, it will walk."
Zhang believes his shoes to be the heaviest in china, but admits that competition from a number of other eccentrics renders his claim uncertain.
One of two Chinese iron shoe wearers to share a Guinness World Record for walking 10 meters backwards in a heavyweight iron boots is Zhang Zhenghui from Changsha. According to a 2010 report by the official Xinhua news agency he has gold-painted shoes weighing more than 200 kilograms.
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