With a needle in hand, the small monk used intense concentration to channel his energy and then fired the pin at a glass pane in front of him with his bare hands.
Like a bullet through a metal sheet, the needle pierced the glass right through without shattering it - bursting the balloon behind it.
Remarkable is an understatement given that studies show that the needle must have been travelling at least at 200 kilometres an hour to achieve this effect, which this Shaolin Kung Fu monk managed, literally, single-handed.
Robed in orange, he was one of the monks performing during a taster show held for members of the media to promote next month's show The Mystical Powers of the Shaolin Kung Fu Monks from China.
During the show the audience will witness 17 monks - who include a seven-year-old and a 75-year-old - push their bodies to the limit through the power of concentration that allows them to master and control their Chi - or inner energy - in a manner that renders them temporarily immune to physical pain.
As the demonstration showed, this allows these mystical monks to break a solid wooden pole or metal rod on various parts of their bodies and emerge completely unscratched.
"This is not a trick. It is not David Copperfield that we are showing you," show producer Herbert Fechter said, adding that these monks had been training since the age of five.
In fact, the youngest member of the performing team is only seven years old. This agile child yesterday managed to channel his energy to his belly and hold a metal bowl cupped against it. An adult performer then lifted him up, holding him from the bowl.
Performers at the demonstration also contorted their bodies to mimic the movements of animals like the frog and the scorpion. Mr Fechter explained how the founder of the Shaolin Monastery, Indian Monk Tamo, who also founded Zen Buddhism 1,500 years ago, sought inspiration from animal movements. He taught the monks of the monastery, situated in the Chinese province of Henan, to perfect the control of the body through meditation and by mimicking the movements of these animals.
Today Shaolin Kung Fu is considered to be the mother of all martial arts worldwide and the monastery is deemed to be a national monument.
However, Mr Fechter explained, although the number of Chinese visiting the monastery were numerous, tourists rarely dropped by. So in 1995 the government of the Chinese province where the monastery lies decided that something needed to be done to inform the Western world about the monastery. The traditional exercises of the monks were adapted into a fascinating two-hour show that demonstrates how the body can be controlled by mind power.
In the past 13 years the monks have toured in four continents and performed in front of more than three million people.
They will be performing for the first time in Malta, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC) in Valletta, on May 17 and 18.
Tickets are available from MCC by calling 2559 5750/1 or e-mailing booking@mcc.com.mt.
For more information about the Shaolin Monks visit www.shaolinmonksinmalta.com, e-mail info@shaolinmonksinmalta.com or call on 9983 9770.