Derrick Nowlin is still working on the middle-finger pull-up. Ever since watching another man lift his entire body weight using only those two fingers—video on YouTube—Nowlin has been on a mission to equal the feat. “That’s my next task,” he says. “I can’t do it yet. I tried it, and I felt like someone was trying to saw my fingers off.”

It takes more than a torturous, amputation-level hurt to stop Nowlin. “I’ve never lost a fight in my life,” he says. “I’m not saying that to brag. I’m saying that because it’s a simple fact.” Though only 5-foot-8, Nowlin can front-kick a standard basketball net. He does push-ups on his thumbs. If he pulls his fist back one inch, he can send a man so hard into a wimpy plaster drywall that it necessitates a call to maintenance. “The next thing I know, I’m going to be floating,” says Nowlin.

The next thing has always been a troubling thing for Nowlin. A badass with a penchant for theatricality, Nowlin has been chasing martial arts stardom since childhood. The big time, it’s seemed, has forever been one sick trick away.... Continued