Being a non-corporeal entity TheEye usually laughs in the face of challengers. This eye-related story, however, oversteps the mark.

From the never-to-be-ignored Austrian Times: Kung Fu eyeballs a sight to see.

“A Chinese man claims to have the toughest eyeballs in the world after finding he could pour sand on them or poke them with sticks without feeling any pain.

Xiang Chen from the Hunan province has even developed a giant paintbrush that he sticks to his eyes with a sucker that he then grips with his eyelids – and then uses his eye muscles to write letters.

Chen, 34, said: “I found out my eyes were different to others when I was 16. A friend had a grain of sand in his eyes and was crying. I thought he was being a baby and after a row I put a handful of sand over my eyes – and it didn’t hurt at all.

“I have even tried poking sticks into my eyes but all I feel is a minor itchy sensation – it actually felt rather relaxing and I advised others to try it,” he added.

He now has a specially made paintbrush for his “eye writing” – a specially made 1.65m brush that weighs 2kg without ink.

When soaked with ink it can reach a weight of 10kg. He said: “Others may feel uncomfortable or painful trying to grip the brush with their eyelids, but for me it is just a simple eye exercise.”

He is also learning to play the piano – using a stick clamped in his eye – and can let pals write on his eyeballs as well without blinking.

Doctors meanwhile have checked Chen’s eyes and say are perfectly normal, and are puzzled as to how he can manage to ignore the pain he should feel from his stunts.“

So, an arm-wrestling contest then, Chen?