Yes they are real.
Not everyone's knives will survive that.
Not every knife SHOULD do that.
Those are tests that every ABS Master Smith must pass to become a Master Smith. On 7 different knives(IIRC). So Michael Rader, Bill Burke, Bob Kramer, and Murray Carter have all passed this Master Smith testing.
It basically requires a knife that is an optimal balance of a LOT of different opposing qualities and properties of a blade. I mean, nobody needs a knife to bend 90 degrees, so the ability to do it without breaking isn't something to focus on when heat treating, forging, laminating, and grinding a blade. But is shows you have a more complete control over the material you are working with.
It's like an Iron Chef battle--take a single thing, turn it into a soup, salad, entree, another entree, a drink, an ice cream, a baked good, and a serving vessel, and you've shown you've got game. Should they cook like that every day? Probably not. But it's pretty cool to know they have enough skill to do it.