In front of a secluded temple in southwestern China, Duan Ruru skillfully executes a series of chops and strikes, practicing kung fu techniques she has spent a decade mastering.
Chinese martial arts have long been considered a male-dominated sphere, but a cohort of Generation Z women like Duan is challenging that assumption and generating publicity for their particular school of kung fu.
“Since I was little, I’ve had a love for martial arts... I thought that girls learning martial arts was super swaggy,” Duan, 23, said.
Photo: AFP
The ancient Emei school where she trains in the mountains of China’s Sichuan Province is thought to have historically welcomed a higher proportion of women and girls, but it has not achieved the same level of public fame as other kung fu schools, such as Shaolin.
That is starting to change thanks in part to Duan’s nine-woman troupe, Emei Kung Fu Girls, which meshes deft sword work with social media savvy to help put the sect back on the map.
In slick videos, the troupe performs everything from combat scenes to flips in front of the Louvre in Paris, often backed by booming hip-hop beats.
They also show off their moves alongside branded beverages or cars, though the group declined to comment on whether they make money from advertising.
Since their debut in April last year, they have amassed more than 23 million views and over 1 million followers on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
The artform “has a place in history ... so I think it’s something worth spreading,” Duan said.
Known across China for its misty peaks, Emeishan in Sichuan has tried over the past few years to cash in on its cultural bounty — with mixed results.
Local martial arts sects have their origins in ancient Taoist philosophy and evolved into a form of defense during China’s frequent wars.
The importance of the schools shrank as weapons modernized, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party later suppressed what it viewed as potential hotbeds of deviant thought.
However, those policies have since relaxed, and in 2008 Beijing listed Emei martial arts as intangible cultural heritage, opening up funds to develop the craft.
Progress has been uneven, with city officials admitting in 2023 that the discipline suffered from “a lack of recognition among tourists, and dissemination is not high.”
Kung fu master Wang Chao, a national-level representative of Emei martial arts, said the sect still relies heavily on government money.
However, the Kung Fu Girls’ videos have been “very good” at bringing the local art to a wider audience, he said.
“Publicity for Emei martial arts is much more powerful now,” he said.
Founding member Duan, who has been training since she was 12 years old, said her generation “loves being independent and free-spirited.”
Some Emei students have been inspired to keep pursuing martial arts, including Ren Nianjie, who wants to study it at university.
“I want to be an athlete ... to win glory for the country,” the 17-year-old said after whirling a wooden staff.
The popular image of Emei’s female fighters comes largely from best-selling novels by Hong Kong author Louis Cha (查良鏞), who wrote under the pen name Jin Yong (金庸).
In reality, boys still outnumber girls — but perhaps not as heavily as in other sects.
On a Friday evening last month, seven girls were present among a class of 17 elementary-school students at a nearby martial arts academy.
Parent Zhu Haiyan, 41, said her daughter Guoguo had grown more assured since starting her course a year ago.
“When girls have self-confidence, they can be less timid when they go out,” she said as Guoguo practiced on a mat a few meters away.
Duan said she hoped her group would inspire more young girls to take up martial arts.
“They might see me training and think it’s super attractive and cool, and be drawn to learn it themselves,” she said.
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