What Kind of Martial Arts Is Practiced in Shanghai

Martial arts in Cathay have been practiced for thousands of years. Today, with Consumers' newfound leisure spending, their practice is at the highest in its history. Given China'south rapid evolution in all sectors, nosotros investigated the many new dynamics reshaping this rather traditional marketplace.

A booming market – factors for the success of martial arts in Mainland china

A focus area for development in People's republic of china's sports industry

Traditional Chinese martial arts are recognized throughout the globe and are a strength of Chinese soft power. Martial arts adult in Cathay around 500 AD, notably, in the famous forest mountain temple Shaolin. These traditional martial arts can be called Kung Fu or Wushu. As for Shaolin fine art, it is a kind of Kung Fu only practiced in this temple and chosen Shao Lin Kung Fu.

Therefore, because of its strong necktie to Chinese culture,  the Chinese government wants to put this art back in the spotlight in its national economic plan: the Chinese Martial Arts Five-yr Development Plan (2016-2020).

This program entails edifice more three,000 new martial arts schools in China by the stop of the decade to create an industry worth over 1 trillion yuan.

Today, Chinese people exercise a wide variety of martial arts. For case, Fly Chun is more popular in Guangdong province. Shaolin martial arts are more than prevalent in northern Mainland china. The Shaolin Temple of Dengfeng in Henan Province is the origin, and nevertheless a Shaolin Martial Arts teaching area today. Today, students notwithstanding spend their summertime holidays at the Shaolin Temple practicing martial arts. This is a attestation to the continued success of martial arts in China, even amidst immature people.

Chinese martial arts in fine art and entertainment

Another gene for the success of martial arts in China is the art, cinema, music, and pop civilisation around it.

We reminisce of the widely adored Kung Fu movies by Bruce Lee and the Hong-Kong built-in actor Jackie Chan, who is an emblematic mirror of Chinese civilization. He has even get an counselor to the Chinese government on soft power and martial arts promotion strategies since 2013.

Martial arts are besides active in pop culture. On Bilibili, a famous Chinese sharing video platform,  brusk Kung Fu videos can reach upward to three million views.

Martial arts in China
[Source: Bilibili – Martial arts in China]

On Ximalaya, the most popular podcast platform in China, nearly 200 original series talk over Kung Fu.

Martial arts in China
[Source: Xiamalaya – Martial arts in Red china]

The dearest of Kung Fu has brought billions of dollars to China through movies and sports clubs.

Indeed, studying Taekwondo, Boxing, Judo, or other courses in a social club or gym can exist very expensive over the long term. An hr-long class costs around 100 yuan for grouping lessons and 300 to 500 yuan for private lessons.

A traditional art that has proven to exist a lucrative force and a source of admiration for athletes effectually the world.

Various martial arts in China

Taekwondo in China: a market place with very high potential

Taekwondo, martial arts coming from Korea, is currently the most practiced martial fine art. Many gyms and clubs in major cities offer Taekwondo classes of various levels, which are generally attended by children anile 5 to xiv, mostly boys.

Taekwondo gyms and clubs are well distributed in China, across 31 provinces, municipalities and democratic regions. The boilerplate number of Taekwondo dojos in each province is 300. The tendency of Taekwondo in People's republic of china is now spreading beyond the commencement-tier cities to second and third-tier cities.

In recent years, one exercise of Taekwondo has been particularly pop: Aishang Taekwondo. It is a training institution for young children willing to attain a high-level or even become professionals. Founded in 2011, it has at present twoscore dojos in China and has go the leader of Taekwondo preparation institutions in 2018 with revenue of about 40 million yuan.

In 2018, Aishang Taekwondo grooming institute even received an investment of 10 1000000 yuan from OneSmart International Education Grouping, a well-known educational group in China.

Tai Chi, the most famous ''soft Chinese martial art''

Skilful for more than than 400 years, Tai Chi is a form of practise that combines elements of martial arts, dance, and meditation. Tai Chi in Prc is considered equally a ''soft martial art'' because of its roots: the Taoist monk who created it wanted a non-competitive and ho-hum way of fighting.

Tai Chi in Prc is a daily routine for millions of people, peculiarly the elderly who like to practice it in parks or public spaces in Communist china.

On Bilibili, some videos of Tai Chi classes tin reach a million views.

Martial arts in China
[Source: Bilibili – Tai Chi in People's republic of china]

Muy Thai and Battle in China

Battle in China is rather seen as a foreign martial art. However, centuries ago, a certain type of boxing, quite dissimilar from the contemporary mode, was practiced throughout the country: in the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), boxing was mandatory for soldiers of the national army.

Today, it is estimated that there are 80 million boxing athletes in China. Almost of them are reported to be between the ages of 18 and 30, by and large men. The market is therefore still very young and faces some difficulties such as the fact that Chinese people find it too hard to learn boxing seriously.

Battle practitioners mainly practice this sport as a secondary activity when they become to gyms or other general sports clubs. More and more gyms in China at present have coaches specialized in battle.

Despite a good dynamic in contempo years, boxing in Prc has not yet adult well on the professional person side. The boxing profession began flourishing only in 2004 when the athlete Zou Shiming won a golden medal at the Athens Olympic Games.

Thus, more professional and specialized battle clubs are still in the minority. There are nevertheless very well-known chains in China such as Gilded Gloves, a real institution for all boxers in Shanghai.

boxing in China
[Source: Smart Shanghai – Golden Gloves, boxing in China]

Less skillful martial arts in Cathay

Wrestling, Judo, and Karate are also combated sports practiced in China merely are currently smaller markets. Karate comes direct from Nihon and is more common for children to acquire at a very immature age in specialized institutions.

Judo was brought to China in 1979, which is very recent in the history of martial arts in China. Even if Chinese people do less Judo than Taekwondo or Boxing, China competes in Judo on an international level. This year, in May, Hohhot, the capital letter metropolis of North Mainland china'southward Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, even hosted the thou prize of the International Judo Federation (IJF) which served as a qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, Judo is very successful in Hong Kong. Many Judo Television receiver shows and movies are very trendy, similar the very famous Sanshiro Sugata . Judo is fifty-fifty more and more practiced by young Hong Kong women.

Chinese martial arts
[Judo moving-picture show Sugata Shanshiro – Martial arts in People's republic of china]

Martial arts in China, a double market: Professionals and amateurs

The professional market: champions and martial arts competitions in Cathay

The professional side of martial arts in Red china has taken quite a long fourth dimension to develop because of the Chinese philosophy of sport, which was to train your mind and keep a good residue between body and mind. Every bit its name suggests, martial arts were therefore seen as an art and not as a competitive sport.

Notwithstanding, China's reputation every bit the birthplace of martial arts makes it the perfect country to host competitions and champions from all over the globe.

Since 2015, Cathay has had its own martial arts championship called the 1 Championship. Specialized in Mixed Martial arts, MMA in People's republic of china, the organization is often compared to the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Title. Interest in martial arts competitions in People's republic of china is growing, especially among younger targets. Co-ordinate to I Championship statistics, 80% of their audience is millennials and 70% are men.

Today I Championship holds at least 1 martial arts competition in China every calendar month, and their online content has been seen 4 billion times in 2018, which shows a real craze for Martial arts in People's republic of china.

As the martial arts market in People's republic of china is booming, strange investors are also attracted by this dynamic. Thus UFC organized its first martial arts competition in Mainland china in 2017 in Shanghai. They announced that they wanted to invest more in the marketplace with plans for a $13 million training center.

Today, martial arts and MMA competitions are held very regularly in Prc and are very successful, especially on TV. This is the case of Kunlun Fight (昆仑决) which is a Chinese boxing promotion developed by Kunsun Media.

As for martial arts champions, Red china has more and more international champions in all categories. The category with the largest increase in the number of champions is the MMA, with about 200 MMA professional person players in 2018 in China. This is due in item to the increased salaries in this profession, on average around 100,000 RMB per match.

These champions are condign existent influencers in People's republic of china, followed past thousands of people and thus alluring investors (brands and media) from all over the world.

Hither is a list of some of the greatest martial arts champions in China today, all categories combined:

  • 邹市明 Zou ShiMing is maybe China'south nigh successful boxer of all time. He won three consecutive Olympic medals as well every bit three World Amateur Battle Championships gilt medals and has fifty-fifty been hired last year as a sports teacher by East China Normal University.
  • 徐晓东 Xu Xiaodong is a fairly controversial effigy in China but followed past more 350,000 fans on Weibo (his business relationship has recently been blocked every bit explained later in the article), he is a representative figure of MMA in China.
  • 郑淑寅Zheng Shuyin is a 25-year-old champion of Taekwondo in China, known for her international performances and recently for her controversial defeat at the May 2019 World Taekwondo Championships where the immature woman burst into tears.
  • 张维力 Zhang Weili is a 29-year-old Chinese martial artist. She is the official Kunlun Fight strawweight champion and currently participates in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is a model of strength and wisdom for all women in martial arts in People's republic of china.
  • 方便 Fang Bian is a 35-yr-onetime Chinese kickboxing champion, Sanshou, known to exist ane of the all-time kickboxing professionals in China. He enjoys a strong reputation among sports fans in Cathay and recognition among professionals.
  • 张立鹏 Zhang Lipeng is a Pro MMA Fighter of Inner Mongolia in Mainland china and the #2d ranked Pro Mens Welterweight in People's republic of china. He recently participated in the Kunlun Fight.
  • 宋亚东, Song Yadong, is a 21-year-quondam Chinese mixed martial artist who races as a rooster weight for the ultimate fighting championship.
  • 熊朝忠Xiong Chaozhong is a 36-yr-old Chinese boxer, known to have been the kickoff Chinese to win a boxing championship championship, having held the WBC minimumweight title from 2012 to 2014.

The amateur market: education and gyms in Mainland china

As for the amateur market, the Chinese tend to exercise martial arts in multipurpose gyms in China. These general sports facilities are more than pop than in martial arts clubs. They therefore generally offer private tutoring for martial arts in China with specialized coaches merely are non strictly speaking martial arts clubs.

The fitness and gyms market place in China is therefore booming.

In 2001 there were barely 500 options for gyms in China, and in 2018 the number is over 37,000.

Moreover, the Chinese government has recently unveiled plans to spend effectually 225 billion USD past 2020 on fettle and gyms in Cathay, equally a goal to create healthier habits across the country.

Co-ordinate to a report from the Cathay Business concern Research University, gym memberships reached 6.6 million in 2016, compared to around iii million in 2008.

MMA versus traditional Kung Fu: what is the future of martial arts in China?

Different philosophies

While traditional martial arts and health methods are actively practiced in Red china, global trends favored by many younger people are commencement to change the market dynamic.

The perfect case of this is the battle between MMA (mixed martial arts) and Kung Fu.

In recent years, martial arts athletes in China have divided into two categories:

Those who advocate Chinese martial arts, called Kung Fu or Wushu, and those who want more modernity, peculiarly encouraged by practices from abroad.

These ii arts are very different. Kung Fu has its origins in Buddhism and spirituality. It is seen as a state of mind, and some practitioners even merits to obtain mystical powers by training. Equally for MMA in China, it is a fighting sport that combines several disciplines such as boxing, wrestling, judo, or jiu-jitsu.

Today, MMA in China is a huge success. We judge that in that location are xc one thousand thousand Mixed Martial Arts Students and around 15,000 MMA Training Institutions in China.

MMA is besides called freight and this is one of the reasons why information technology is seen as contradictory to traditional Kung Fu, which has much more than structured rules.

However, in 2015, Shanxi Science and Technology Publishing House published the "Comprehensive Fighting Motility of the Earth," the first comprehensive book on MMA in Cathay, listing the rules and technical explanations of this fighting system to show how severe and strict this sport can exist. Along the same line, the General Assistants of Sports in China recently announced a change in the administrative body responsible for all MMA events and a plan to host MMA training programs for Chinese MMA judges and coaches in late 2018.

These efforts demonstrate the General Administration's goal to better manage the market and to establish firm industry standards. The Chinese regime is leading the way towards a more regulated MMA market with increased commercial value and opportunities.

The video that divided the earth of martial arts in China

A perfect example of this market shift towards more modern and international martial arts is the boxing between MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong and Tai Chi master Wei Lei that took place in May 2017.

Annoyed by the words of the famous Chinese primary claiming to be able to command invisible forcefulness fields, Xu Xiaodong decided to evidence China that the MMA could be just as powerful as the famous Tai Chi. Every bit a result, the video became viral in a few hours in Mainland china. Nosotros can come across the Tai Chi master losing in a few seconds and abandoning the fight.

MMA in China
[Source: Youku – MMA versus Tai Chi in China]

The positive comments were quickly overwhelmed by thousands of negative comments accusing Xu Xiaodong of devaluing Chinese culture. The MMA champion tried to explain his passion for traditional Chinese martial arts and expressed that he only wanted to restore the reputation of MMA in China. Despite everything, the Chinese government considered these twenty seconds to fight an insult to Chinese traditional civilization and took legal activity against Xu Xiaodong. Xu Xiaodong is now a controversial figure in Mainland china.

Thus, while the authorities tends to see this new era of modernistic martial arts as harmful to Chinese soft ability, non all sportsmen in China take a negative view of information technology.

According to a Shanghai battle and MMA practitioner, Chen Yuan Kai, modern martial arts are non contradictory with the culture of traditional Chinese martial arts, we can withal find some common aspects:

"Bruce Lee is even the one who invented the concept of MMA. He advocated that we should not just focus on a style of martial arts but get like water, an element that adapts to all situations, formless and shapeless. He has not simply spread China's values to the earth, but he is precisely a bridge between these 2 martial arts cultures."

In any case, these new practices open new opportunities for sports brands wishing to enter the Chinese marketplace or to seize new markets. The willingness of Chinese people to lead healthier lives could exist met by this revival of People's republic of china's traditional view of wellness.

Thus, while the visions on martial arts in China are beginning to change profoundly, the practice of all martial arts, traditional and more modern, remains very high in China.

As a event, there are many opportunities for development in terms of equipment, specialized clubs, and gyms or on the professional side by investing in competitions or becoming a sponsor. Foreign sports companies should at present begin to accept a closer look at Red china's martial arts market.

Author: Steffi Noël


Make the new economic Prc Paradigm positive leverage for your business organization

If you're interested in learning more virtually China's martial arts or fettle markets, do not hesitate to reach out to our project managers at dx@daxueconsulting.com to get all answers to your questions.

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Source: https://daxueconsulting.com/martial-arts-china/

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