Emei Kung Fu Girls employ stunning innovation to promote traditional martial arts

(ECNS) -- Anyone who has ever read the martial arts novels written by Hong Kong novelist Louis Cha, widely known by his pen name Jin Yong, must know the Emei Sect. Its modern representative -- the “Emei Kung Fu Girls” group -- has attracted great attention since its debut in late April this year. 

 

Like many of Jin’s works, the group is mainly composed of all-female members. They are skilled in various Emei Kung Fu techniques.

The rise of a heroine

In 2020, a short video of a woman taking out the trash with a sword suddenly went viral online. The audience was awed by her superb swordsmanship and fluid movements.  

This woman is Ling Yun, founder and a core member of the Emei Kung Fu Girls. “I thought that people would watch it but didn’t expect to receive so much attention,” she said.

She began her martial arts training at the age of four and was ranked among the second-tier national-level athletes at eight. In 2008, she joined one of the three major schools of Chinese martial arts -- Emei Sect.

Over the years, she has been bewildered by the unpromising future of martial arts practitioners. So, when her short video became a hit, she decided to seize the opportunity to showcase the charm of Chinese martial arts to the world.

As a result, Emei Kung Fu Girls came to life. Member selection was initially challenging because some regarded the group as a “fraud.” Luckily, some interviewees still trusted Ling.

Joined by eight other women, she focused on inheriting and promoting Emei Kung Fu and traditional Chinese culture. 

True embodiment of martial arts 

In the first promotional video, released in early May, the Emei Kung Fu Girls demonstrated the Kung Fu routine and weapons used by the Emei Sect.

The video received over one billion views within just one week and was highly praised by Wang Wenbin, former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He wrote on Facebook: “Heroes out of Chinese martial arts novels! See how Emei Kung Fu Girls present stunning moves.”

The group was questioned despite all the attention. Some doubted whether they practiced real Kung Fu or just showy moves, while others thought the group may just use the martial arts as an excuse to get attention. 

 

In fact, some members of the group are either active or retired professional martial art athletes. They have won many awards and some are still competing in professional martial art events.

From the perspective of Ling, if the road they are exploring right now could become a new career path for the martial arts practitioners, it would indeed inject new impetus into the traditional martial arts.

To live up to its reputation, the group started learning everything about Emei Kung Fu from scratch. From theoretical knowledge to basic techniques, they are trained like an ordinary employee with a full schedule everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

At present, the group is also trying to write teaching materials about their self-invented martial art moves and weapon instructions so as to promote them on campus or in communities. “We hope that traditional martial arts are not only presented in videos but also engage more people to learn and inherit them.”

In 2008, Emei martial arts was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the Chinese government.