Management style

Wushu was born on the sacred Songshan Mountain, where the Shaolin Temple is located. Although the martial arts lost popularity during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), the hit movie Shaolin Temple brought it back to the public's attention in 1982.

Top: Cheng Yangyang (right), 18, prepares to take a heavy blow from his classmate's stick during a qigong training session at the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Training School in Central China's Henan province. Above: Wushu student Zhu Ceng, 15, practices a split jump at the sacred Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain.

By the end of the decade, visitors to Dengfeng soared from just 200,000 a year to 2.6 million.

The boom inspired the city's residents to open wushu schools and, at the peak in the 1990s, there were up to 500 institutes. Today, just 60 or 70 remain, with most teaching fewer than 1,000 students.

Most schools were originally opened by State and provincial wushu champions and then usually passed on to their sons. Small institutes with fewer than 100 students are still like family workshops, but major ones are run as corporate enterprises, with decisions made by a board of directors.

"As wushu schools are basically private, it makes sense that sons take over their fathers' businesses," said Niu Ziming, assistant training manager at Shaolin Temple School. "But the corporate management does good to our long-term development."

In the school's performance hall nearby, about 20 students were entertaining dozens of visitors with a dazzling display of acrobatic fighting skills.

Huang Liang, who at 13 is the youngest in the team, contorted and performed a standing split, while his classmate Long Shuang was suspended in the air on three sharp spears strategically placed underneath him.

"Wushu takes patience. You have to do the same action millions of times," said Zhao Peiyu at Tagou Wushu Sports Academy. "It's about resolve and perseverance."

For many wushu students without the necessary skills to survive in China's tough employment market, perseverance could be vital.