NOWNESS China has released a new series of films focusing on traditional Chinese culture as defined by a new generation of young people. Young Masters: Baji Quan is the first episode and focuses on a 23-year-old man from Hebei province who is a stalwart practitioner of Baji Quan—a traditional Chinese fighting style known for its graceful stillness and sudden moments of targeted and ferocious violence. 

Director Haonan Shen traveled to the Mengcun Baji Quan International Training Center to profile Wu Hao whose paternal ancestor Wu Zhong (1712–1802) was the first recorded Baji Quan teacher. In this evocative portrait of a young man’s passion for sharing his family’s rich heritage, we get up close and personal with the violent elbow strikes, staff jabs, fierce rising and firm falling stances that characterize the martial art. 

Although the term Baji Quan might be unfamiliar to some audiences outside of China, it is recognized as a style of Kung Fu used by many popular video game characters, such as Kokoro in Dead or Alive, Li Mei in Mortal Kombat, Yun and Yang in Street Fighter, and Iron Fist/Daniel Rand from the Marvel Comics. 

With hopes to make the martial art more popular in real life than on screen, Wu Hao is committed to keeping the tradition alive by spreading Baji Quan to new generations of fighters looking to enhance their mind, body and spirit.