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‘Kung fu granny’ is a 98-year-old celebrity working to pass along the spirit of the martial art
- Zhang Hexian said she started learning kung fu when she was five years old from her father
- Now, at 98, she teaches people for free at the courtyard in her home
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Alice Yanin Shanghai
Karate Kid, meet “kung fu granny”, a 98-year-old villager in southeastern China who has become famous by practising the martial art her entire life.
The woman, named Zhang Hexian, even received the stamp of approval from the corridors of power when foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said she represented that “kung fu spirit never gets old” in a June 18 tweet.
Zhang said her father introduced her to kung fu when she was five years old. She even met her late husband, a fellow student at the time, during these classes.
Zhang said she became especially good at hand-to-hand combat and fighting with a cudgel, a short blunt wooden baton.
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She told state broadcaster CCTV: “I would practise boxing every day and do movements like chopping, pushing and thrusting. Although I am old, I still have the strength.”
Zhang lives in Zhangkeng village in the eastern province of Zhejiang, which is called a “kung fu village” because most of the population practises the sport. One of the schools, called Xiao Hong Boxing, is around 500 years old.
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Earlier this month, Zhang was honoured as the chief referee at a martial arts contest in the village. She also performed during the event, showing off her cudgel skills with her son and teaching foreigners how to box.
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