Chang Xing Liang, a 60-year-old father, has taken to social media to share his martial arts skills with the world. Through a series of Instagram and TikTok videos, Liang demonstrates his incredible Wushu proficiency.
Chang Xing Liang’s martial arts mastery comes with a demonstrated history behind it, as he is the former 1981-1985 captain of the Beijing Wushu Team. In addition to his run as the Beijing Wushu Team captain, Chang is also the former national Wushu champion for seven consecutive years between 1979 and 1986.
While martial arts practitioners have a history of pushing the boundaries of what the human body is capable of, Chang demonstrates this with a unique twist. Now, martial arts have found themselves a home- fittingly enough- at home.
In a perfect blend of artistry and domesticity, Chang’s videos demonstrate the pinnacle of what it means when Wushu master meets fatherhood and chores. Who would’ve known that hosing down the garden, cleaning the windows, or beating the dust out of your mattress could look so cool?
The account has garnered over 51 million likes on TikTok (@zaraliang) and 422k followers on Instagram (@thewayofchi) after Chang’s daughter Zara decided to share her father’s skills with the world.
Wushu is the Chinese term for ‘martial arts’. This new practice was created as an attempt to generalised the many traditions of Chinese martial art into a single competitive ruleset fit for competitive sport. Wushu is broadly comprised of two branches: taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring).
