China gym punished for smearing country’s image with ‘zombie’ dance at S. Korea taekwondo meet

BEIJING (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Dressed as mythical zombies from the Qing Dynasty, taekwondo practitioners from a Chinese martial arts gym bagged the first prize for their performance at an international competition in South Korea, but their undead-themed routine did not go down well with the Chinese authorities back home.

X-Taekwondo Studio, a gym based in Shenzhen, was disciplined by its own national governing body on Monday for “desecrating” China’s national image and culture with the zombie-influenced performance.

The gym had its official association membership revoked by the Chinese Taekwondo Association (CTA), losing its permit to host national taekwondo grading tests and competitions.

The coach who choreographed the dance, Liu Hao, was stripped of his credentials and barred from training or participating in association tournaments, the CTA said in a statement on WeChat.

The performance took place during the July 21 to 24 World Taekwondo Hanmadang held in Seongnam, South Korea.

First held in 1992, the Hanmadang is an annual taekwondo meet. The 2023 event reportedly attracted more than 4,000 participants from nearly 60 countries, the organisers said.

In videos circulated online, seven members representing the Shenzhen gym can be seen stepping onto the tournament mats in black robes resembling those that were commonly worn by Qing Dynasty court eunuchs, complete with fake braids attached to their courtier-style headgear.

The routine, which had the team mimicking jumping zombies while showing off their dance moves and taekwondo techniques, impressed the panel of judges enough to earn a first-place finish in the senior aerobic category for international participants.

Midway through, they took off their Qing costumes to complete their two-minute performance in taekwondo uniforms known as dobok.

The CTA on Monday said the coach had incorporated elements of horror movies in choreographing the “zombie taekwondo” act, which it said “made China’s image ugly, desecrated Chinese culture and created a negative influence”.

Liu had signed up for the Hanmadang without informing the association, said China’s taekwondo governing body, adding that a thorough inspection of the national taekwondo practitioners will be conducted.

The taekwondo associations of Shenzhen city and Guangdong province also had their official grading and qualification permits suspended for three years.

The punishments meted out by the CTA received mixed reactions online.

While some criticised X-Taekwondo Studio’s showing as “self-inflicted humiliation” that deepened foreign stereotypes of China, there were others who praised the Shenzhen gym for its creativity and said China should be proud of them.

Chinese zombies in court eunuch uniforms are often referenced in popular culture, including in films such as Royal Tramp, which starred Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow, and videos of pop songs by Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou, like Eunuch With A Headache and Chinese Herbal Manual.

On a Reddit forum discussing news from China, one user commented that Chou was lucky his song was popular years ago, or he too would have run afoul of the authorities in China.