LANZHOU -- Li Jiaru, a 12-year-old boy from Pingliang city, Northwest China's Gansu province, waved a cudgel and gave a solo performance of Kongtong martial arts, winning the applause of his teachers and classmates.

Behind him on the school playground, 126 primary school students in Zhaobu rural elementary school lined up with fans, whips and blades in their hands, getting ready for next performance.

The city of Pingliang is known as the birthplace of Kongtong martial arts, one of China's five traditional martial arts forms. Written records of locals practicing combat skills to resist invaders can be traced back to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

Now, young learners still show a keen interest in practicing this ancient martial arts, but the passion is fueled by something far different from what inspired their ancestors.

"Practicing martial arts is a process of self-cultivation," said Zhu Fanxiong, the headmaster of Zhaobu village school. "To students in rural China, this kind of activity can enrich their spare time."

Since 2016, Zhu began to promote Kongtong martial arts in his school. The school hired professional coaches and divided students into groups based on ages, genders and training levels. Also, he developed flexible time schedules to ensure students' daily classes and traditional PE classes.

"At first, my parents were worried about my study in school. They thought practicing martial arts might be risky," Li said. "But to me, martial arts was so cool. I was eager to try."

Li, who started practicing the martial art aged eight, began to learn the basics of martial arts under the guidance of the school's PE teacher. Growing up, he accepted one-hour systematic training every weekday, including warm-ups in the morning and martial arts skills training in the afternoon.

Later, he became the captain of the school's Kongfu performance team and attended dozens of performances and competitions outside the small village.

"The purpose of promoting martial arts in rural schools is not for fame or wealth, but for improving the physical and psychological health of students, " said Zhu. "We also want to build a platform to cultivate the untapped talent of these rural kids."

After four years of persistence, the physical fitness level of students has been greatly improved, and their academic performance is also highly praised among teachers.

Benefitting from the teaching achievements of promoting martial arts, the school has drawn more investment in the upgrade of playground and protective equipments, to providing better conditions for more rural kids.

Li Jiaru became a middle school student this fall. "Learning martial arts helps me make more friends and become much more confident. This experience will benefit my whole life," he said.