Competitors dressed in elaborate costumes scream as they soar through the air brandishing staffs and blades, landing on one foot and holding a complex pose before launching into a dizzying spin. Others, armed with a sword in each hand, fend off attackers bearing spears in a choreographed routine marked on technique and accuracy.

The moves are similar to the impressive fighting techniques popularized in kung fu films of the 1980s and 90s, a genre that inspired a generation of today's wushu champions to master the demanding routines.

"I was interested in how they move, how they fly, how they use different weapons," Russian wushu athlete Daria Tarassova says of the kung fu superstars she watched in films as a teenager.

"I wanted to do those beautiful movements," she says in Jakarta between her events.

Kung fu effect

The sport has come a long way since a rising martial artist named Jet Li-years before he found fame in Hollywood - demonstrated wushu on the White House lawn for former president Richard Nixon.

Wushu has transformed from a centuries-old, exclusively Chinese combat discipline into a professional sport with a world federation and global participation.