Kung fu gives Africans their kicks
A rare soft-power export from China is spreading across the continent
Master Mfaume, who heads the biggest kung fu temple in Tanzania, has become a social-media pin-up, with short films of himself and his students showing off their lightning moves. TikTok videos that display them whizzing along walls or fighting bullies in the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, the country’s biggest city, have won 184,000 likes. Master Mfaume says more and more Tanzanians want to study the sport. “People are starting to learn kung fu eagerly—and the number of students is going up a lot.”
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The fun fight club”
From the June 15th 2024 edition
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