In Dengfeng today, there are more than 50,000 students learning kung fu, a traditional art in China. They come to learn it for many reasons. Some hope to become film stars. Others come to learn skills that will help them get good jobs in future. A few are sent by their parents to learn self-control and hard work.

“Attracting （吸引）new students to traditional kung fu has become a problem,” says Hu Zhengsheng, who teaches it at a small school in Dengfeng. Hu fears that his art will soon die out. “It’s hard to convince（说服）kids to spend many years here, because the life of kung fu learners is not easy or interesting,” he says.

Hu’s students have to sleep in unheated rooms and keep training hard outside whatever the temperature. To learn kung fu well they must have a strong will and learn respect（尊重）as well.

For old traditions to live on, the young must learn and pass them down. Recently, to attract new students, Hu has brought some changes into his kung fu lessons to make them lively and interesting. Hopefully, more and more students will show interest in learning kung fu.