Chinese martial arts take root among Kenyan youths

Kenyn Boro, a 16-year-old girl, has earned the nickname "the Master" for her command of wushu, or Chinese martial arts, at her secondary school in Kiambu County, Kenya. She not only teaches wushu to her peers at school but also shares her skills and experiences with her family, turning her home into a lively training ground.

Every afternoon after school, Boro trains for two hours at the local club. Back home, she moves the tables and chairs out of the living room to create an improvised training space, coaching her mother and two older brothers in basic forms and tai chi.

Boro began learning Chinese martial arts at the age of seven and never stopped, becoming the only one to persist in her original beginner group. After nine years of practice, she has already won three medals in the Kenya Wushu National Championships since 2021.

"Kung fu has made her responsible and highly disciplined," her mother, Ruth Wanjiru, said.

Boro's experiences mirror the rapid growth of Chinese martial arts in Kenya. Today, in Kiambu County alone, more than 4,000 students in 24 public primary schools practice through clubs set up by the Kenya Kungfu Wushu Federation.

Ngaruiya Njonge, president of the federation, believes that spreading martial arts throughout schools, institutes, the army, and other institutions in Kenya could help people become more disciplined and resilient.

"Kung fu changes children in ways they can't always describe," said Njonge. "If they abandon it, they risk drifting into bad habits. That is why we keep encouraging them to train."

Njonge began learning martial arts in 2000 at the age of 18, under the guidance of a local coach who had previously trained in China. After his teacher left, he continued studying wushu independently through YouTube videos.

From then on, he dedicated himself to spreading martial arts, starting from his home county and gradually expanding nationwide, eventually establishing eight branches across major towns, including Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Eldoret.

Promoting wushu has not been without challenges. Funding shortages and limited training venues often make the work difficult, and there are moments when Njonge considers stopping. Yet he persists, inspired by the transformations he witnesses in his pupils. "Sometimes I think about giving up," he said, "but my students wake me up. I can see what I've taught them in their performances at the tournament. It's alive — it wakes me up, again and again."

Njonge's efforts to promote wushu have also opened doors to deeper cultural exchanges with China. In September 2025, supported by the Chinese embassy in Nairobi, Njonge accompanied two of his students on a cultural and martial arts exchange trip to China. Under the guidance of Chinese instructors, they learned tai chi and visited the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, gaining firsthand experience of the art's origins and traditions.

One of his students, Elvis Munyasya, admired the skill level of Chinese martial artists. "Wushu comes from China, and I was very excited to see how they train at modern schools there," Munyasya said.

Munyasya has been practicing wushu for 10 years, a passion first sparked by the 2008 martial arts film The Forbidden Kingdom, an action movie starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Inspired by the trip, he plans to improve his Chinese skills, which he sees as key to improving his wushu and connecting more closely with Chinese instructors.