Jiaxing, China – In a half-covered amphitheater in eastern China, 20-year-old Wang Shuangshuang locked his shoulder against the neck of a bull, grappling with its horns to force it to its knees.
Chinese bull-wrestling, or guanniu, dates back over 600 years but remains a little-known sport domestically, let alone internationally. Students like Wang sporadically sign up for competitions, but a lack of funding and exposure means few adopt it as a full-time career, leaving it facing an existential struggle.
“Our heritage right now is neither dead nor alive,” 72-year-old master Han Haihua said in Jiaxing, a city just south of Shanghai. “To bring in talent, you need money. ... I’m not bragging — give me 30 or 50 kids, train them here for three years and I’ll make the whole world know about guanniu.”
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