The Story of One Beijing Expat's Successful Shaolin Kung Fu Odyssey

When most foreigners think about kung fu, the last thing to likely cross their minds would be a petite, glamorous redhead from Azerbaijan.

And yet Nigula Babayeva – an undeniably badass wushu devotee who finished third at the annual Shaolin temple kung fu championship earlier this month – is boldly defying any such narrow-minded assumptions with her tireless dedication and mastery of the discipline.

Babayeva may be best known in Beijing circles as the PR and social media manager at Glo Kitchen and Fitness (stylized as GLO), helping to promote the venue’s healthy eats and meal plans that they coordinate with their CrossFit gyms. And while she enjoys partaking in CrossFit with Glo colleagues and patrons, she has been practicing the wushu martial art as a hobby for her “own personal growth” since long before that.

Through her wushu classes Babayeva befriended an employee at the Beijing Shaolin Martial Art school, who was finalizing promotion for their children’s martial arts program. When Babayeva offered up a bit of advice and PR know-how to help her friend with the program’s posters their bond grew stronger, and that continued as Babayeva stuck with her demanding kung fu classes. This eventually lead to Babayeva getting an invitation from the school to participate in the annual International Kung Fu Championship.

“I agreed to meet with the President of the Kung Fu Federation and the Kung Fu school, Shifu Fu Biao, who warmly welcomed me and tested my skills,” Babayeva recalls of meeting the famous master who is also a UN Friendly Messenger and well acquainted with diplomats and world leaders like Kofi Annan.

“I know that sounds like a chapter from an adventure book, but miracles do happen in real life as well!” Babayeva enthuses.

Though she strove to be very competitive at the event organized by her friend at Beijing Shaolin Martial Art School, Babayeva wasn’t sure how well she’d fare given the range of talented participants from across China. And, besides, she got more than enough fulfillment out of the preparation alone.

Babayeva recalls how her invitation to partake in the championship came a mere 10 days before the event kicked off. I was worried because I knew how hard it is to train for this kind of championship," she says. "My thought was not to take place too highly, but at least to perform at a high level. Thus I partook in an intensive four-hour coaching session to get up to the fitness level needed for the championship."

Thanks to her recent CrossFit workouts, Babayeva found she had the endurance to keep up with the formidable training, though her prior experience in wushu and gymnastics also certainly didn't hurt. And in the end, it more than paid off – by training in wushu Babayeva says she is deeply honored to have learned “and practice the skills from people who mastered different fighting styles for decades. Imagine the inner fire you feel while watching movies by Marvel about superheroes. I was talking and practicing with real life superheroes and representatives of Chinese heritage.”

At the championship in early June, Babayeva fought hard and placed third by competing in the style of wushu taolu. She recalls how the championship was “very interactive, covering different styles of martial arts. I also enjoyed the networking; it was lovely because I was able to meet and talk with the other masters. Due to fact that none of them could speak English, it was a great opportunity to practice my knowledge of Chinese too.”

She likens her success to a steep and steady climb, adding: “I have learned to be patient and believe in something that seems impossible. Because if you believe in yourself and run at the obstacles, you may find that you end up crashing through them.” 

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos courtesy of Nigula Babayeva