The founder of the robotics firm behind the breathtaking robot King Fu performance which thrilled audiences during the China Media Group (CMG)'s 2026 Spring Festival Gala on Monday night has revealed the behind-the-scenes preparations that went into creating the captivating display and shared his insights on the industry's future prospects.
Wang Xingxing, founder of the leading Chinese robot developer Unitree Robotics, unveiled the secrets behind the stunning display that lit up on the stage of the the gala show, which was aired on the eve of the Chinese New Year.
The high-energy martial arts performance saw Unitree's versatile robots and young human Kung Fu masters perform a series of impressive choreographed stunts and synchronized moves, including the "drunken fist" and dynamic nunchuck routines.
From demonstrating the graceful elegance of martial arts moves, the sequence soon moved to a more high-tempo display which showcased the agility of these advanced robots, leaving audiences of the gala in awe.
Behind the spectacle lay months of painstaking preparations by the gala's production team and Unitree's engineering unit.
According to Wang, to perfect the moves, the team custom-built catapults, enabling the robots to perform unprecedented stunts, including spectacular somersaults which saw the bots being launched up to three meters into the air.
"On the Spring Festival Gala stage, we had to push the limits with more extreme and visually stunning martial arts moves. Previously, robots could only perform flips on flat ground, reaching just over a meter. But with the catapults, they could leap two to three meters into the air -- something truly impressive to witness up close, and then land stably. This was very challenging and marked a world-first achievement. We spent about two months to design the catapults before optimizing the moves. The requirements for both the catapults and the robot's hardware were very high, so we conducted hundreds of millions of trainings on simulated platform before fine-tuning the real robots. We hope to continue pushing the boundaries of extreme robotic movements and contribute to the collective progress of the global robotics industry," said Wang.
This year's performance also marked a significant leap forward from Unitree's 2025 gala appearance, when a group of humanoid robots performed a traditional Yangge folk dance on stage. While this did see the bots making complex and coordinated moves on stage, they did so at relatively a slow pace.
However, this year's performance was considerably more impressive and far more demanding, as the humanoid robots completed a dizzying array of challenging martial arts movements at speed and with a much greater range of physical dexterity. "Last year, while they could change formations, the robots moved slowly. This time, over 20 humanoid robots ran on the stage while performing martial arts movements. The scene was incredibly stunning. This also marked the world's first instance of such a large group of humanoid robots moving together at such high speed, a capability we developed specifically for this program," said Wang.
"Given that it was a stage performance, every movement should align with the musical rhythm. Therefore, we fine-tuned certain actions to correct timing differences as small as 0.1 seconds. At the end of the program, the robots gathered on stage as the platform elevated. If the positioning accuracy during those rapid group movements wasn't extremely high, some robots could fall off. This is why the technical demands for the performance were so stringent," he added.
More remarkable was how the robots used traditional Kung Fu weapons such as swords and nunchuks, demonstrating impressive speed, balance, coordination and precision as they executed the pulsating performance in style.
"In designing the program, we selected over 50 classic martial arts moves for the robots. At the same time, we incorporated traditional martial arts tools like nunchucks. Attentive viewers may have noticed that the robots swung the nunchucks with high speed and intensity, making the movements visually striking. Achieving this required precise motion tuning, which presented a significant challenge," said Wang.
Despite the challenges, Wang expressed pride at being able to present the true and expanding capabilities of the humanoid robots through such a cultural medium, and especially on such a prestigious stage in front of a worldwide audience.
"Showcasing this at the Spring Festival Gala, while utilizing cutting-edge robotics to carry forward Chinese culture, particularly the legacy of Kung Fu, was incredibly meaningful. It was a moment worth commemorating on a global scale," he said.
Highlighting the rapid development of humanoids over the past year, Wang anticipated that with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), these robots will continue to improve and refine their service potential to humanity and help boost overall productivity.
"If dozens of robots can maintain stability while performing complex formation changes and martial arts movements, they will undoubtedly be more reliable for everyday tasks at home and in workplaces, allowing people to feel at ease when using them. Over the past year, advancements in AI have enabled robots to learn a wide range of movements, from dance to martial arts movements. Technology should serve people, not exist for its own sake. Motion capability is a fundamental prerequisite for intelligent robots. Only with strong physical agility can they be put into work and drive real progress in human productivity. I believe that in the coming year and beyond, robots' generalization abilities and the richness of their movements will continue to improve significantly," said Wang.
Unitree founder reveals secrets behind thrilling Kung Fu robot performance at Spring Festival gala
