Learning Chinese martial arts or wushu is a popular way for expats to learn about Chinese culture, opening a window onto traditional wisdom. Many expats in stressful Shanghai say it helps keeps them centered.

One of the best-known martial arts training centers is Longwu Kung Fu Center on Maoming Road S. Over 10 years, it has enrolled thousands of members, over 70 percent of them foreigners. Every day it handles around 10 phone inquiries or visits by newcomers seeking trial sessions.

The center offers a variety of kung fu/wushu courses, such as traditional Shaolin kung fu, Xingyiquan (shape/will boxing), tai chi, Sanda (free boxing) and Wing Chun ("eternal spring," or Bruce Lee-style).

Expats' favorites are traditional Shaolin kung fu and Wing Chun, which is a combination of traditional moves.

"There's been a surge in Wing Chun learners due to the big success of the 'Ip Man' movie (about the man who trained Bruce Lee)," says Spring Wang, a courses and membership consultant at the center.

More than 20 students gather for Wing Chun sessions, compared with five to 10 students for other courses, she says.

The kung fu biopic "Ip Man" starring Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen was a hit in the holiday season early this year.

Yip Man was a patriotic grandmaster of Wing Chun kung fu and once the mentor of kung fu superstar Lee.

Wing Chun, a female name in colloquial Cantonese, employs practical close-range fighting skills from different schools of martial arts. It involves speed, strength, agility and simultaneous defense and offense.

The Wing Chun saying goes: "Greet whatever arrives, escort what leaves and rush upon loss of contact."

Wing Chun arose in southern China's Fujian Province and became extremely popular in Foshan City of Guangdong Province during the 1930s.

It is named after a woman known as Yim Wing Chun, who was said to have first put the new combat techniques into practice and later taught them to her husband.

The story is the most widely credited among Wing Chun tales.

One student is Peter Kycelt, a 41-year-old Austrian who operates a popular family-style coffee house on Shaoxing Road. He attends two, two-hour Wing Chun courses weekly.

Before each session, to calm down and prepare himself mentally, he takes a 40-minute walk from Shaoxing Road in Luwan District to Fanyu Road in Changning District where the session is held at Wing Chun Kung Fu.

He was always interested in martial arts but didn't know much until a fellow Austrian told him about Wing Chun and they together watched kung fu movies.

Kycelt finds that the history and science of Wing Chun has broadened his understanding of Chinese culture.