Ed. note: Following World War I, Chinese students organized strikes that helped contribute to the demise of Sun Yat-sen's Republican government. The following article describes one way by which student organizers used wushu to resist government forces.
About 200 Chinese soldiers, who had a special permit to pass through a certain road in the [European] Settlement [in Shanghai], lost their way and marched through other roads instead. Here they passed the Y. M. C. A. and saw that a meeting [prohibited under martial law] was being held there. The officer ordered his men to halt and line up in front of the Association. He and his aides then went upstairs and demanded what meeting was being held. He was told that the Chin Woo Athletic Association Girls' Department were holding their inauguration meeting. Not satisfied with this, he himself went in to the Martyrs Memorial Hall to make sure. He saw the girls giving exhibitions of Chinese boxing so he stayed for several minutes and then departed. His soldiers next marched along Szechuen [sic] Road, over the Bridge and up North Szechuen Road Extension to the Y. M. C. A. field.
JNC Jan 2000.