Secrets behind technology feats: Chinese martial arts robots captivate during Spring Festival Gala

The 2026 Spring Festival Gala on Monday dazzled audiences as martial arts robots took the stage, performing stunning feats like parkour, consecutive single-leg backflips, complex leaps and rapid formation changes. With seamless human-robot duels and impressive martial arts skills, including nunchaku and drunken fist, the robots earned enthusiastic applause for their agility, precision and fluidity.

Multiple world firsts debut at Spring Festival Gala

In the performance, these robots, developed by the Hangzhou-based Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics, achieved multiple world-first technical breakthroughs, including the world's first continuous freestyle table-vaulting parkour, the world's first launched aerial flip, with a maximum flip height exceeding 3 meters, the world's first continuous single-leg flips, a two-step wall-assisted backflip and the world's first Airflare grand spin of 7.5 rotations.

"We wanted to push the limits of robots on the gala stage," Unitree Robotics founder and CEO Wang Xingxing told CMG.

One standout moment was when the robots jumped with remarkable precision, propelled by customized launchers that allowed them to reach heights of 2 to 3 meters. They completed somersaults and side flips before landing smoothly. "From up close, they can even jump as high as the ceiling," Wang explained.

For the execution of this trick, Wang and his team conducted hundreds of millions of simulation tests and then fine-tuned the robots in the real world. "This movement requires extreme precision in balance control, dynamic response and landing stability. It's a global first," said Wang.

From slow walking to fast cluster movement

This year's robots were a leap forward from last year's simpler performance. In 2025, Unitree robots in floral coats performed handkerchief twirling and simple formation changes, but in 2026, they ran swiftly while executing complex martial arts moves and precise formation changes. This was made possible by a newly upgraded high-concurrency cluster control system, allowing real-time, synchronized movement of dozens of robots with minimal latency.

The robots also used an AI fusion localization algorithm to process proprioceptive data and deeply fused it with 3D lidar data, processing environmental information hundreds of times per second. This algorithm ensures that the robots can maintain precise localization even after intense movements.

In motion control, the team fine-tuned pre-trained general control models, enabling robots to adjust their positions while performing martial arts movements.

Lian Yingying, staff at Unitree, told CMG that each move was meticulously refined to synchronize the robots perfectly with music and human performers, achieving an accuracy of 0.1 seconds.

Real world applications

While the performance wowed audiences, the true goal is real-world application.

"Performances, running and martial arts are all about making robots more stable, so they can perform tasks that genuinely help our lives," Wang said, adding that motion ability is a prerequisite for intelligent robots.

He elaborated that if robots can perform martial arts with complex movements and quick formations, it suggests that in other practical scenarios, their stability would be even more reliable, ensuring they are safe to work alongside humans.

For instance, the cluster automation control system, which was utilized throughout the performance, resolves real-time planning and movement synchronization for dozens of robots under complex formations. This technology can be applied to multi-robot collaboration tasks in industrial settings, such as inspection, warehouse sorting and assembly line coordination.

In sequences involving staff techniques and weapon seizing, robots withstand human-applied external forces while maintaining stable grasping. This is enabled by compliant control under external force intervention. The same technology applies to precision assembly, heavy-load handling and domestic service scenarios, assisting robots in real-time sensing and adapting to external intervention, enhancing robustness during operations.

The parkour-like flips over tables demonstrated the robots' ability to quickly judge their position relative to obstacles during high-speed movements, dynamically adjusting their gait to clear them. This ability is highly relevant for tasks like placing goods on shelves, navigating tight spaces or climbing stairs.

With these technological advancements, the performance not only stunned audiences but also showcased the vast potential of robotics to reshape various industries in the future.