Think the testosterone-fueled combat stunts including blazing smoke, explosions, and hot-blooding comrade collaborations were only reserved in the chest-thumping action movies like the summer blockbuster “Wolf Warrior II,” which has already become the highest grossing film in China and also led the global box office? /NetEase Photo

Then think twice since similarities with the film are now evoked in the real-life military training among students from a middle school in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province. /NetEase Photo

The training that lasted for six days during the summer vacation has seen the middle school freshmen going through various grueling military disciplines including climbing walls, carrying heavy logs, and repeatedly picking up tires that are 15 kilograms in weight as well as suffering through intense spraying from high-pressure water torch. /NetEase Photo

Pictures capturing the tough training designated to prepare the teenagers for their upcoming middle school lives have gone viral online, with many extending appreciation to their resilience. But some others have also voiced concerns as to whether the discipline was too cruel for these 13-year-olds. According to the Paper news portal, a mother said she almost cried at pictures of her girl being knocking at by the water gun. /NetEase Photo

“Many children were like vulnerable ‘China dolls,’ but they have to be confronted with all sorts of competitions later in society,” Zhou Hong, principal of the middle school told the Paper, adding the training is expected to help make the students much stronger both physically and psychologically. /NetEase Photo