China designs aerobics for soldiers with pop dance, tai chi

Seeking to improve the physical fitness of Chinese soldiers, the PLA has come out with specially-designed aerobics for soldiers with a combination of pop dance and China's ancient physical exercise tai chi.
The General Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) issued the first soldier aerobics programme recently, the PLA Daily reported today, adding that aerobics will bepopularisedamong the wholearmy and armed police force.
The aerobics routine combines fighting moves, pop dance and tai chi. The movements are masculine and smooth, and the background music is swift and rhythmic, it said.
Choreographed by the PLA Academy of Art, soldier aerobics aims to build a military culture with Chinese characteristics, improve the military's fighting capacity and facilitate soldiers' overall development.

The aerobics was taught in a trial to a dozen troops in Beijing last year.
Soldiers said it is a suitable recreational activity and fitness exercise for the military as it's easy to learn and can be practiced during training breaks, state-run china.Org.Cn reported.

Experts say that aerobics has an obvious effect on bodybuilding. If soldiers practice it in the long run, their physical and mental quality will be improved.
The "Reform and Development of Military Physical Training (2015-2020)" guideline released in February links soldiers' weight to promotion.
Those failing to meet weight standards might lose the chance of promotion.

Military physical training is "a basic way of enhancing soldiers and officers' physical and mental quality" and helps cultivate combat power, the guideline said.
The 2.3-million-strong PLA is the world's largest army.