It's shortly before noon. Zuo Yunfan finishes his morning work and walks out of his office in Beijing. Instead of joining his colleagues for lunch, Zuo slings a black bag over his shoulder and hits the street.

Fifteen minutes later, he enters Uppercut boxing studio in Beijing's Chaoyang district. He carefully wraps his hands with protective tape, puts on a pair of boxing gloves and begins a carefully regimented workout. His fists make a "Pop! Pop!" sound as he pounds his training partner's raised hand pads-his favorite part of the one-hour boxing class at the club.

The 33-year-old says he tried a free trial boxing class at the studio two months ago and was immediately hooked on the sport.

"When I land punches on the bag, I feel so powerful," he says.

Zuo was exhausted after three full training sessions: 15 minutes of cardio combo to warm up the body, 20 minutes of hitting the hand pads and 15 minutes of exercises to strengthen his core.

"When I walk out of class every time, my whole body is vibrating with a new kind of strength," he says.

Training three times a week, Zuo quickly discovered that boxing helped dramatically improve his physical strength.

"Boxing is a well-rounded workout that would benefit everyone. It gets your entire core fully engaged, so it is good exercise for office workers to strengthen the waist and abdomen after long day sitting still," he says.

As a fast-growing fitness trend around the globe, boxing, along with other combat sports, such as Muay Thai and BodyCombat, has also become popular among young Chinese people. It has popped up in the form of boutique workout studios such as Uppercut, and group exercise classes included the fitness schedules of many regular gyms.

Ye Zi, 26, a staff member of Uppercut, says the gym only had a few dozen members when it was founded in 2015. Today, more than 400 people are taking boxing classes in the studio.

"With the newly frenetic pace of life in China's megacities such as Beijing, young people live and work under increasing amounts of stress, which draws them to gyms, where they can let off steam and achieve a balanced lifestyle by exercising. Boxing is a perfect sport to release a lot of that pent-up stress and that's maybe one of the reasons why more and more white-collar workers are jumping on the bandwagon," Ye says.

What surprises Zuo is that there are more women hitting the pads at the gym than men.

Zuo says: "It never occurred to me that so many women are fans of boxing!"

More than 60 percent of Uppercut's members are women and that looks set to continue growing, Ye says. Boxing, which used to be defined as a male sport, has been trickling down more into the female fitness scene.

Figures from Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall show that the purchase of boxing gloves by women increased 75 percent between 2017 and 2018. A report released in March by retail firm Suning shows that the annual purchases of boxing gloves by female shoppers skyrocketed 354 percent compared to the previous year.

Many women are inspired by the Instagram feeds of celebrities, who snap themselves doing boxing. US model and designer Karlie Kloss' pictures showing her punching bags have gone viral on Twitter, and dozens of Victoria's Secret models have been shown visiting a former champion boxer's studio for fitness lessons. Even pop singer Beyonce Knowles and former first lady Michelle Obama have demonstrated a love of boxing.

Influenced by this trend, Chinese actresses have turned their attention to fitness fighting. Zhang Yuqi, Lin Chi-ling, Liu Tao, to name just a few, are among the stars queuing up to participate in this sport on a regular basis.

"When women thumb through their smartphone screens and see the way hot-bodied film stars present themselves on social media, they just want to be as well-built as them. The next day you can picture the scene as they rush into boxing clubs to sign up," Ye says.

Fat-burning workouts

Huang Wensi, a professional Chinese boxer who won the Asia Female Continental Super Flyweight Championship gold belt in 2018, says boxing is "the best fat-burning exercise for office workers". Data shows that about 45 minutes of boxing can consume 500 to 800 calories.

"Focusing specifically on punching, ducking and foot movement, these exercises will improve reaction times and coordination as well as help people to tone up," the 31-year-old says, adding that "punching really sculpts your arms and shoulders".

Boxing can also be sociable. There is a kind of bonding in a class, which has around 10 to 15 aspiring fighters going all out and pushing themselves to their limits to the beat of high tempo music.

Another member of Uppercut, Wang Yifan, says she enjoys squaring off one-on-one with her boxing coach, an interactive session which distinguishes boxing from other, self-managed fitness activities like running.

"I didn't really enjoy boxing, because I wasn't good at first, but when I found the rhythm and power, everything changed," Wang says. "I enjoy the clean and powerful sound of fists hitting the target held by the coach. It's like music to my ears."

The interaction between boxing classmates has also made Wang many good friends. Last year, she and several of her fellow pugilists even participated in the Spartan Race together, spending a day crawling through mud and climbing obstacles together.

"I think boxing is like opening the door to a brand-new world, bringing more possibilities to my life. Whether it's shaping up, meeting new friends or facing challenges with more confidence, it makes me better," she says.

Other benefits of boxing, especially for women, may be the boost to their self-confidence and the way it helps them cultivate a strong mentality.

Tatiana Coverson, born in Colombia, has been in Beijing for over two years. Since 2018, she has been riding her bicycle for 15 minutes a day to take boxing lessons with her Filipino coach at Train Yard, a regular gym in Chaoyang district.

Describing herself as a young woman who is interested in "aggressive" sports, the 22-year-old says that when she discovered boxing it was like "falling in love at first sight".

She says she also takes boxing as a form of mental exercise, in addition to physical stimulation. That thought was rooted in her mind after she was beaten by her partner during one training session.

It was a completely new sensation for her.

"Taking that first shot is never easy, but it's important to me to show that women are as strong and talented as men in this kind of sport. If you want to do it in a serious way, you have to be ready to take the shots," she says.

Huge potential market

According to data from the National Fitness Program for 2016-20 launched by the State Council, China's sports population is expected to reach 435 million by 2020. Experts say that, as a new form of fitness training popping up in China, boxing has great potential in the future.

By the end of 2020, gyms in China are projected to have more than 21 million paid users, up from a total membership of 16 million at the end of 2017. According to Xinhua News Agency, the number of people attending gyms across 70 Chinese cities has increased by over 4 million each year since 2011.

Equally, an increasing number of fitness gyms featuring boxing programs have sprung up across China, signaling that a boom is underway.

However, there is still a big gap in the recognition and participation of boxing in China compared with Western countries.

According to a report from China Central Television, industry insiders believe that in the past the focus of national sports authorities was to improve the competitive level of professional boxers rather than amateur enthusiasts, so more work needs to be done to popularize the sport.

Niu Rui, head of M23 Boxing Fitness Club, says that the biggest issue is helping people understand boxing and the benefits of boxing fitness.

On the other hand, the relatively high cost of courses may hamper the growth of boxing's popularity. In Beijing, the price of a group boxing class ranges between 100 to 200 yuan ($14-29), while the cost of one-to-one teaching varies from 400 to 800 yuan. That's a hefty price in a city where the average monthly salary is less than 7,000 yuan.

"If it were not for the company's cooperation with Train Yard that allows me to come here for free and take boxing lessons, I might not be able to afford it," says Gao Yan, another boxing enthusiast who attends class three times a week.

"Boxing is a luxury for many ordinary wage earners," she says.

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