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Coco Feng

Humanoid robots from start-up Unitree Robotics showed off their fighting form at a unique kickboxing competition held in Hangzhou on Sunday, weeks after Beijing hosted the world’s first half-marathon where these machines raced alongside humans.
Organised by state-owned China Media Group and broadcast live by China Central Television (CCTV), the competition saw four Unitree G1 humanoid robots square off in one-on-one matches where they punched, kicked and even did a kip-up – an acrobatic transition from prone position to a standing position – after getting knocked down.
The G1 robots – each standing 130 centimetres tall, weighing 35 kilograms, and wearing protective headgear and standard kickboxing gloves – were put through their paces via remote control and voice commands by their human controllers at ringside.
Unlike typical remote-controlled toys, handling Unitree’s G1 robots entails “a whole set of motion-control algorithms powered by large [artificial intelligence] models”, said Liu Tai, deputy chief engineer at China Telecommunication Technology Labs, which is under research institute China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
Before their refereed matches started, each G1 robot “warmed up” by showing their capabilities in punching, feinting by using side steps, kicking and staying balanced when pushed.
The G1 kickboxers fought in three two-minute rounds, in which one scored by landing strikes to its opponent’s head or trunk using either hands or feet. The highest-scoring robot won. A winner was also decided when a knocked down robot failed to stand up after 8 seconds.


The final fight, between the G1 robots that were victorious in the first two matches, was won by the machine controlled by Chinese tech influencer Lu Xin. After the match, Lu extolled Unitree for a “strong entrepreneurial vibe” that he has not seen for quite a while in the industry, according to his Monday post on microblogging site Weibo.
The kickboxing competition reflects the efforts of Hangzhou-based Unitree to burnish its credentials in China’s nascent humanoid robot sector, which enters mass production this year.
Six out of 11 domestic humanoid robot makers plan to manufacture more than a thousand units this year, market research firm TrendForce said in a report last month. These include Unitree, AgiBot, Galbot, Engine AI and Leju Robotics.
Although rival humanoid robot makers were not involved in Sunday’s competition, Unitree appeared to redeem itself from last month’s half-marathon in Beijing, where one widely circulated video showed its robot fall shortly after the race began. Unitree later clarified that it did not officially take part in the race.
Unitree gained national attention in January when its general-purpose H1 humanoid robots joined a troupe of human dancers in a tightly choreographed performance of Chinese folk dance Yangge at this year’s Spring Festival Gala, the country’s most-watched television show.
Sunday’s unique kickboxing competition, meanwhile, showed Unitree’s technical progress, including how fast its G1 robots responded to their controller’s commands and how quickly the machines regained balance after getting struck by a punch or kick, according to Wang Tao, a robotics researcher at Peking University.

“[Controllers] activate the algorithms through [a series of] commands, instead of moving the robot through a single command,” China Telecommunication Technology Labs’ Liu said. “The [machine’s] operation, including keeping balance and making movements, is powered by a set of algorithms.”
Both Liu and Wang served as commentators at the CCTV-broadcast humanoid robot kickboxing tournament.
Other sporting events that feature humanoid robots are expected to be held later this year, according to Chinese media reports. These include an event in Beijing in August that will cover 11 different sports and a combat tournament in December with full-sized humanoid robots at tech hub Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province.
China is ahead of the West in terms of the scale of its humanoid robot industry, according to a report in February by US investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Of the 100 publicly-traded companies worldwide that Morgan Stanley said it “confirmed to be involved” in developing humanoids, 56 per cent were based in China, according to the report.


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Ready, set, fight: Unitree’s humanoid robots test skills in unique kickboxing competition

Unitree Robotics’ G1 humanoid robots square off at a kickboxing tournament in Hangzhou on Sunday. Photo: Handout

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Unitree fielded four G1 humanoid robots in one-on-one kickboxing matches at an event held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province


Unitree fielded four G1 humanoid robots in one-on-one kickboxing matches at an event held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province.


Ready, set, fight: Unitree’s humanoid robots test skills in unique kickboxing competition

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Unitree fielded four G1 humanoid robots in one-on-one kickboxing matches at an event held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province

Unitree fielded four G1 humanoid robots in one-on-one kickboxing matches at an event held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province