Are They Serious? Extreme Training Endured By Female Bodyguards In China

With her face grimacing in unbearable discomfort, this is the moment a trainee bodyguard has a bottle smashed over her head.

Amazingly, the recruit has to stand there and take it if she wants to qualify as one of China's first female bodyguards.

The training session, which took place in Beijing, involved 20 women, most of whom are university graduates.

Extreme methods: An instructor smashes a bottle over a female recruit's head during a training session for China's first female bodyguards in Beijing

Another recruit receives the same treatment - and has to stand still and take it in order to complete the training

Expect the unexpected: Female recruits use rubber knives to practise disarming an armed attacker

The four-week programme is run by trainers from Tianjiao Special Guard Consultant Ltd and is the first open group training for female bodyguards in China.

Each trainee goes through ten months of instruction to develop her skills in reconnaissance, anti-terrorism training, martial arts and business etiquette.
The best individual from the class is also invited to study further at the International Security Academy in Israel.

Gun crazy: An instructor shows the female recruits how to disarm an armed attacker

Hold up: The trainees use rubber guns as they learn how to overcome armed assailants

Beating: An instructor from Tianjiao Special Guard Consultant Ltd smashes a piece of wood over a recruit's leg

With the booming economy in China and increasing wealth sparked by high demand for Chinese goods and materials, demand for bodyguard services had risen dramatically on the Chinese mainland.
Graduates of bodyguard courses can look forward to a well-paid career if they are recruited by wealthy businessmen.
That is especially the case for women, who are in high demand because they are less visible than their male counterparts and because they can assume roles such as secretary or nanny.
Female bodyguards are often paid far better than male counterparts - up to $100 a day - because they can adopt these different roles. The average annual wage in China is just $1,500.
The boom in China has also seen a rise in the growth of wealthy women, who prefer female bodyguards because their presence does not raise questions of potential relationships.

How it's done: An instructor demonstrates how to overpower an attacker

Hand-to-hand combat: Two instructors teach the recruits fighting techniques

Under control: On the ground with her arms held behind her back, this would-be attacker is going nowhere

Elite: The lethal lady recruits stand in formation as they await further instruction