Kung fu is under threat in the very city that gave the world Bruce Lee. Can an ambitious new digital project preserve some of its arcane forms or even revive interest in it among a new generation?

Tung Kong Chow Ka Southern Praying Mantis is centered around a few seemingly simple sets of those movements. At Li’s gym, there are no flying kicks or Bruce Lee–style, falsetto yowls. Instead, there ...

ST. LOUIS — Inside of a small space in south city along Southwest Avenue is the St. Louis branch school of the Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu Academy. It’s a traditional kung fu system of infighting ...