Humanoid robots perform advanced martial arts at Chinese New Year gala | News | Al Jazeera

Two dozen humanoid robots performed the world’s first continuous freestyle table-vaulting parkour, the first aerial flip, continuous single-leg flips, a two-step wall-assisted backflip, and the first 7.5-rotation Airflare grand spin, CGTN reported. The Spring Festival Gala performance marked a stark contrast with last year’s show, when robots twirled handkerchiefs and performed simple movements [Reuters] By Al Jazeera Staff · Published On 17 Feb 202617 Feb 2026 · Click here to share on social media · Share · Save · China’s annual gala on Lunar New Year’s Eve has showcased Beijing’s giant leap in technology as humanoid robots took centre stage to perform a joint martial arts routine featuring several firsts. The Spring Festival Gala performance marked a stark contrast with last year’s show, when robots twirled handkerchiefs and performed simple movements [Reuters]... China’s annual gala on Lunar New Year’s Eve has showcased Beijing’s giant leap in technology as humanoid robots took centre stage to perform a joint martial arts routine featuring several firsts. Two dozen humanoid robots performed the world’s first continuous freestyle table-vaulting parkour, the first aerial flip, continuous single-leg flips, a two-step wall-assisted backflip, and the first 7.5-rotation Airflare grand spin, CGTN reported. The first robots to appear were Noetix’s Bumi models, who performed a comedy sketch. Unitree’s robots later exhibited martial arts alongside child artists, including backflips and trampoline jumps, followed by Magiclab’s humanoids in a musical segment.