In the only bodyguard training school in China, practitioners practice martial arts while practicing digital defense skills.

Genghis Khan Security Academy is China's only bodyguard training school, based in Tianjin, a city about 130km west of Beijing.

Wearing a black suit, from dawn to midnight, the trainees here learn to master the digital defense system associated with traditional guard skills such as martial arts, using weapons and driving.

Each year the school has about 1,000 students graduating, with the hope of being accepted as bodyguards for the rich and famous more and more in China, with an income of up to 70,000 USD, many times the salary

However, the school said it still does not meet demand as China's rapid growth generates about 4.4 million millionaires a year, according to the Credit Suisse 2019 report, more than the US.

Tuition for each course is 3,000 USD per person.

Only the best can follow, said Chen Yongqing, the school's founder.

"I am a hot-tempered person and very strict," said the former military officer who was stationed in Inner Mongolia in northern China.

About half of the practitioners are veterans, Chen said.

Other sessions are held in classrooms or gym, students wear red T-shirts to practice.

"We set the bar for China's bodyguard profession," said Ji Pengfei, a coach in the school.

In a classroom, students work in pairs, pretending to protect clients from attackers.

Those who have not been able to protect their client for two seconds will have to do 50 push-ups.

But in a country that is closely monitored every corner with security cameras and low street crime rates, the modern bodyguard model requires another skill update, to combat forms of surveillance.

"Chinese bosses don't need you to fight," Chen told the practitioner about clients, including China's biggest real estate and technology companies.

Repelling cell phone intrusions, cybersecurity, eavesdropping detection and data wipe are essential tools in students' arsenal.

"What do you do if your boss wants to destroy a video file right away?"

Still, old-fashioned threats persist in China.

According to Chinese media, his son escaped by jumping into a river, then calling the police.

Zhu Peipei, 33, a discharged soldier from Shanxi province, hopes that being a bodyguard will make up for his lack of professional skills and education.

"Of course being a bodyguard is cool too," Zhu said.

The bodyguards who graduated from the academy also do other services such as transporting children from rich and famous families to school, earning $ 26,000 a year.

Coach Ji said that they also have to learn about customers' quirky habits or beliefs.

Some customers only trust the bodyguard that is suitable for them, and another rich businessman just wants to recruit fellow countrymen.

The best can claim wages up to 74,0000 USD a year in China, but some want to go abroad in hopes of working for foreign clients.

"I want to work in the Philippines or Myanmar," said one practitioner.