Liu Pan had dreamed of becoming a professional martial arts fighter since he was a small boy. He was devastated when he failed to make it into the national freestyle fighting team. It seemed that that was going to be the end of his dreams.

But this devastating twist of fate turned out to be a real blessing. For nearly six years now the 27-year-old Shaanxi native has been working as a personal bodyguard. It is a job that allows him to continue practicing his hobby as a martial arts fighter, and a job that pays very well. Importantly it makes his training seem worthwhile. "I am here protecting people and this gives me a sense of real achievement," he said proudly.

It's not just Liu. The personal protection industry has become a promising alternative career for martial arts experts, retired soldiers and police officers. It's a trend linked to China's dramatic growth in prosperity over the past few decades.

"With a strong economy and a growing number of prosperous professional people, there has been a soaring demand for bodyguards," Jacky Lou, manager of the Shanghai Jin Yi Security Guard Technology Company, told the Global Times. "It's a natural result of society's development."

Nowadays personal bodyguards do everything from keeping crazy fans away from celebrities, to protecting wealthy businessmen from disgruntled clients and assisting at major events or on special occasions. While the job sounds as if a few wrestling tricks would be enough, in fact it requires much more than a few quick jabs or kicks.

According to Lou, the Chinese market is now in need of more "multifunctional" bodyguards. People not only equipped with the skills to subdue attackers but also able to work as drivers, secretaries, or anything that blends into their client's entourage and do all jobs well.

Economic explosion

The explosion of China's economy has created a wealthy clientele for the personal protection business. According to the Hurun Shanghai Wealth Report 2012, Shanghai has 370,000 individuals with personal assets of at least 6 million yuan ($944,184), or one in every 65 people in the city. There are 140,000 individuals with at least 10 million yuan, an annual increase of 6.1 percent and 8,200 individuals with at least 100 million yuan, a 5.1 percent increase. The richest person living in the city has a personal fortune of 41 billion yuan. Figures for the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces also show that the affluent population is on the rise.

But according to Jacky Lou from the Jin Yi personal protection company, not all rich men can afford a bodyguard. "Most of our clients are 'big' bosses worth at least 100 million yuan," he said. Indeed, money flows fast in this industry. According to a Washington Post report, by the end of 2010, the Chinese personal security business had grown into a $1.2 billion industry, with about 2,767 companies employing more than 2 million personnel.

Xu Weiquan is the deputy general manger of the Shanghai Hujie Security Service Company and he said that his company was an early player in the local personal protection business. "It was almost at the same time as the market potential began to show itself a few years ago that we realized it would be a great opportunity to expand our business in this sector." Xu's company started off as one that provided security guards for residential and commercial premises.

With the economy booming, there have been many more competitors entering the business, Xu said. However, according to the China Bodyguards' Association, while there are quite a lot of companies registered as security guard providers or security consultants, there are fewer than 100 in the country that specialize in personal protection services.

And China's personal protection industry is growing even further and faster. "It's impractical to expect police officers to offer you 24/7 protection, but there are apparently more and more financially well-off folks who demand this. It's accepted that private bodyguards are going to play a bigger role in society," Qu Huaicheng, a professional bodyguard trainer, told the Global Times.

Qu said that he has handled clients caught up in nasty divorce actions, and businessmen afraid of unexpected assaults or wary of unknown business associates.

Special training

There are differences between "security guards" and "bodyguards." While security guards are a diverse demographic, the majority of the country's personal bodyguards are retired soldiers, majors from sports schools or graduates from martial arts schools. According to the China Bodyguards' Association, there are special training courses for bodyguards and they can be awarded different levels of certificates after passing the industry-authorized exams.

Jacky Lou with the Jin Yi bodyguard company said that when his company recruits they mainly look for candidates aged between 22 and 35, standing over 175 centimeters tall and with no criminal records. A background in the army or the special forces is a plus.

The years of tough exercises in muddy trenches and searing sun can eventually pay off for some soldiers. Twenty-six-year-old Ren Rong has benefited from his military experience. The Jiangsu native has been a bodyguard for five years after retiring from the armed police force in Shanghai.

The 182-centimeter-tall man was part of the security team for the ninth APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held in the city in 2001 while he was still in the service. "The big difference being a private bodyguard is that you are no longer armed," he said. "But it requires the same physical needs and reflexes."

Even for trained military men, it takes an average one month of closed special training to graduate as a bodyguard. Qu Huaicheng is an experienced instructor with the Shanghai Shenying Special Guard Company and the 37-year-old was a special forces instructor for years.

His company claims to be the only institution in Shanghai specializing in training bodyguards. And all the instructors, according to Qu, are retired army officers with at least five years of experience. "Not all military men can be coaches," Qu added.

Apart from basic defense techniques, prospective bodyguards also need to familiarize themselves with the relevant laws and regulations, learn business etiquette, and brush up on practical skills like driving, swimming and first aid.

The Shenying company's website says it costs 18,000 yuan to go through a bodyguard training course there. Shenying started off as a martial arts club in 2002 but expanded to offer bodyguard training in 2007. Although its training courses are open to everyone, Qu said that since 2008 they have only trained about 150 people who have been successfully employed as personal bodyguards.

Matchmaking for clients

Although bodyguards usually undergo special training before they take on a project, it's not always easy to find suitable bodyguards for the picky high-end clients. "Sometimes I feel I am a matchmaker when trying to pair up clients and employees," Jacky Lou said.

Lou said that he's dealt with clients who only wanted bodyguards who were not married or in a relationship; some only wanted female bodyguards; some wanted a person from the same hometown or province; and some preferred bodyguards who had worked with politicians. "Different clients have different dispositions and preferences and each wants a customized service," Lou said.

Performing to a client's satisfaction often means hectic work schedules. And that has resulted in many of the city's bodyguards remaining single. Liu Pan spent almost a whole year shadowing a Zhejiang businessman in Shandong last year. "It's very hard to maintain a relationship when you do what we do. Most of my colleagues are single," he said.

In this line of work injuries are unavoidable even though bodyguards are covered by comprehensive insurance schemes. Ren Rong was hurt once when he was accompanying a client negotiating with workers at a building site. He incurred his injury when the negotiations got overheated. "It was only a minor injury, no big deal," Ren laughs it off, declining to explain any further.

Loyalty and discretion are vital qualities for a bodyguard, Qu Huaicheng said. And in the eyes of Jacky Lou, a good bodyguard needs both hard-core skills and professional intelligence. "I think that physical skills should make up 30 percent of a bodyguard's talent, along with 40 percent in personality. The rest is the ability to handle emergencies," Lou said.

The talent is well paid. According to Lou, the average income of a bodyguard in Shanghai is about the same as a civil servant in the city. "An annual salary of 150,000 yuan is about average," he said.

But for many the job means more than money. Li Peiyu was a freestyle fighter and has been a bodyguard for nearly five years. He believes that his job provides him with many precious learning opportunities. "Being around successful businessmen all the time, you get to see firsthand how they have achieved what they have achieved, which is very inspiring," said the 28-year-old Shandong man. Lou said that many bodyguards' lives changed after working for several years. "Several have had life-altering experiences with their clients and later changed their profession," he said.

Perks and risks

While this profession has its own perks, it is one with risks. "To some extent, bodyguards are often working in a legal 'gray area,'" Qu Huaicheng said. "It's a fine line between self-defense and calculated attack."

Despite reporting growth, the private bodyguard business has, to a large extent, remained a "freewheeling" industry in China. With the business currently under the supervision of public security authorities, the government announced back in 2010 that it would be drafting regulations to better supervise the industry, but detailed industry guidelines and standards are yet to be announced.

"The bodyguard business is still at an early stage in China and currently the government is exploring ways to ensure healthy development in the industry," said a press release from the China Bodyguards' Association.

While China is generally a safe place compared to many other countries, the burgeoning personal security industry is another reflection of the increasing gap between the rich and the poor in society. There are an increasing number of reports about wealthy people being kidnapped or experiencing random violent attacks on property or person. The association said that many Chinese people still misunderstand the role of personal bodyguards, regarding them just as abusive bullies. It maintains that modern bodyguards are an effective force to enhance social stability and harmony.

Not the weaker sex

While they don't have the same imposing physiques as their male counterparts, female bodyguards are in huge demand as they are far less obvious. They can look like nannies or secretaries and attract little attention in public.

Jacky Lou with the Jin Yi security guard company said that they have fewer than 10 female bodyguards on the books, about 10 percent of the total number of bodyguards in the company. "It's hard to recruit female bodyguards," he said. "Some are trained at special schools."

Qu Huaicheng said that his company has trained 20 female bodyguards over the years. "A female bodyguard can expect an average annual income of 200,000 yuan," he said.

Earlier in January a series of pictures showing female bodyguards undergoing physically harsh training caused a stir around the world. The trainees were seen having bottles smashed over their heads. And in another picture report, trainees dressed in bikinis were shown disarming attackers in a beach camp in Hainan Province. Qu believes this was most likely just a publicity stunt.

"Some models were probably paid for the photo shoot," Qu said. "It might take just a few days to learn a few tricks of self-defense, but to qualify as a proper bodyguard takes a much longer period and involves real commitment."