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?

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 ...

But finding the sifu of Jiangxi Bamboo Forest Praying Mantis kung fu — a fighting style inspired by the movements of the predatory insect — turns out to be way easier. It costs less than $100 by taxi ...