thumb|One of the flags used by the Boxers' movements.The
Righteous Harmony Society (), translated as
Righteous Fists of Harmony or
Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or
Fists of Righteous Harmony, known in English as
Boxers, was a village sect founded in the Northern Shandong province of
China that spread to many parts of North China and executed the unsuccessful
Boxer Uprising in the closing years of the 19th century. Westerners came to call well-trained, athletic young men "Boxers" due to the
martial arts and
calisthenics they practiced. Despite the obvious differences between Chinese
Wushu and Western
pugilistic boxing, the training for unarmed combat took on the same name to the Europeans. The Boxers believed that they could, through training, diet, martial arts, and prayer, perform extraordinary feats, such as flight and could become immune to swords and bullets. Further, they popularly claimed that millions of "spirit soldiers," would descend from the heavens and assist them in purifying China from foreign influences. Eventually forces from the West marshaled as the
Eight-Nation Alliance ended the rebellion and destroyed the short-lived Society.