Soldiers sharpen combat skills with bullet casing dolls

(ECNS)-- The border frontier corps of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has developed a new method for improving combat skills by recycling bullet casings.

Instead of just dumping used ammunition, soldiers have turned spent shells into figurines to help new recruits better understand the structure and functions of the human body.

Handling live ammunition and learning capture and restraint techniques are two required programs soldiers undertake everyday. The integration of waste ammunition with physical training has proven to be popular too. 

Soldiers can master capture techniques through the process of making bullet casing figurines in a variety of stances and postures, according to Xu Zhe, an instructor at the training base.

"We can practice and correct our own mistakes by making these figures," Tang Jie, a new recruit, explained.