I remember thinking it was kinda odd too, but from what I remember Feng Zhiwei's mother was the wife of a general or something. He might have taught her how to fight and she kept training afterwards, because she was the only one left to protect her kids. I know that is giving it too much credit, but I also can't call it "woke shit" either. 

I'm only on episode 33 BTW, so I'm missing a lot of context.