Although almost all of the "martial" jitong, who flagellate themselves with nail-studded boards and "swords" fashioned from the snouts of saw sharks, are male, Cheng Chih-ming, director of the Institute of Religion and Cultural Studies at Nanhua Management College, estimates that some 80 % of all jitong capable of communicating directly with the gods are female.
根據南華管理學院宗教文化研究中心主任鄭志明的估計，儘管在廟會中拿著鯊魚劍、釘球往自己身上砍打的武乩多為男性，然而包括神壇在內，能讓神明附體的乩童，女性應該有百分之八十。