Wu Di

So, I’m going to make an effort to bring some of that stuff to all of you.  I had a quasi-interview with Wu Di back in June, which I just posted up a few weeks ago.  Not really a proper interview, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

Yue Xiao Yu

Then a week or two ago when Xiao Yu was in town I asked her to grant me an interview.  We got together for lunch the day before she headed back to her hometown and she answered my silly questions about wushu and life as an athlete.  I edited the video down to 9:57, and then found out that I had my youtube limit raised to 15 minutes.  Ah well, it takes an hour to upload the video from China to youtube so I don’t feel like waiting that long.

In the interview I should mention that Xiao Yu was rather tired from a lot of travel and taking care of various things in Xi’an and Dong Ming (her hometown in Shandong province).  Her mother wasn’t feeling well, she was taking care of final administrative tasks related to her retirement from competitive athletics, and had seen a lot of friends and colleagues during her trip.  It was very nice of her to take the time to meet up with me.  Many thanks to Xiao Yu.

Oh, and yes, the video quality and sound quality are rather poor.  I had forgotten my video camera so I was stuck with two HTC phone cameras with sub-par video capture capabilities.  It won’t happen again, I promise.

Future Interviews

In the future I plan to interview some other athletes and coaches.  Next up will probably be Yuan Min, a recently retired nanquan athlete from the Shaanxi Wushu Team who is now coaching youngsters here in Xi’an at the provincial sports center.

I also would like to interview Wu Ya Nan, Asian Games and Chinese National Champion (and soon-to-be World Champion?) who recently went to the U.S. to perform at the U.N. and other places.

After those two I will have to see where I am.  If I can do one interview a month I’ll be pretty happy, but we’ll see what my schedule (and their availability) turns up.

Hope you enjoy the offerings!  Thanks for watching.

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Yuan Min, as I had mentioned last time, gave me some homework to do.  In hind sight I should have rested Tuesday, done the homework on Wednesday, rested Thursday and been ready to go on Friday for another practice.  But I did the homework on Tuesday and sort of wiped myself out and it took me a couple days to recover.

The other thing I am going to change is not to bike on the days I have wushu.  Instead I will ride my scooter on those days and then ride my bike on the off days so that I have a daily training system.  Biking 40 minutes home after a wushu class is like cutting myself shaving and then using a lemon juice after-shave cream.  Insult to injury, so to speak.

Xiao Yu during our upcoming interview

Anyway, back to the second workout of my newly started return to wushu.  I was able to leave early from work and went to attend the 3PM class which Yuan Min coached.  It turned out it was him and this other guy (he was a youth coach before, but I don’t know his name) jointly teaching the youth who used to be Chu Feng Ling’s students.  She was now coaching the main external taolu team (i.e. not taiji).

I had just biked to the wushu guan so I was already sweating, so Yuan Min just had me do my warm ups and then told me to run 5 times around the room (4 carpets in a block) and then do jump rope, 5 sets of 50.  Their jump rope is made from this cheap rubber tubing but it turned out to be the best jump rope I’ve ever used.  I’ve never jumped rope so well.  After that I stretched and then joined the nanquan kids for basics.

Yuan Min was in charge of coaching the nanquan youth group, which comprised about 8 or so kids.  There were a few older kids who trained with them too, but seemed to mostly work on their stuff on their own on one of the empty carpets.  Xin Rui was still there too, bigger than before of course.

We did basics — zheng ti tui, li he tui, wai bai tui, etc.  I haven’t done much kicking in a while so my abs started to cramp up after a while.  But I did as much as I could and when they started their jumping practice he told Qi Peng Hui (whom you might remember from this video) to teach me part of a form.

I recognized the choreography as being a variation of Yuan Min’s form.  It was actually a pretty cool form and I like the choreography so we worked through it.  I learned about a section’s worth or maybe a little less.  My body wasn’t able to go in to full stances or go “all out” but he was patient with me and focused on the small details of the combinations and techniques — just what I needed.  It felt good to be training again, even though I wasn’t in very good shape yet.

After he taught me the section I ran through it several times on my own (half-speed, half-movements) to make sure I remembered it, and then Yuan Min brought me back to work with the kids, who had shopped their jumping and were not working just on nanquan basics — specifically gua gai.  I went through a combination from the form and Yuan Min gave me some good pointers but pretty soon I looked at the clock and 2 hours had passed.  It was time to go!  (It was my wedding anniversary so I had to head home and get cleaned up.)  I excused myself from the class and he said that he’ll let me know if they have training on Monday.

As you might know, Monday is a holiday here in China so I don’t have to go to work.  But they may or may not be training, in which case I would go and participate in the 3PM class again, as it really is one of the best situations I could ask for.  Just think of it — a dedicated group of young athletes working on nanquan fundamentals in a nice, professional wushu guan with one of the best (IMO) nanquan athletes in Shaanxi (or Western China, for that matter).  I started having ideas about figuring out if I could ask for afternoons off during the week from my work.  Something to mull over, I suppose.

Anyway, I got a bit of video after I finished training.  You can see the wushu guan and the endless nanquan basics the kids had to do.  By this point they had been doing basics for almost 2 hours so they were understandably tired.

I should also mention that on Thursday afternoon I had lunch with Xiao Yu and was able to interview her for wushuzilla, asking her questions about training, coaching and life as an athlete.  It will take some time to edit (and subtitle) the video, but you can look for that in the near future (or at least a trailer of it on youtube).  I plan to start doing more athlete interviews for wushuzilla so you can get a nice glimpse of life in China for wushu folks.  Next I’m going to ask either Yuan Min or Wu Ya Nan to interview with me.  Any preferences?  Let me know!

Related posts:

1. WTV #6: 3pm Nanquan
2. WTV #8: Nanquan Basics
3. WTV #4 – Yuan Min and I

Their dinner was at a restaurant close to where I used to teach part time at the Sofitel Hotel.  I nibbled on a few things, but I saved myself because I wasn’t too hungry … yet.  I got to meet a dozen or so Italian folks which was great (and it made me wish I could speak Italian) and met Fabio their teacher.

Stefano and Claudia in the Pedicab

After dinner they went to their hotel near the South Gate and I met up with Stefano and Claudia after they checked in to their room.  We walked down past the Bell Tower through the underground passageway to the Drum Tower entrance of the Muslim Quarter.  From there we had a nice time walking around and seeing the sights, talking about wushu (what else) and learning a bit of Italian (“Che bono! Che Cassino!“).  I had them try some Chicken Ro Jia Mo and a Xinjiang style baked baozi with lamb meat.  And we took a couple pedicabs through the streets of Xi’an to a bar street and then walked back to their hotel.

It was only 3 hours in total, but it was great to finally meet them in person.  Stefano, if you didn’t know, was the one who translated a couple of my blog articles into Italian a while back.  They are considering spending more time in China in the future and it would be great to see them here again and maybe get a chance to train with them too.

And hopefully I can make my way to Florence someday and pay them a visit.

One thing that this visit made me think (more) about was my training.  In fact, recently a lot of things have been reminded me about my lack of training.  I recently spoke with Wu Ya Nan (he’s in America, by the way, in case you see him walking around New York or something) and Xiao Yu about my training.  Wu Ya Nan put me in touch with someone who might be able to coach me.  Xiao Yu is going to do the same when she’s here later in the month.

In the Pedicab

I think I mentioned before, but my general plan is to do some private coaching for a month or two (September, October) and then once my probationary period is finished at my job, move on to training with the team on a more permanent basis.  In fact, my work is quite flexible in this regard as long as I get my work finished, so I would be able to attend the team’s training (maybe in the morning) and then work during the afternoon and evening.  Basically a reverse of what most people do (work during the morning and afternoon, train in the evening).

Anyway, I’m pursuing it and getting the ball rolling, so that is a good step.  After my schedule lightens up (September 3) I will be able to really go full-bore in to getting my wushu back.  I just need to finish up a few schedule obligations first.  One more week … 10 more days … sooooon ….

Here are a few pictures I took from last night…

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December 18, 2010

I realize it seems like I have been off the grid, but actually I’ve been working on my program.  I just haven’t had any time to blog due to responsibilities at work.  More on that later, but first I wanted to give a quick update on my progress and also talk about the first class back with the Shaanxi Wushu Team last Saturday.

After the last 40YO update I came down with 2 bad sicknesses in a row.  The first was a stomach flu and the second was a cold.  Thankfully they didn’t hit at the same time, but sequential illness is still annoying.

After I recovered I recommitted myself to getting back in shape for wushu.  Ruhi and I joined a gym near our home and 3 times a week we go there for strength training, alternating between upper and lower body each time.  Its been a month and we’re both feeling much stronger.  I’m especially proud of how Ruhi’s doing since lifting weights is a new experience for her.

xiao yu playing ping pong in the sanda guan

This past Saturday I returned to wushu training with the Shaanxi Wushu Team.  Thanks to the strength training my muscles were better equipped to handle the workout, but that isn’t to say it was a piece of cake.   After warmups we didn’t actually do basics, although I did a few on my own just to make sure I could.  Instead we worked on combos, back and forth across the carpet about 12 times.  I chose to work on nangun basics, since I knew that my upper body strength needed development if I was going to make improvement on my overall wushu technique.

After combos we switched to sections and I switched to nanquan.  I don’t really have a nangun form in my pocket (especially not after 9 months without wushu training) so I worked on the first and fourth sections of nanquan.  I went through sections about 5 times before I felt a twinge of pain in my left knee and excused myself from the rest of the practice.  Instead I went to the side to practice some taiji basics and work on stretching.

A few things to note during training:

Wu Ya Nan was there and we chatted for a bit.  He said he has just gotten back from Guangzhou and participating in the Asian Games.  I asked him how he did and he answered “first place”, but with a semi-embarrassed look and sheepish grin.   Well, he went from being Chinese Taiji Champion to Asian Games Taiji Champion.  Not too bad.

Athletes huddling

The two new faces from last time were there too — a young girl from Henan province named Fan Xiang Fei and the older girl from Shanghai Sports University.  I haven’t learned her name yet, but both of them are learning nanquan!  So, that is pretty neat.

Zhang Yang has switched from Qiang  / Jian  to Gun / Dao.  Naturally the transition was a relatively easy one and she’s kicking butt with those weapons as well.

Yuan Min is not around.  I guess he’s not training anymore — or at least for the time being.  Which is too bad.  But it looks like the Shanghai girl learned his form so at least I get to see his choreography during class, even if he isn’t around.

Coach Zhang in the Sanda Guan

After class I went down to the Sanda room and played some ping pong with Yue Xiao Yu and Coach Zhang.  But after 15 – 20 minutes of hanging out with them it was time to go.  However, since it was my first time in the Sanda training hall (lots of half-naked guys resting after their workout) I took some pictures so you could see what it looks like.

December 25, 2010

On Christmas day I went back to training.  It was a week, but that was because I tweaked my leg and it took a weak for it to recover.  Xiao Yu was surprised to see me training on X-mas day, but I explained to her that I actually don’t celebrate Christmas, which she thought was interesting.

The smell as good as they look

We did some warm ups and basics and then I went on the back carpet to work on my nanquan, but my leg started to act up again.  I was able to do a few sections, but then I had to go on the side and nurse my tui.

I realized after a while (I’m writing this update quite a few months after the fact) that the problem isn’t whether or not I’m strong enough, but that I’m putting too much stress on my body with my weight.  Before really being able to get back in to training I need to drop some pounds.  Otherwise it will just be an invitation to injury, which I certainly don’t want.

I told Xiao Yu that I was going to take a break while I try to get my weight down and she understood.  Of course, that would be the last time I would see her in a while since she ended up retiring and going back to her hometown in Shandong Province to teach wushu.  (If you want to go train with her, let me know.)

I was able to drop some weight though, and by the time I tried training again in the late spring during my trip back to the U.S., I noticed a difference.  Dropping 20 pounds really helps.

Anyway, the class itself was nothing to write about, except that it was quite cold (as you can see from the snow on the ground).  I really hope I can go back and train again soon …

Snow on the ground

Related posts:

1. Returning to Wushu: The 40 Year Old Version – Week 1
2. Returning to Wushu: The 40 Year Old Version – Week 2
3. Wushu Training Vlog

I made my way to her dorm room and hung out with her and Zhang Yang as they finished up their packing.  She was nice enough to give me a copy of the schedule for the competition events so I thought I would share it here with all of you.  One interesting thing is that they moved Changquan to the 3rd day.  Usually they have it on the morning of the first.  Anyway, here it is:

I’ve highlighted the events I definitely want to attend with red.  The ones in blue are ones that I would like to see, but may not get much footage of, either because they are concurrent with a preferred event on another carpet, or because I might not be there.  (Those 8 AM sessions are brutal).

Also, there is a slight chance that I might not get there until Monday afternoon, in which case I would be missing the Monday morning events.  I’ll have a better idea once the weekend is here what my status will be.

Anyway, I hung out with Xiao Yu and Zhang Yang for a bit.  Pretty soon Xiao Yu’s best friend (who’s name I forget) come in the room to help them bring their luggage downstairs.  She’s super nice and also from Shandong, Dong Ming.  A Sanda athlete who is apparently pretty good because she has her picture up as one of the athletes who were “celebrated” upon her return from the All China Games.  Don’t know if she medaled, but she probably got at least top 8 in her division.

She mentioned that she has a Sanda competition coming up in Anhui on April 8, so she will be preparing for that.  If any of you are in Anhui you can be sure to check it out. (She also mentioned that I’ve lost weight, so what she says MAY be subject to interpretation.   )

Wu Ya Nan met us at the bottom of the stairs and then we walked over to the bus.  As we were walking he said “I haven’t seen you in training much lately” and I mentioned that I had been in Hong Kong for a week for work.  But he’s right and I’ve been reflecting lately about my lack of attendance in the wushu guan.  Once I get back from the competition (hopefully rared up and motivated from watching lots of good wushu) I really want to revamp my commitment to my training.  I need to get in the gym more.

After a while the rest of the taolu athletes came and loaded themselves on the bus.  I took video of the whole thing so you don’t need too many details from me here.  Sufficeth to say it was neat to see them get the send-off for competition.  Now I kind of wish I had been able to go with them on the train, but it is good that I have a few days in Xi’an still since I have a lot to do.

Here is the video for you to enjoy!

One good thing about today was that I went running in the morning.  I was meeting James and Adam at their place so I decided to make it a run and hoofed it over.  Here is the map and distance:

So, not a super long distance, just 2.1 km.  But it felt good to get out on the road again.  I walked back as well, so I guess that is another 2.1 km of walking I can add to that.  I’m going to really try to do more running during this week away in Hangzhou / Shanghai.  Actually, I have a commitment with James and Adam that we each will go running every day for 2 weeks, so that is extra motivation for me to do it as well.

Thats all for today.  There is some wushu classes at the Sports Center, but mainly just a few straggling kids.  I think I would rather focus on getting some of my projects finished so that when I come back to wushu after the competition I can really go at it full steam ahead.  Until then … lots of running!!

Related posts:

1. Competition Prep! T-Minus 1 Week