Most of the pictures in this entry I took with my camera phone, since I didn’t bring my DSLR with me on this trip.  But I did bring my video camera so I was able to get some decent footage of the Beijing wushu practices.  (About time too, since it’s been like 10 months since I posted up any wushu footage.)  They’ll get posted up as soon as I’m able to do some editing (and get my VPN working).

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Nanyang Airport

In my first trip I flew in to the new(ish) NanYang airport, located to the south of Beijing.  It is basically a big strip of concrete next to a building which they call an “airport”.  Wu Di told me it used to be a military airport but has been converted for commercial and shipping use.  It is a bit cheaper to fly in to this airport, but the transportation in to the city is not nearly as good.  They have a few buses, and no subway.  Also the taxi drivers are not all that helpful and don’t even know where the nearest train station is (or at least they pretend they don’t).

I met up with the Wushu West folks in Wang Fu Jing where they were on a shopping outing.  It was good to see Pierre, Eddie, Lauren, Ely and the rest of them.  We grabbed some grub and then headed back to Shi Cha Hai.

Pierre at McDonald's

At Shi Cha Hai I ran in to Sifu Fong, Mrs. Fong, Marla, Ben and a few other SF Wushu folks.  I didn’t know they would be there so it was a pleasant surprise.  I also didn’t know Marla had been in China for the past year, which just goes to show that I either need to keep better track of people, or Marla is avoiding me.

The first night I also met up with Wu Di and two of his friends, Jia Jia an actress and TV producer and Tony, a stunt director from Hong Kong who used to work for Jackie Chan.  He looked really familiar which means that I’ve probably seen him get beat up in films a bunch of times.  We hung out in the hutong area near JaoDaKou, which was quite nice.  Wu Di was taking off on a quick trip to Xiamen, which meant I wouldn’t be able to spend any time with him, but as a parting gift he let me crash at his apartment in Shuang Jing (双井) so at least I had a place to stay.

The Hao Family

Sunday, June 25, 2011

The next day I met up with Pierre and we hung out at Ya Xiu where I got measured for a new suit.  I didn’t have a standard black suit with a white shirt, so I thought it would be good to get that as my primary suit.  (It isn’t like I can wear my wedding suit to a business meeting, right?).  In the evening I went with Wushu West to eat some yummy Beijing Roast Duck.  I hadn’t had duck since my trip the summer before so it was long overdue.

It was also nice to see Patti’s mom again since I haven’t seen her in several years.  For some reason she looks the same as she did 15 years ago.  She must have some good, clean Hutong living going on.

Monday, June 26, 2011

Of course, this was the day I was anxious to get to, since it meant I could check out the wushu practice.  Unbeknownst to me, I would be practicing as well.  The day before Patti told me (while I was stuffing my face with duck, no less) that I would be practicing the next day.  *gulp*  I hadn’t practiced since my trip to the U.S. a month before, and the time before that was back in October.  3 trainings in 10 months goes not bode well.

So, after picking up my train ticket back to Xi’an, I went over to Shi Cha Hai and prepared myself for the practice.  I got a knee sleeve with Pierre and Nina (who had just arrived) down the street and borrowed a pair of Pierre’s feiyue’s (the same ones I used a month before in Berkeley), making sure to get to the wushu guan nice and early to stretch out.

Li Neng Miao

Li Neng Miao was the coach for the Wushu West group this time around, and it was great to see him again.  He’s no longer competing, but he’s involved in the new “Shi Cha Hai” show being put on by the school in their new auditorium (where the badminton hall and visitor dorms used to be waaaay back in the day).  I was actually able to keep up with basics, but just as I had mustered up the courage to do a section of my form the class ended and they broke for conditioning.  Shoot.  I guess it would have to wait until next time.

On the carpet next to us was the current A team members, which really is just comprised of a few folks, Wang Xin being the one I’m most familiar with.  We had a nice chat while stretching out before class and he was a friendly as ever.  And yes, his wushu was as bad-ass as ever.  Made my eyes water, it did.

After workout I grabbed a shower in Pierre’s room and then we headed back to Ya Xiu again (what is it with that place?)  I ended up buying a really nice backpack.  In fact, it is sort of my dream backpack.  Back in 2009 I drew a design for the backpack I wish I had, complete with camera compartment, big laptop area (with side loading zipper) and a roomy main area.  Low-and-behold I found the bag I was looking for, and it was just 300 RMB (originally 900 RMB, but that’s bargaining for you).  I was quite happy.

Eddie at the Italian Restaurant

After Ya Xiu Patti, Pierre, Eddie and I headed around the corner to eat at a nice Italian place in San Li Tun called Ciro’s.  After a while we were joined by a few more Wushu West folks but eventually I had to head out because I had some work to do (had to finish my grading for the Spring semester and turn them in).  On the way out I ran in to Wu Di’s friend, Jia Jia, which was pretty neat.

Tuesday, June 27, 2011

The next day I packed up my things and said goodbye to Wu Di’s apartment (technically his old apartment, as he doesn’t live there anymore) and went to Shi Cha Hai to watch a final practice session (and snag some more vids).  Li Neng Miao put everyone through their paces, teaching lots of new forms for people (a nice nandao for Pierre and Nina, broadsword for Eddie, etc.) and then, just as quick as it started, my trip was finished.

My train to Xi'an

I said my goodbye’s to everyone and caught a cab over to the West train station for my 8:03 PM soft-sleeper train back to Xi’an.  I just have been pretty tired because I managed to sleep up until the moment we pulled in to Xi’an train station on Wednesday morning at 8:10 AM.  A bus and taxi ride later and I was back home, ready to get back in to the swing of work.

I took another trip to Beijing just 2 weeks later, but It will take me a few days to pull all of that together for you.  No vids on the second trip, but a lot more photos.  So stay tuned for that.

Related posts:

1. Four More Days in Beijing

People.

More specifically, I’m talking about the people I have met through wushu over the years, and who have had a big influence on my views on both wushu and the world.

For the sake of this blog entry, I will limit this to just the people I met while training in the Bay Area before moving to Los Angeles in 2001. (I will tackle the rest of you people later.

Kaz and Tabala

L to R: Tabala, Kaz, Ka Li, Lee, Me (1995)

The first two people I became close to through wushu were Kaz and Tabala. I mentioned them before, but I’ll explain a bit more about them here.

Kaz was half-Japanese like me. A friend of Green Day’s turned kung-fu enthusiast, he came to join Wushu West through an interest in Hong Kong movies. He eventually decided that he wanted a more traditional application-oriented path and went to the city to train at a different school, but even while doing that he kept in contact with Patti and I. We were roommate for a year or two as well, before I ended up getting an apartment with Brandon.  Has has since gotten married, had a kid, fell in love with soccer and moved to Malaysia.

Kaz hanging out with Laura, David, Mike and I at Hansie and Inyork's Apartment (1997)

Tabala was an african american man with tight, short dreads. He had grown up with Bruce Lee as his primary father figure and, truth be told, he didn’t talk much about himself. He had been training in some form of Chinese martial arts for most of his life and was very dedicated to his martial arts education. He was really friendly, but at the same time, somewhat mysterious. After a few years he moved to L.A. to get some work and pretty much dropped off the radar. Finally, after years and years he resurfaced on Facebook.  Its nice to be back in contact with him.

From Kaz and Tabala I learned that even if you stop training with your teacher, it doesn’t mean you stop giving them your respect.

Gio and Rich

Gio practicing spear during a Wushu West class at the Park (1997)

We called them the Nan Quan Brothers. Two big Philippino guys from San Leandro who started at wushu west about a year after me. I would hang out with them fairly often and we would commute back and forth to class pretty regularly.

I remember one time a bunch of us met at a park in Alameda to train at a park (just for fun, believe it or not) and we were talking about the mechanics of the twist. Of course, none of us could do it and most of us were afraid to try, but Gio decided to go for it. Right there on the grass he went for it. And he almost landed it! He kept trying, each time crashing to the ground, but getting closer. After a little while he stopped, but he had made good progress.

To be honest, I was a bit ashamed of myself, because I didn’t have the courage to try it out. Looking back, I think I could have done it, but I was just too afraid. Now-a-days, if I was in the same physical condition that I was back then, I’d try it in a heartbeat. But again .. hindsight is 20/20.

L to R: Gio, Tien, Mai, Me, Rich, Lindsay at the 1997 CMAT at U.C. Berkeley

They eventually left Wushu West around 1999. I think Rich studied with Tony Chen for a while (it was cheaper) but last I heard neither of them train anymore. They’re on my facebook friends list though (isn’t everyone?) and I was able to see Gio during my last trip back home.

From Gio and Rich I learned that fear should never be a reason not to try something — it’s a signal that you’re in the midst of a great opportunity for self-development.

David Chang

Karen (middle) and David (right) talking with a Beijing Team Member (1999)

I mentioned David before too. He was the one that helped bridge the abyss between Wushu West and Cal Wushu.

Back when he first started he took his training very seriously. He had started only 5 months before me but his hard work and dedication made him improve very quickly.

Truth be told, he had a few quirks of the body and some might have said that his physique wasn’t well-suited for wushu.  But admirably,  he never let that stop him.

L to R: Chen Chen, Han Jing, Me, Karen, David, Ely and Lily, Training in Beijing (1999)

He went to China in 1997. Then again in 1999 with me and some other friends. And then again in 2000 .. and 2001. He would train at multiple-schools — Cal Wushu, then Wushu West, then Omei Wushu and then with Liu Bo and others.

He never did it in a way that upset any of his instructors though, because they could see that he was working hard to develop his abilities and you can’t really fault someone for seeking out as much knowledge and understanding as they can.

He would see something he wanted and then pursue it with a single-minded determination until he had achieved it. That’s how he got his awesome drop stance. He saw Amy Chow’s drop stance in 1996 and told himself he wanted one like that. And he got it too.

Amy Chow's Drop Stance (1996)

Eventually he went on to start his own school, Wushu Central, after which I didn’t have too much contact with him.  As I understand it, there was a bit of drama here and there, but the David I knew best was the one before all of that happened. The one that was enthusiastic about and dedicated to wushu training. The one that pushed other people to work harder and pushed himself just as hard.  That is the David I remember most.  I’m pretty sure he’s still there anyway…

From David I learned the importance of training hard and embracing all of one’s wushu opportunities.

Cal Wushu

Li Jing leads Cal Wushu students in wushu basics (1999)

There have been a lot of friends I’ve met at Cal Wushu over the years. More than I could really list out in any adequate fashion. Some of them have been positive experiences, and some of them have been negative, but all in all my time hanging out and training with Cal Wushu has been one of enjoyable growth.

I’ve been at Cal Wushu as a student; training hard and gasping for air and water after a hard session of training. You develop close bonds with people when you’re in that sort of mutually-exhausting environment. After classes we would all go over to Durant Square, a food court just off campus, and bond together over some Korean BBQ or cheap Chinese take-out. Sifu Bryant Fong or Li Jing were coaching back then and it was great to get to know them better too.

Cal Wushu Students eating in Durant Square (2004)

I’ve also been at Cal Wushu as an instructor. Teaching beginners or the advanced class and putting them through their paces. You learn a lot about yourself when put in that sort of position — your strengths and weaknesses come to the forefront of your attention when you teach others. But, as they say, the best way to learn something is to teach it, and I learned a lot about wushu by helping others understand its fundamentals.

There have been generation after generation of students at Cal Wushu — too many to count over the years — but one thing remained the same. It is a great place to meet people who are as geeked out about wushu as you are.

George and Raffi making an announcement to Cal Wushu students (1999)

For some strange reason .. all of the students stay the same age, but I keep getting older and older. I used to be just a few years older than the students. Now .. they’re all half my age. How depressing is that?

From Cal Wushu I learned the value of wushu fellowship, and the important responsibility you take on when you start to teach wushu.

Patrick Lee

Patrick at the original Design Reactor Offices in Downtown Berkeley (May, 1998)

I would be remiss here if I didn’t mention Pat. Out of all the people I’ve met in wushu, he’s probably had the singularly highest impact on my life. I first met Pat through wushu when he was at Cal, and eventually I went to work for him at Design Reactor. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 12 years since I first began working with him at our little web design firm. We’ve been co-workers, business partners, classmates, roommates and friends and I owe him a lot for some of the things he’s done for me over the years.

But, this isn’t about all of that. This is about wushu. And Pat’s wushu, believe it or not, was one of the best that had ever come around.  He originally trained with Zhang Gui Fung in Maryland before coming to Berkeley to go to school, and that early training paid off.

In 1994 he went to China with Daniel Wu to train with the Beijing Wushu Team. When he came back he was a wushu machine. His front stretch kicks were the things of legend and his front jumping slap kick would freeze the room as they watched his technique. Technique that was, at that time, almost God-like compared to the rest of us.

Pat performing a front stretch kick at Cal Wushu (1995)

He became disinterested in wushu though.  Work, life and other things took priority.  I also remember him once telling me that, after his experiences training in China he realized that there was no way he would ever get to the level of a Chinese athlete. And, as he put it at the time,  if he couldn’t become the best at something, then why spend so much time doing it?  That isn’t to say he doesn’t appreciate or enjoy wushu.  I think it is more about how the level of committment that wushu requires for you to improve past a certain point makes it prohibitive for some people.

He would return to it from time to time, but none of them were quite as grand as his initial wushu fervor back in the early 90′s, fueled by Cal Wushu friends and a healthy dose of Jet Li’s Wong Fei Hung.

Pat taught me that having natural ability isn’t worth anything if you don’t commit to what you are doing, and that often times hard work can make up the difference for those who might not have been born with the right genetic make-up; either in Wushu, Business or Life.

Wushu West

L to R: Andy, Me, Adrian (splits), Anthony and Chris training in the park (1997)

And, of course, besides the people I listed above, there have been countless students coming in and out of Wushu West over the years. Here are some of the highlights.  It might be a little cryptic to you, but these are my lessons, not yours, so they really only need to make sense to me.

Lindsay: Taught me that just because someone is ignorant, doesn’t mean they are stupid.

Mai: Taught me to never let someone else’s critism let me to doubt my own abilities.

Laura: Taught me that you can never judge a book by its cover.

Anthony: Taught me that you’re never too old to feel young.

Anthony and his drenched shirt after practice (1997)

Roger: Taught me that having responsibilities for others doesn’t mean you are no longer responsible for yourself.

Mike: Taught me that the only value fear has is when you use it to excuse yourself from living life.

Mike at Wushu West (2004)

Jennifer & Cheri: Taught me the value of specilizing in a specific area.

L to R: Patti, Jennifer, Cheri, Bob, Peter after class at Wushu West (1999)

Inyork & Hansie: Taught me that the cooler a person thinks they are, the less cool they become. And vice versa.

Bryan and Yolanda: Taught me that life is nothing if you don’t have passion for what you love to do.

Karen: Taught me that putting your heart out on your sleeve doesn’t guarantee that it will be acknowledged.

There are others too, but I think that is probably enough for now. Not that many ofthese people read this blog anyway. And I will be addressing more people when I talk about my return to Wushu West in 2004.

But I’m getting ahead of myself …

Final Thoughts

Sometimes I wonder what my experiences with wushu would have been like had some people not been a part of it. I’m sure they would have been good too, but each person you meet and each interaction you have, colors your life in very specific ways.

And when you put them all together you end up with a very special tapestry for your life. Each thread weaving around in seemingly haphazzard fashion, but when viewed with perspective, its clear that each is as important to the whole as any other.

My wushu friends have been, as I said, one of the two biggest factors that influenced my experience with wushu during this period of my life.

What is the other? Well, that will be the subject of my next blog. It’s a little something we in the wushu community refer to as “sifu video”.

Continued Next Week …

Related posts:

1. Wushu Retrospective (Part 6): 1996-2000: Sifu Video
2. Wushu Retrospective (Part 3) – 1995-1996: Competitions and Demonstrations
3. Wushu Retrospective (Part 4) – 1996-1998: An Introduction to Wushu Politics

But it became clear after a short time that there was a whole world of wushu outside our four walls, and that the world had it’s own sorted history that I was soon to get a crash course on.

In hind-sight it was all pretty silly, of course. But that’s the benefit of hind-sight, isn’t it? At the time what seems serious and important ends up really not meaning much at all. And the things that were really important in life, were the things we tended to take for granted.

In fact, looking back, I came to realize that a lot of what caused most of the conflict between Wushu West and (at that time) Cal Wushu, was really done by just one student. One person, acting inappropriately, caused a string of bad-impressions and bad-blood that went on for several years and took a considerable amount of time to resolve.

Without getting in to the specifics, a student from one school had gone to the other on legitimate business, but had acted quite disrespectfully towards the teacher there. I don’t even think it was intentional, because from what I’ve come to understand about this person, their personal insecurity has fueled a considerable amount of arrogant and condescending behavīor towards others.

This behavioral theme left a trail of bad blood and animosity in this person’s wake for quite a while, which is a pity, because my guess is that, once you got to know them, they are probably a pretty decent person.

Unfortunately, the result of this was that many of the students at Wushu West had a grudge against Sifu Bryant Fong. I even found myself developing this bias, without really knowing anything about the guy or having met him.

Such is the power of peer pressure.

A couple years later I ended up going to a dinner in Chinatown with Patti and some other students, and afterwards I was seated at the table with Bryant Fong and some of his students. One of the other Wushu West classmates had such a resentment against Sifu Fong that he decided to just go home, but I was of the mind that since I had never met the guy, I might as well give him the benefit of the doubt.  (Plus it was a free meal.)

I think part of it came from my personal philosophy that you can’t define the world solely by your interpretation of it. It’s all subjective, especially views on people. Obviously this guy had SOME merit or else he wouldn’t have any students and no one would talk to him. So, if someone out there liked something about him, then there was something about him that I could find to like if I searched for it.

There’s a quote from Abdu’l Baha that says “If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, look at the ten and forget the one. And if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.”

It’s a good thing I made the effort, because I learned that he actually wasn’t such a bad guy. As the years went on I learned that Sifu Fong is actually one of the more decent people in the world of wushu — someone for whom I developed a good amount of respect and admiration.

And to think I would have missed out on knowing that if I had succumbed to the impulse to assume the worst about people.

But, for most of 1995 and 1996 there was a divide between Wushu West and Cal Wushu. There just wasn’t any sort of mixing of the two groups at all. Like … ZERO.

Until Lisa Nguyen and Alda Lee.

Lisa and Alda were two Cal Wushu students who had opted to supplement their Cal Wushu training by coming to Wushu West. Of course, as far as I was aware they didn’t tell anyone at Cal Wushu this and it was very hush-hush. In fact, when I saw Lisa at the 1996 Cal Wushu Tournament, she asked me to make sure not to tell anyone how I knew her.

In late 1996, at Lisa’s invitation, I went to Cal Wushu to try it out. I just wanted to see what it was like as I had heard the workouts were really brutal. Of course, I didn’t tell Patti about it since I was just doing it as an observation of how other people trained and didn’t plan on switching schools or anything.

It was the first time (I’m aware of) that a native Wushu West student trained at Cal Wushu.

So, the precedent had been set. The next person to bridge the gap would be David Chang. He came to Wushu West at the end of 1996 and was around for a good 5 years before going off to start his own school. (That’s a long story in itself .. )

But the significance of David Chang was that he really bridged the gap between Cal Wushu and Wushu West. He gave Patti and Sifu Fong something/someone to discuss in a positive manner. They were both sharing the experience of having him as a student. It led the way for other Cal Wushu people to come to Wushu West as well (Elan, Inyork, Hansie, Mai, Mike Chew, etc. etc.), and for Wushu West students to visit at Cal Wushu and train. Even Patti taught at Cal Wushu for a semester when Sifu Fong didn’t have available time.

As the years went on the divisions between the two groups faded away to almost nothing. Today it is hard to believe there was ever that much animosity between the two schools.

But the world of wushu politics wasn’t limited to just the interactions between Wushu West and Cal Wushu. I gave it so much attention, simply because it was the biggest issue I had to deal with for the first couple years of wushu, and as such it was the “biggest deal” for me as a young wushu enthusiast.

The truth is, there have been conflicts and issues between schools, students, teachers and the like, since the beginning of time. Almost every wushu school I’ve known or been a part of has had some sort of drama going on at one point or another (or several).

But, after looking at all of these conflicts, I’ve come to realize that it all really boils down to a specific trait that acts as a catalyst for these issues to crop up — one main attribute that contributes to so many of the problems that plague the wushu world.

Maybe it’s a result of the type of people who end up training in and teaching wushu — a certain personality type that inevitably ends up acting in certain predisposed ways. Or maybe it’s just that there are only so many issues that wushu people can deal with.

Whatever the reason, I’ve noticed that all of the problems that come from wushu politics essentially derive from one specific phenomena:

INSECURITY

I’ve seen teachers bad-mouth other teachers. I’ve seen schools isolate themselves like China in the 60′s. I’ve seen environments that foster ignorance and paranoia in their student population. I’ve seen arguments between teachers, both physical and emotional. And I’ve seen enough gossip, back-biting and negative displays of dis-affection to last me a lifetime.

But in the end it all comes down to insecurity.

In the teacher, the student, and sometimes the parents.

Sometimes it came across as paranoia or fear. Someone opens a school and suddenly develops paranoia that someone else might steal their students. Of course, that is really only because they are insecure in their own abilities as a coach. But instead of dealing with the cause of the issue (by improving their skills and abilities) they put down other schools and teachers to their students to keep them from leaving.

Or sometimes it is anger and hatred towards others. They see another school or teacher achieving something that they have not, so they develop a deep seeded resentment towards that group, when the truth is, if they would stop needing so much acknowledgement and social gratification, they could appreciate and acknowledge the accomplishments of others without thinking that it is a reflection on their own abilities.

Or sometimes it is pride. A pride so strong that they feel a need to put down the system or abilties of others. The irony of course is that the pride is really just an extention of their insecurity in their own abilities. If their system was truly the best, they wouldn’t need to put any else’s system down.

As Jackie Chan said in The Forbidden Kingdom, “He who talks, does not know, and he who knows, does not talk”.

I came to realize that the more someone talked negatively about others, (1) the less they had something worth contributing to a conversation and (2) the less they thought about their own abilities. Often what we say is more of a reflection on ourself than it is on those we are talking about.

Over the years I’ve seen all matter of issues pop up, but essentially they’re all really “non issues” at the core. It’s all just smoke and mirrors, vapor and noise — none of it matters and none of it is significant to what is at the core of wushu.

Wushu isn’t about which school is best or which teacher has the most students, makes the most money or has the most clout.  It isn’t even about the specific technique, crazy jumping or going to competitions.

Wushu, at it’s essense, is about self-development — going from the person you are, to the person you can become.

In fact, that is what “kung fu” is really about: the cultivation of inner excellence and mastery over time.

Whether your medium is cooking or calligraphy; computers or combat — the end goal is the same: To be a better human being than you were when you started.

And the wushu practitioner who keeps this in mind — who roots their training, beliefs and focus on this simple truth — will never need succumb to the allure of politics and gossip.

Because to them, those are not real — they are non-entitities. They are vapors of the imagination — with no true affect on their journey in life.

There are only three truths to training:

1. Who you are at the beginning
2. Who you are at the end,
3. And what you did to get from one to the other.

Interestingly enough, those are also the three truths when living one’s life …

To Be Continued Next Week …

Related posts:

1. Wushu Retrospective (Part 5) – 1996-2000: Wushu Friends
2. Wushu Retrospective (Part 3) – 1995-1996: Competitions and Demonstrations
3. Wushu Retrospective (Part 6): 1996-2000: Sifu Video

———————————————-

It was round-about the time I was 3/4 of the way through learning the 1970′s compulsory form that I found out I would be competing in August. Part of the reason I agreed to compete was because I had gone to watch the Berkeley tournament in April and had seen what constituted a “beginner”.

Just before the Berkeley tournament, a few folks told me I should go ahead and compete in the beginner division, but having only had 3 weeks of wushu, that wasn’t so much an option. I wanted to see what was involved in a typical wushu competition.

It turned out that, based on the other people who were in the “beginner” division, I would have done okay. Maybe I should have competed afterall? Well, here was my chance. August was coming and I would have to start preparing.

Patti dumbed down my form a bit, since the original one was so long (8 sections!). I even got to include a butterfly kick in it, which the original didn’t have.

I also found out that my sister would be in town during the time I was competing so I would have a bit of moral support. Truth be told, I was pretty nervous, but I didn’t have much time to think about that. Before I knew it the competition had arrived.

It’s a bit of a blur, but I do remember having some pretty major butterflies in my stomach as I got ready for my turn on the floor. I tried to size up my competition, but I honestly had no idea how to do that. I was on my own. Patti was one of the judges, as were a few other former Chinese athletes (which back in 1995 was much rarer to find at a wushu competition than it is today), and the head judge was Debbie Chen from the National Wushu Training Center in L.A.

My form went pretty well. I guess my basics were solid enough and .. well. You can take a look and tell me what you think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrV3doqn7bc

I ended up getting first place. In hind sight, I realize that the reason was because I was competing in a beginning division with a more complicated form than the other competitors. Most people have a very linear form as their “beginning” form (such as the one I first learned at Wushu West), but the form I did, as you can see, moves around a bit more, and as a result I placed higher.

After I went I felt a big relief and just enjoyed the rest of the competition.

In the fall I started learning staff basics as well as the 1990′s compulsory long fist form. My staff basics eventually became a staff form and after a few months we had a demonstration coming up for Chinese New Years. It was being held at the Holiday Inn’s Chinese Cultural Center in San Francisco Chinatown and this time around my mom would be in town to watch me do my thing.

For this performance we joined up with the newly arrived Wang Zhen Tian, former member of the Jiangsu Wushu Team and a contemporary of Patti’s. He had just opened the “Achieve Gong Fu Wushu Training Center” in Santa Clara with his student from China, Liu Bo. (This was several years before “Wushu Link” down in Los Angeles.)

Those who know Liu Bo now, will not realize that he was once a svelt, lean former competitor from China. Years of living in the U.S. and being subjected to sub-standard experience has taken a lot of the drive out of him and he got a bit lazy over time. But back then he was at the top of his game.

That’s why I felt a little intimidated when I found out I would be performing after him. The two of them joined us for a few practices before the demonstration itself. It was the closest I had been to a top-level male wushu athlete. His jumps were mind-blowing.

For the demonstration I would be performing in three different parts:

First, I would come out with my staff for the opening introductions. You can also see a few other Wushu West students (who have mostly long since gone away) as well as Wang Zhen Tian, Liu Bo and Patti doing a bit of double broadsword.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5P6TekV5yk

Second, I was performing the beginning hand form with two of the Wushu West kids and a guy named Peter who disappeared a long time ago. This was the form I originally learned in 2 days, but of course that didn’t mean I hadn’t kept practicing it since then. William and Max went on to leave wushu for ballet and now are professional ballet dancers in New York. Don’t I feel old now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEwZPTMZD2I

And finally, I was going to perform 2 seconds of a staff set I had been learning. But, like I mentioned before, I would have to go after Liu Bo. He performaned a small nanquan set based on the compulsory form. Looking back I can say he did a so-so job of it, but I’ve since been spoiled to death in China and my perspective is all whacked out. But back then, it was the most amazing thing ever, and was probably one of the things that got me interested in nanquan to start with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuBZAi7LrV4

After that my performance went well, except that my staff was a little long for the narrow stage and I ended up giving a small plant a bit of a hair cut. I actualy forgot my form half-way through too, and started to make things up, but I just kept going regardless, knowing that stopping was akin to suicide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVcGcg408IA

I was actually pretty happy with myself. I knew I had messed up, but I was mostly pleased that I instinctively kept going. Patti said that it was good that I did that too, which of course made me feel even prouder of having messed up.

Oh .. and just for James C, here is Patti’s Eagle Claw from that demo. She hadn’t worked out in a while so actually, she’s in better shape today than she was back then, oddly enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNW9-nsHEvA

Shortly after the demonstration the Berkeley tournament came around again. I chose not to compete, but I did attend to see how things went with my school-mates. This was a pretty big event for me because it introduced me to who a lot of the big players in the wushu world (at that time) were.

Amy Chow and her crazy drop stance. Eric Yeh and his nanquan. Nathan Tong and his horrible knee injury that I was sitting 5 feet away from when it happened. Anne Hsu, who came out of no where and totally amazed the room. SCWA and their amazing athletes who seemed like some sort of silent ninja army of death. It was all new and interesting. I wish I had the time to cut up and post up all the videos from that competition, but unfortunately I don’t. Perhaps some day I’ll do a video retrospective on previous CMATs.

Anyway, there was a funny thing that happened during the competition that I still find rather odd.

Liu Bo was competing for the Grand Champion prize (I think to help his visa application) but was also judging on the side as needed. At one point, he was tired of judging and, as I was sitting next to him and one of the volunteers asked him to judge, he told them that he couldn’t since he was going to be competing soon.

Then he pointed at me “He can judge” he said.

The volunteer looked at me with hopeful eyes. “Can you???” she asked, and I could tell that they were in dire need.

“Sure, I guess so” I said, shrugging, realizing at the same time that I really had absolutely no idea what judging entailed.

Soon enough I was whisked off to a ring of intermediate long fist students (all of whom had been studying for longer than myself) and told to sit in the corner with a flip book full of numbers from 1.1 to 10.0.

I managed to do okay. I was a later judge in the line-up so by the time I was supposed to put my numbers up I just took an average of what I had seen so far and gave that score I figured that I would at least be consistent and not hurt anyone’s chances with my ignorance.

The really amazing thing was that, towards the end of the competition, they were so short on judges that I was asked to judge for the advanced divisions. Advanced nanquan, and the Grand Championship.

I was in way over my head.

In those competitions, after the 3rd competitor went, the judges would meet together to discuss the general scoring method for the ring. I went up, not sure what to expect. Truth be told, I had been curious all day what the judges said in those circles, so it was nice to have my curiosity satiated.

“The guy in the gold silks is my student” the head judge said “so be sure to give him a good score.”

Say what?? I couldn’t believe my ears. But it was exactly what it sounded like; one of the judges was telling the other judges to bump up the score of their own student. I would come to learn that this was suprisingly common. But to be honest it kind of disgusted me and my opinion of some of the coaches and judges dropped a few notches. (Not the students, mind you, since most of them were never aware that the coaches were doing this on their behalf.)

From that point on I always made it a point to be completely and totally objective whenever I judged a competition. I NEVER wanted to feel that I had given any sort of advantage to any competitor, regardless of if I knew them or not.

I focused, in years to come, to only see the wushu, and not the person performing it. To view the technique, and not the personality. It wasn’t easy to do at first, but over the years I’ve trained myself to divorce the two aspects of a competitor in my head.

But, at this competition, I still had no idea what I was doing. Who was I to judge the Grand Championship with only a year of wushu under my belt? Lisa, a friend who trained both at Cal Wushu and Wushu West came up to me and said “Are you judging??” to which I answered with a confused “So it would seem”.

In the end Liu Bo got the grand championship. But after several years of looking back at the tapes of that competition, I think his scores were a bit inflated due to the fact that he was a China athlete. The truth is, he was a bit out of shape, and one of the other athletes held up much better than him.

Yes, he had that China power and crisp-ness to his form — but did that make up for his lack-luster performance and lower energy? Who’s to say? At that stage of the game, I had no idea what I was doing anyway.

Here is the video of his performance so you can see how he looked. Keep in mind this was 12 years ago, before the huge number of Chinese athletes had come over from China. Heck .. Wu Di was only 8 years old back then and hadn’t even started wushu yet.

And .. again. I feel old now.

(You can see me in the far left corner with my legs crossed, sitting there judging as if I know what I’m doing… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDgnQ0v6t3U

One of the things that I was beginning to realize during that first year of wushu, was that the wushu community as a whole had a lot of unresolved issues that weren’t being dealt with. Lots of politics and personalities were in conflict and I was slowly being made aware that the world inside a wushu school is pretty idyllic compared to the challenges that persisted in the wushu community at large.

My next blog will deal with this new-found state of wushu politics and the wushu community.

To Be Continued …

Related posts:

1. Wushu Retrospective (Part 4) – 1996-1998: An Introduction to Wushu Politics
2. Wushu Retrospective (Part 5) – 1996-2000: Wushu Friends
3. Wushu Retrospective (Part 2) – 1995: The Honeymoon

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is Mark there? I’m returning his call.” a woman’s Chinese-accented voice said on the other end.

I figured it was someone from the school’s office or maybe a parent that helps with registration.

“Yes, I’m interested in taking Wushu classes?” I said.

“Have you taken any martial arts before?” she asked.

“No”, I admitted. I hadn’t, really and certainly didn’t count the 2 months of Jungae Moosul when I was 19 and half year of Karate when I was 15.

“You can come to watch a class.” she offered and explained how to get to the school on the following Sunday.

I had a million questions (mostly geeky ones) running through my mind but all I could get out was “Are you the instructor?”.

“Yes, I am” she replied.

GULP.

“Oh .. okay! I will see you on Sunday then!” We said goodbye and I hung up the phone.

I was pretty anxious for the next few days. I think I showed up a little early on Sunday to the small studio. I didn’t actually know where San Pablo Avenue was since I hadn’t hung out in Berkeley outside of the area near the University.

It was a small space, but I didn’t care. I was anxious to see what this wushu stuff was all about. After so many years I would finally see it in person!

I met the teacher, Hao Zhi Hua, who also called herself Patti Li, and I watched the class. I don’t think I even needed to stay through the whole class. I could have just watched them do the opening salute and I would have been sold. Not knowing anything about wushu, they all looked amazing. I couldn’t wait to get started.

I wanted to start as soon as possible, but I wouldn’t get paid until that Friday and I hadn’t enough money to pay the tuition, so it would have to wait a week until the following Sunday. Unfortunately she was going to be out of town to judge at the U.S. Team Trials in Texas.

She offered to postpone it for a another week until she returned but I was too anxious.

Sunday, March 12, 1995 at 9:30 a.m., I showed up to the studio ready and raring to go. A guy named Tony was going to teach that day. A former student of hers that I never saw again. The class was a bit of a blur, but I recall being taught the first half of a beginning form by one of the students named Yolanda.

By the next day I was sore beyond belief.

Around the same time I noticed a poster at the sandwich shop I usually ate lunch at advertising a performance by the Beijing Wushu Team at the Palace of Fine Arts on Saturday, March 17. I didn’t want to miss out so I went to the ticket office and picked up a seat. It turned out I was in the farthest seat from the stage possible, my back literally against the wall, but it was better than nothing!

Since I had signed up for class twice a week I came back to the studio on Thursday, where all the students were a-buzz about the upcoming performances by the Beijing Wushu Team. It got me even more excited. In class I learned the second half of the beginning form. Some people were looking at me funny, but I wouldn’t find out why until later.

Sure enough, come Saturday, I walked down to the performance hall from my apartment and was blown away. Not just blown away, but my brain was literally turned to liquid goo in my skull and I was all a-quiver.

These pictures and many more from the performance can be found on Raffi’s website, beijingwushuteam.com

These pictures and many more from the performance can be found on Raffi’s website, beijingwushuteam.com

After the performance I took my program and got it signed by the members of the team. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure who was who as I had only been doing wushu for 2 classes.

I saw a girl who looked like she was part of the group standing there and handed her the program and a pen.

“You want me to sign it?” she asked.

Okay … she spoke perfect English. Obviously not a Beijing Wushu Team member.

“Sure” I answered, shrugging with a smile. So she signed it and to this day I have no idea who she was.

(Oh, and Russell Wong was there too, so I got an autographed picture of him with his shirt off doing a high kick. My female roommate, Seema, was quite jealous.)

On Sunday I went back to class. This time my friend David Nixon from Seattle was visiting me so he tagged along to check it out. I figured since I had learned the beginning set in the first two classes that I would probably have to practice them for a while to get them down before learning something else.

Apparently I was wrong.

In the middle of class Patti pulled me and two other students aside and told us that we were going to learn the 1970′s Compulsory Long Fist Form. She showed us a little of the beginning and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. She proceeded to teach us the first several movements and we practiced them for the rest of the class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pH5QFOfNYQ

Zhao Chang Jun performing the 1970′s Youth Compulsory Long Fist Form for men.

I was getting strange looks from people in the class again, but since I had a friend there watching and I didn’t know anyone I didn’t pay much attention to it. After class we went home and as we were walking along David echoed a sentiment that has since been said dozens of times by dozens of different people I’ve met both in and out of wushu:

“Its interesting, because that one girl who was doing her form — she wasn’t particularly beautiful or anything. She wasn’t ugly, but just sort of average looking. But when she did her wushu, she suddenly became much more attractive.”

Amen, brother. And from what women have told me, it goes both ways. Men with good wushu are apparently hotter too. I suppose it’s true of any really intricate physical art. Proficiency and aesthetic excellence breeds attraction.

So, I continued going to class, and I continued learning my form. I met several of the other people in my school too. Kaz, a fellow half-Japanese guy, 6 months at the school, and originally from northern California and a good friend of Green Day (used to bum around Europe with them back before they were famous) and Tabala, an african american man who was one of the more advanced people in the class and credits his upbringing not to his father, but to watching Bruce Lee movies (which he could recite from memory, beginning to end).

There were a few others too, but those were the two I connected with the best and hung out with the most. In fact, both of them would eventually be roommates of mine.

Oh, and for those of you who know him, this is what Cary looked like when I first met him (at the tender young age of 4).

I later found out why people gave me strange looks in the beginning. In fact, I found out why one student, who worked with Kaz and started when he did, quit taking wushu right after I started (or at least it was a factor, so I was told).

Before I had arrived there, Kaz and the other students had all spent a minimum of 6 months to a year learning the beginning long fist form. Patti would drill them on the same (to be honest) simple/boring form for over half a year. They didn’t want to ask her to teach them anything new for fear she would think they were being impatient, but at the same time they were getting a little frustrated.

Enter this random guy who joins class, learns the form in 2 days and is then learning an intermediate form with them. It had taken them 6 months to get her to teach them something new, and it took me only 2 classes. Understandably they were a little upset about that, but it made me realize something about myself that I hadn’t really realized up until then.

I tend to pick things up quickly.

Even these days, I can look at a form and figure out most of the details on my own. Being physically capable to do the moves is one thing, as I’m limited by my body’s condition. But mentally, I learn forms quickly.

I’m not saying this to brag or sound special. It is just something I’ve learned about myself.

Granted, an ability to learn quickly and $2.00 still just gets you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, so it’s no big whoop unless you apply it to something.

Over the following weeks, during the Beijing Wushu Team’s stay in the U.S. I would get to see them on one more occasion. This time in April at San Jose State University. I had been training for a month and so I was able to carpool with Patti, her husband and a few other students. The show was equally amazing. But this time I was right up front in the first row having a major wushu conniption.

If you look carefully, I’m in a red shirt below the word “STATE” on the right side.

These pictures and many more from the performance can be found on Raffi’s website, beijingwushuteam.com

These pictures and many more from the performance can be found on Raffi’s website, beijingwushuteam.com

After the performance we even got to go to a dinner with the Team. And we took pictures with a bunch of them too. I must have used up 3 disposable cameras in the span of an hour. Unfortunately I don’t have many of them scanned in except for these two:

L to R: Tabala, Kaz, Ka Li (Beijing Wushu Team member), Lee (Taiji student) and a much younger me.

Patti and Wu Bin (her coach) at dinner

My first picture with my coach! Taken in Berkeley, California on University Ave.

The next several months were a wonderful, happy blur. I was learning cool moves, I was hanging out with people who were as geeked out about wushu as I was, and I was beginning to feel like I had joined a new family of like-minded souls who all enjoyed what I enjoyed.

Wushu had me wrapped around it’s finger and I was planning our future together with reckless abandon. For a whole year I could have told you exactly how many hours and days of wushu I had taken classes. I had planned out which forms I would learn over the following 10 years of my life. I was even taking some mandarin lessons with Patti’s aunt (to not much success).

But I knew that eventually the honeymoon with wushu would come to an end. The newness would wear off, or the first plateau of non-progress would hit. I knew it would come eventually, but I still enjoyed what I was doing. And I planned to keep enjoying it for as long as I could.

That was, until I came to class one day and was told that I would be competing at a tournament in August. Just 5 months after I had started wushu!

To Be Continued next week …

Related posts:

1. Wushu Retrospective (Part 3) – 1995-1996: Competitions and Demonstrations
2. Wushu Retrospective (Part 4) – 1996-1998: An Introduction to Wushu Politics
3. Wushu Retrospective (Part 5) – 1996-2000: Wushu Friends

Monday morning was practice.  9:00 AM in the Wushu Hall.  Actually all practices this week are at 9:00 and 3:30 in the upstairs wushu hall, so at least it is consistent.   Everyone was working hard, and down on the far carpet was Liu Qing Hua’s group.  Since it was just the two of us, we got to be on the blue carpet.  Yay!  For myself, I primarily focused on the first section of my nangun (Southern Staff) form.  I’m working on making a new one this week so each day I’m creating a new section.

After class was lunch and then I spent some time in the afternoon working in my room.  The afternoon class came and went as well, and I spent that time working on more nangun.

I’m not sure what everyone did in the evening, but I spent the whole time working on my computer, so this is why I didn’t end up writing much in the blog.

Tuesday was another morning training (of course). Unfortunately Myles hurt his ankle so had to sit out the rest of the day.  Jennifer said she tweaked her ankle as well.  Hopefully they’ll both be back in full form soon.

After the morning practice I spent 20 minutes or so working on my nangun form after everyone left.  However, Liu Qi and Zhang Ye Xin were still there so I talked to them for a while and had them record a video so they could greet everyone in America.

In the afternoon I went to the airport with Lauren to pick up her mom, Susan and younger brother, Travis.  Once again we were blessed by the airport gods and they came out of the terminal just as we walked up to the door.

We got back to Shi Cha Hai just in time to go watch most of the training.  Lauren quickly changed and I spent some time either talking with Susan and Travis, helping Wu Di with some conditioning, or working on my nangun.  It was Tiger’s last time teaching us, as he would be leaving the next day for a competition in ZhengZhou, Henan.  Actually, we will see him there since he will still be in town when we go to check out the Shaolin Temple.  We grabbed a group photo for posterity.

After class I was asked to go to a Japanese restaurant with Wu Di, who had also invited Shahaub, Patti, Cary and Jennifer.  It happened to be the same restaurant I ate at last November, also with Wu Di.  We had a good amount of food and naturally I took some photos:

After that Patti and Cary went back to Shi Cha Hai, and the rest of us walked down the street to digest our food.  We also grabbed a quick cone at McDonald’s before catching a cab back to the school.

Tomorrow we have two different coaches training us.  I’ll be sure to snap a few photos and post them up.

Related posts:

1. Beijing – Day 7 & 8: Training Next to the Pros
2. Beijing – Day 3: A Look at Training
3. Beijing – Day 2: The Training Begins and Tyler’s Birthday

Edit: James has provided photos for me as well, which are located after Jennifer’s

Related posts:

1. Beijing – Day 9: More of the Same …
2. Beijing – Day 3: A Look at Training
3. Beijing – Day 10: Pierre and Jennifer arrive

We were in the lower wushu hall for basics and forms.  Also a bit of basket brawl to warm up.  But after a while he took us to the weight room / fitness center to do some strength training.  It was my first time in the room.  It was pretty nice.  Like a 24 Hour Fitness type of thing with lots of modern equipment; mostly Life Fitness if memory serves.

We did circuit training and my legs got a good workout.  Myles was helping several of the kids who hadn’t done any weight training before.  After the workout we went back to shower and eat.

When I got back to my room I saw some of the athletes working out on the track so I snapped a few shots with my telefoto lens.

Then it was time for lunch.  And after lunch everyone was supposed to meet up for the trip to the Forbidden City.  But before that I had to take Pierre and Jennifer to the bank to change their money. That didn’t take too long and we were joined by Loren and Ryan as well.  Everyone met in the lobby and they took off for their excursion.

I was told that they took a lot of pictures and Pierre said he would try to write up a quick blog about the experience, so I will post those when I have them ready.  Keep your eyes peeled for that.

EDIT: Here are the pictures that James took!

While they were all out at the Forbidden City I was tempted to take a nap, but I hadn’t fully unpacked from my move to the new room (actually, I hadn’t even fully unpacked since arriving in China since I’ve been busy the whole time) so I spent 3 hours doing that.  I finished just as Pierre walked back in the room.

The comments I got from the Forbidden City ranged from “amazing” to “boring”.  I guess it isn’t for everyone.

In the evening we were doing a group dinner at Hutong Pizza, which was just around the corner in Hou Hai.  Joining us were some friends of Patti.  Liu Yan, her former teammate with her husband Chris.  Anthony Chan, one of the original American wushu athletes from the 80′s, and his daughter (his wife was also a team-mate of Patti’s — in fact Patti, Liu Yan and her got a gold medal for their sparring set in 1984).  Two other people whom I don’t know met us at the Pizza place.  I think the man’s name was Henry.  The pizza was pretty good, but I spent some time taking pictures outside in the Hutong.  After a while I escorted the kids back to the hotel while the adults stayed to chat.

James also took many photos from the Huton Pizza excursion, but I’m just going to include the ones that deal with subjects i didn’t cover in my own.  Here are his!

The next day would be their excursion to the Great Wall.

Related posts:

1. Beijing – Day 10: Pierre and Jennifer arrive
2. Beijing – Day 9: More of the Same …
3. Beijing – Day 13/14: Training and New Arrivals

When we arrived in the wushu hall there were a few of the professional athletes stretching on the main blue carpet; Zhao Qing Jian, Wang Xie and Liu Xiao Lei.  Basically, three of the top athletes in the world.  On the far carpet was Liu Qing Hua’s group (which included Liu Qi).  With the coaches and Patti in the room, I calculated that there were roughly 300 national and international medals worth of athletes sitting in the room.  Not too shabby.

We were going to start the class with some more Basket Brawl, which is basically a combination of basketball and soccer.  After we got the teams organized I asked Zhao Qing Jian (jokingly) if he wanted to join in.  He said sure and joined the game.  Wang Xie Liu Xiao Lei joined us too and pretty soon we had quite a game going.  I took some pictures and got a bit of video:

After warming up it was stretching and basics.  I continued working out choreography for my new nangun form. Across the room I saw Liu Qin Hua’s group working out.  There was one guy doing nanquan, which I naturally paid close attention to.  There was also a girl doing some nanquan.  Very cool.  I don’t really see enough nanquan up in Beijing so I try to pay attention whenever it is going on to see if I can pick anything up.  While they performed their forms I was trying to figure out some of their moves, even fantasizing that I might ask Tiger if I can learn their forms.

I continued with my training, focusing on the class.  After a while Xu Ming Hu (Tiger) called me over. There was one of Liu Qing Hua’s athletes with him  It was the nanquan girl!  I didn’t quite understand what he said, but it sounded like he wanted her to teach me some nanquan.  Wow!  Someone had read my mind.  I agreed and the two of us went to the side of the carpet.

I waited for her to tell me what to do.  She seemed to be waiting for me too.

Women kaishi ba? (Shall we start?) she said.

Hao (Okay) I replied.

Then she motioned for me to stand in front of her.  Wait a sec.  How would I see her form if I was in front?  Then it dawned on me that it wasn’t me who was learning from her, but her who wanted to learn from me!  “Wait … am I teaching you or are you teaching me?” I asked.

Ni jiao wo (you teach me), she answered.

Wow … totally weird moment.

So, it turns out they had seem me do my form 2 days earlier and had asked Tiger to have me teach it to them.  I suppose my choregraphy is not necessarily standard, or perhaps they just want to have more variety in their repertoire, but whatever the reason I was totally humbled and flattered that they were even watching me from way across the room, let alone her wanting to learn my form.  Especially since I was pretty much doing the same with them.

So, I proceeded to show her my form.  After a while I noticed someone else standing behind me.  It was the nanquan guy too!  He had come over to learn as well.  Goodness gracious…

I got to talk to them a bit after showing them my first section.  They had both trained at Shanghai University of Sports, so we knew a lot of the same people.  Her name was Xiao Lan and he was Xie Zhen Hao.  It was a very neat class.  Unfortunately, it meant that I couldn’t pay too much attention to what everyone else was doing, but I did look over and see Zhao Qing Jian and Wang Xie giving some pointers to the Wushu West students so it was nice that they were getting a few tips from the pros.  I was also asked by those two and Liu Xiao Lei to video their nandu (difficulty movements) practice, so I have that here to share too:

After lunch and a shower I had to go to the airport with Rita from the Foreginer’s Office to pick up Pierre and Jennifer.  They were finalliy arriving from the U.S.  Their flight was early and we were running late, but it just so happened that as soon as we walked up to the arrivals area they walked out the door.  Very good timing and pretty soon we were on the road back to Shi Cha Hai.

We helped them get checked in to their rooms and once Patti got back to the hotel we did a bit of roommate swapping.  I was now going to room with Pierre and Tyler was going to room with Cary, leaving Noah and Jonah to enjoy the peculiar smells that their room seemed to be developing.  Jennifer decided to get her own room which meant that Ashley and Lauren could keep it to the original 2.

I spent some time helping Pierre and Jennifer acclimate and we went downstairs to get some dinner as well.  Lots of reuinion-izing going on (yes, I just made that word up).

After dinner was the evening practice.  For this particular practice Tiger had arranged for us to practice jumping in the gymnastics room.  After running, stretching and basics, he had us all practice our twists and butterflies into the foam pit.  Then we went to the spring floor and folks worked on their twists (such as they were) and Loren even got pretty good rotation towards his 720.  Here are some photos and a video:

Towards the end of class I took Pierre and Jennifer upstairs to watch the professional wushu athletes training.  They were both quite impressed.  Then it was back to the hotel so I could finish moving the rest of my stuff to Pierre’s room.  After that I hung out a bit with Wu Di and Shahaub in the lounge downstairs and then it was time to sleep for an early morning practice the next day!

Related posts:

1. Beijing – Day 9: More of the Same …
2. Beijing – Day 6: Last Day of Quarantine
3. Beijing – Day 7 & 8: Training Next to the Pros