Training for Real (11/23)

Wushu Retrospective (Part 1) – 1987-1995: Finding Wushu

Back in 2008 I started to write this Wushu Retrospective, an accounting of my personal history with wushu.  Now that I have a smidge more time I am going to re-post the original entries (previously only posted for a select group of people) and continue writing them to completion.  I will post a new segment each Sunday.

It’s been an up and down sort of relationship  with wushu over the years and while I’ve always been fairly dedicated to wushu as a sport, my training will sometimes run cold befor...Read more

Dinner with Adam and Jia Run (11/20)

On Thursday night Ruhi and I had trekked over to Shi Da Lu to meet up with Jamie for dinner at the Village Cafe.  While there Adam, a long-time resident of Xi’an now living in Shanghai, happened to call Ruhi and let her know that he was in town.  So we all made plans to meet up the next night and have dinner.

So Friday evening, after wushu class, I came home, cleaned up and then Ruhi and I took a cab over to the south gate to meet up with Adam and another friend, Jia Run.  (It turned out Jamie couldn’t make it.)  ...Read more

Back from the Break, Training with Kids (11/20)

With Ruhi’s help I had kept Wu Ya Nan in the loop with my illness and about how I was stuck in Anhui.  But now that I was back in Xi’an and feeling better I really wanted to get back in to the wushu guan and start training again.

I was especially looking forward to being there when the top-level Shaanxi Wushu Team members would be training.  Nothing quite like seeing some ridiculously awesome wushu to motivate you when you train.

The good news was, they were all there.

The bad news was, ...Read more

Changes in Wushu: The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful

There is a discussion on jiayo.com right now about the development of wushu over time.  Specifically, about how the competition rules have changed wushu and that the emphasis today is different (i.e. “better”/”worse”) than it was back in the day.  I thought it was something that was blog-worthy as something to write about.

The Big Picture?

Now, I’m basically a big-picture-first sort of person.  I like to step back and see what the overall issue is before throwing in my two cents.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Anhui & 飞机,火车和汽车: 安徽

NOTE: I got a few photos off my film camera so I’m posting them up with this entry, even though they are from the entire 10 day trip.

I had jokingly said to Ruhi that with my luck I would probably get to Hefei (合肥) just to find myself delayed overnight by the weather again.  Ironically it almost came true.

Workers at a Xi'an ...Read more

Videos, Updates and Happy Birthday Linda! (11/16)

First off, it is my sister’s birthday on the 16th.  It is the 16th in China sooner than it is the 16th in the U.S. so I thought I would get a jump on things and give a shout out to her here on my blog (which I think she reads maybe once every few months).  She just moved to the Bay Area, so if you see her walking around Lake Merritt give her a big hug from me.

… hmm .. maybe explain why you are doing that first.  Otherwise things could get weird.

I’m actually writing this on the 15th of Novemb...Read more

A Week’s Worth of Tweets …

*my user name changed to @wushuzilla. please make a note of it! lots of wushu-related stuff on the horizon at http://www.wushuzilla.com #

*Fever has mostly broken. Feeling mildly better. Might be the Chinese children's flu and not swine flu. Either way, not pleasant at all. #

*It looks like I ...Read more

My F13 H1N1 … Ennoi in Anhui

My title looks like part of it is written in L337 5p34&{ ( elite speak), but trust me it makes sense (sorta).

So, I arrived at the hotel, soaked in a tub and got on line to check my huge back-log of e-mails. While sitting there I noticed that my throat was feeling a little raw. At first I had attributed that to the fact I had been sitting in a train compartment with two smokers for the past 10 hours, but when my head started to feel that familiar fever tingle I knew something more serious was up.

Let me back...Read more

Two-Week Wushu Recap (11/1-11/14)

When last we left my training adventures I was anticipating a week with the professional Shaanxi Team athletes who were back from their post-All China Games hiatus.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Monday I was pleased to see that Wu Ya Nan and a group of new athletes  in the wushu guan.  Among them were a few of the athletes I had taken pictures of during the pre-competition training session.  Specifically, this girl (who’s name I don’t know).  But based on what I saw, her wushu skill is pretty good (even though s...Read more