Beijing Olympic Frenzy Part 1
Friday, Oct 10, 2008 3:39PM / Standard Entry
/ Members only
2 comments
Jay (JRS) convinced me to blog about Beijing this summer... here's part 1 of I don't know how many... I said it was going ot be one huge blog, but I lied to myself- it's too much to write at once... here we go...
................................................................................................................................................
Ahhhh.... It's been so long since I blogged anything I don't know how to start... ok- Jump in!
This spring I was sick of having a job again (it's amazing how often that happens) so I bought a ticket to take off in July to fly back to Beijing to stay at Shi Cha Hai and train (home of the Beijing Wushu and Sanshou teams). Here in the US I've been boxing almost everyday in addition to my regular wushu practice, and felt like I needed to do some sanshou to get the rust off my legs. My gym in Oakland, California has muay thai and jujitsu/MMA, and I always watch the muay thai guys and just think of how a Chinese sanshou fighter would destroy them. Well trained sanshou fighters have a broader range of better drilled and executed techniques, better muscle and bone alignment, and are faster. Plus they're great stand-up wrestlers. Muay thai has become so popular here in the US that everyone thinks it's the greatest stand-up fighting skill set you can acquire, and I get really tired of hearing it. Even the owner of the gym (who is a great martial artist- muay thai champion, Krav Maga certified instructor) says that muay thai guys beat sanshou fighter everytime... I know it's an age-old argument that no one ever wins, but I laugh inside because people don't realized how much work goes into professional Chinese martial arts training. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm faster, more coordinated and much more flexible than almost anyone I train with, and it's becuase of wushu training. I'm not talking about general wushu either, but taolu (handforms) which, when well-taught, require such a high level of body-control that anything else is much easier to do. I really don't think any other martial art can say the same- wushu athletes will pick-up any other fighting style much faster than someone from any other art form.... but I digress....
So I got on a train early in the morning the first week of July and, loaded down with gift-packed luggage almost bursting, rode the BART train to SFO to fly in... long plane rides always make me wish I had a Kindle (the Amazon.com digital book thing) because I always finish the book I brought before the plane lands no matter how big the book is. They're heavy to take in your carry-on... maybe I'll have to buy a Kindle soon- they seem pretty neat.
Uneventful plane ride... I like flying over Siberia though- it's so cool to see the unbroken expanse of snow and mountains and nothing. I've usually finished whatever book I'm reading by this point, so if I'm on the window I spend a lot of time watching the landscape.
So blah blah blah I land and the new Terminal 3 at the Beijng airports is freaking huge!!! So huge and cool. You could fit a hotel inside, and that's just the the third terminal. I had to ride a new little rail-train around the airport to get luggage and leave and then went to Shi Cha Hai to get down to business.
Shi Chai Hai was packed due to there being a convention for the Olympic TaeKwonDo judges (I guess everyone was training on judging or something... too bad they didn't teach them to stop kicks to the head- couldv'e save some trouble later on...snicker snicker...) but they fit me in and I went to find Wang Laoshi to say hi and get my gear for training.
After checking in with coach Wang I knocked down Wudi's door to give him a big hug, and kicked it with him and Tiger (Xu MingHu) for a couple hours... then off to bed.
***insert break here to go to wushu for a few hours***
Entry comments (2)