Fuzhou (9/6-8): China Men's Nationals

As mentioned, I recently journeyed to Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian province on the southeastern coast of China) to visit my friends competing at the 2007 China Men's Nationals.  The event itself started on the 5th, so with my arrival on the evening of the 6th, I wasn't able to watch the first two days.  However, since my main motivation for attending was to see friends and not wushu, it ended up working out quite well.

Map of Fuzhou's Location

In A NutshellHere is a quick synopsis for those of you who like to skim blogs and don't have the time (or stamina) to read the whole entry:

Thursday (9/6)

 - Arrived in the evening.  Got dinner and massage with Wu Di and Annie.

Friday (9/7)

 - Watched Straightsword and Staff in the morning.  Duilian in the evening.

 - Lunch and dinner with athletes.  KTV after dinner.

Saturday (9/8)

 - Lunch with Shanghai Team athletes.  Farewell to athletes and then fly back to Hong Kong.

Reconnecting with Athletes

Without a doubt the highlight of the trip for me was being able to reconnect with wushu friends from various parts of China.  Normally I would have to travel to 4 or 5 different cities around China to visit everyone, but thanks to Nationals they are all together at this one event.

On the first evening I met up with Wu Di and Annie (from Xiamen) for some dinner and nice conversation.  After that we walked around the corner for some 30 RMB / hour blind massage.  I had the nerve pinch in my neck and arm worked on (see below), which helped.  Of course most of the hour was spent catching up with Wu Di over various things that have been going on in our lives since last meeting in Wenzhou in June.

The next day I spotted Liu Xiao Lei in the bleachers so I went to talk with her.  It turned out she was training in Fuzhou with the women's team and was able to take the morning off to watch the competition.  The women's competition is the following week in Guangzhou so I'm tempted to catch a cheap bus up there and check it out, but we'll see if I can manage that. 

I also reminded her of our "plans" to open a wushu school together in the future.  She said she could do it after she retired, which was in 2008 or 2009.  Of course, no details worked out and it's mostly fanciful thinking, but it'd be neat regardless.

Liu Xiao Lei watching the competition

Annie and Wu Di watching wushu

After the morning events we caught the athlete bus back to their hotel (West Lake Inn) and Annie and I got free tickets to eat with the athletes in their cafeteria.  We enjoyed the Buffet in the company of Wei Jian, Yang Yu Hong, Xie Fu Yan and Wu Di.  But a nice surprise was bumping in to both my Yang Laoshi's. 

Yang Rong Kuan Laoshi, (my Shanghai coach) was there and we exchanged greetings.  and Yang Laoshi, (Shandong Team Head Coach) was there and we chatted for a bit too.  She's always very welcoming and invited me to come back to Jinan to train with them again.  Even the assistant coach that I didn't know very well said it a few times as well.

Waiting for the bus with Yang Yu Hong, Annie and the Beijing Folks

Waiting for the Bus - Wu Di, Yang Yu Hong, Annie, Wei Jian and others

Annie and Wei Jian

Eating Lunch - Wu Di, Annie and Yang Yu Hong

Eating Lunch - Wei Jian

Here is a video of our table during lunch:

I enjoyed watching the evening Duilian events with a bunch of the athletes and after that I hung out for a bit with Yang Yu Hong before heading to another room to play a very weird variation on Poker with him, Zhao Qing Jian and another Beijing athlete.  Apparently I have beginner's luck because I ended up winning 120 RMB in the last hand with four 9's.

Wei Jian and Zhao Qing Jian watching the Duilian Events

Receiving the Team Awards

Wu Di and I with an upside down plaque

Annie and Wu Di next to the looooong banner

After that it was time to do some post-competition celebrating.  The group of us (Wu Di, Yang Yu Hong, Zhao Qing Jian, Annie and her friend) met up for dinner with 3 or 4 members of the Fujian Wushu Team.  Good food (of course the Fujian team members know where to eat in Fuzhou) with lots of laughter and joking around. 

A glance by Mr. Super Taiji Man during dinner

Wu Di and Yang Yu Hong at Dinner

After that it was off to KTV where we were joined by Wei Jian, Johann (sp?) (a Swedish wushu athlete studying at Shanghai University of Sports), and a bunch of other folks.  Lots of singing, toasting, second-hand-smoking (which my lungs felt the next morning) and opportunities to chat with folks.  I got a lot of invitations to come up to Beijing to hang out during the World Games in November, but I'd say my odds right now are pretty slim on that happening.

Zhao Qing Jian singing the "I got first place in Chang Quan Again" blues.

Wu Di's singing has improved quite a bit

And finally the last day of my trip I was able to chill out with some of the athletes in the Hotel as they waited for the time to catch their train back to their respective cities.  I caught lunch with a bunch of my old training buddies from the Shanghai Wushu Team (Yang Yu Hong, Xie Fu Yan, Wang Peng Sheng, Gao Wei Hao and another who's name I don't remember) and then spent an hour or so relaxing in the lobby until it was time for them to go. 

Wang Peng Sheng, Gao Wei Hao and Xie Fu Yan on our way to lunch

Gao Wei Hao

Xie Fu Yan

I can never freaking remember his name ...

Wei Jian and Xie Fu Yan

And here is a video of our table during lunch to give you an idea of the atmosphere ..

Lots of handshakes and hugs were exchanged as the athletes piled in their bus and took off for the train station. 

Whenever I see these athletes, our social exchanges sporatically spaced out over the course of time, I'm reminded of a book by Orson Scott Card.  There was an "elite" population that cryogenically froze themselves and would wake up every hundred years or so to make sure their investments and money was intact and then go back to sleep.  As a result they lived for many centuries, only exchanging time with the universe on a limited, occasional basis.  Just like these cryogenically frozen people, it feels like everytime I see my Chinese wushu friends it's as if no time has passed, and yet I can feel the difference in the people we've become.  We all change, but stay the same.

And as time goes on, I look forward to seeing more of my friends, even if it's on an extended and oddly spaced schedule, because when you are forced to cram many months of socializing in to the span of 3 or 4 days, you learn to truly appreciate all the moments you are able to share.

A Pain in the Neck

One of the things that plagued me over the course of the trip (and the past week or so) was a pinched nerve in my neck.  It's slowly been getting worse, radiating pain down my left arm and causing a slight numbing sensation in my wrist and thumb.  Of course, this is a pretty serious thing (the bad stuff didnt' happen until just a day or two before my trip) so I asked to see the Beijing team doctor for an analysis.  He said that the injury wasn't life-threatening and I would recover given enough rest, but that I should take a trip to the hospital and have them use this machine on me.  Basically it holds your neck and pushes down on your shoulders thereby lengthening the spine and allowing pressure to be released from the nerve connections along the vertabrae. 

Since my time was limited I wasn't able to make it to a hospital for that treatment, but I did have the Shanghai team doctor take a look at me too (doesn't hurt to get a second opinion) and he said that it would eventually take care of itself over time but that I needed to be sure to rest up.  He gave me a good massage and said that I should have it done every day or every other day along the nerve line of my arm that is affected.  He also gave me some medicine to take 3 times a day that should help.

Over the course of the time in Fuzhou my pain did start to subside, so I believe the worst of the situation is over.  However, I will keep tabs on it and if it isn't substantially improved after a week of medicine and massage, I will go talk to a doctor and see what can be done.

Interestingly, the Beijing Team doctor said that he thinks it was probably caused by having my air conditioner on while I was sleeping.  I do recall that the night it all started I might have had it on.  I hear the whole air-conditioning-causing-illness thing a lot in China.  It seems that half of the physiological ailments in modern society are caused by excessive air conditioner use. [insert laughter here]  At least, that seems to be the case in China...

Wushu Highlights

As I mentioned, I didn't watch most of the competition, but I did manage to see the last day and took some video footage.  Thanks to the new custom players with playlists on YouTube, you can watch all of the videos I have for each event right here.  Just push "play" and it will go through all the videos in sequence (or select from the embeded playlist).

And no, I didn't get all the competitors.  I was primarily focusing on the people I knew or recognized.  Except for Duilian where I just shot all of them regardless.  If you know some of the names or teams let me know and I'll update the lists and video info.

Jian Shu / Straightsword

Order of videos:

1. Wu Di (Beijing)

2. Wang Fei (Shandong)

3. (Shanghai)

4. Zhao Kun (Henan)

5. Wei Jian (Shanghai)

6. Don't know

7. Ma Guo Liang (Zhejiang)

8;. (Sichuan)

1. Don't know

Known results:

2nd Place - Wei Jian (Shanghai)

3rd Place - Wu Di (Beijing)

Gun Shu / Staff

Order of videos:

1. Yang Yu Hong (Shanghai)

2. Zhang Xiao Lei (Zhejiang)

3 - 5. Don't know

1. Lu Yong Shu (Shandong)

7. Wei Ya Lei (Henan)

8 - 10. Don't know

1. Gao Wei Hao (Shanghai)

Duillian / Sparring Sets

Of course, there were lots of great Duilian sets.  My angle wasn't optimal for capturing the action, but you can still see some nice choreography.  I actually managed to get all the competitors for this event, at peril of my camera battery dying ...

Order of Videos:

1. QS v OH - Spear v Open Hand

2. 3 OH - 3 Man Open Hand (Guang Xi)

3. QS v PD - Spear v PuDao

4. 3 OH - 3 Man Open Hand (Tainjin)

5. QS v OH - Spear v Open Hand

6. 3 OH - 3 Man Open Hand

7. QS v OH - Spear v Open Hand

8. 3 OH - 3 Man Open Hand

9. QS v OH - Spear v Open Hand

10. 3 OH - 3 Man Open Hand

11. 2QS v SD - 2 Spears v Double Broadsword

12. JS v JS - Straightsword v Straightsword

13. QS, DS v OH - Spear and Broadsword v Open Hand

14. QS v PD - Spear v PuDao

15. 2QS v SD - 2 Spears v Double Broadsword

16. QS v PD - Spear v PuDao

17. QS v OH - Spear v Open Hand

In addition, I got the following various facts about the competition:

 - Zhao Qing Jian (Beijing) got 1st in Chang Quan (Long Fist)

 - Wu Di (Beijing) originally got 3rd in Qiang Shu (Spear), but they later corrected a computer glitch and the 7th place guy ended up with 3rd, pushing Wu Di to 4th.

 - Guangdong guy got first in Nanquan.  Xie Fu Yan (Shanghai) and Li Neng Miao (Beijing) didn't place.

 - Yang Yu Hong (Shanghai) got 7th or 8th in Dao Shu (broadsword)

 - Fujian Taiji Guy got 1st (again)

And a few things about future events:

 - Women's China Nationals are next week in Guangzhou.  Liu Xiao Lei said she is competing in changquan (long fist), dao shu (broadsword) and gun shu (staff), as usual.

 - Several members of the men's team (including Yang Yu Hong) are going to Singapore next week for a demonstration.  It's mostly men because the women have Nationals.

 - Wu Di is competing in Guangzhou in November.  Drunken sword and spear, is the current plan.

 - The national team hasn't been picked yet (probably waiting for results of women's nationals) so none of the athletes know who will be competing in Beijing in November for the World Games.  However, Wei Jian mentioned he would be there (he didn't specifically say he was competing) so I guess you world games competitors can hang out with him when you're there.

 - After a week or so the national team will continue their varied-location training.  I think dao / gun are still in Beijing, and other folks are either in Guangzhou, Fuzhou or Xi'an, depending on their events.

And finally, Here is a bonus video of Yang Yu Hong. 

He's talking about a kid he saw in Shaanxi who can do a 1080 twist.  He also mentioned that he got a 900 outside "ONCE".  Oh, and he's single .. so all you ladies (and Bryan Cartago) can start planning your trips to Shanghai now!

Click here to view all photos from this trip.