So, we are almost there. But in my book there is one more ingredient that separates many great athletes from the rest of us common folk.
Raising the Bar
Raising more than just her bar
The athletes in China don’t really know any standard other than that of being the best. They are surrounded by athletes who have the highest level in the world and train with them every day of their lives. They have no option but to accept that the level they see around them is the base level for a wushu athlete. There is no “intermediate” wushu athletes on a professional team. “Advanced” is considered the starting point and you only go up from there.
It is as they say: if you believe you can or can’t, you are right. One’s belief system about the world and about themselves dictates their reality, and if your belief is that the lowest level of acceptable wushu is (by our standards) perfection, then you will tolerate nothing less. It isn’t even an option for them. It is just a given. Like the sky being blue or water being wet. Wushu is supposed to look like that, plain and simple, and if it doesn’t, then you aren’t doing wushu.
The Equation
And so, to me, these are the essential elements that separate really amazing athletes from, well, … the rest of us. As I wrote at the beginning:
((Ai/T) +((C*R)+M))(CrI+S)
Which, in normal English could be said as:
Intense Action over Time when added with a Coach providing the latest Resources and the Modeling of excellence, is multiplied by one’s Creative Intelligence and high Standards.
But then, what does that mean to the rest of us? And how is this applicable to the average Joe (or Joan) who is the weekend wushu warrior far away from China?
Applying It To Ourselves
Well, lets look a little more carefully at how our world compares with those of the Chinese athlete. Of those aspects of the equation, which ones apply to us?
- Intensity
- Action (Training)
- Time (Consistency)
- Coaching
- Resources
- Modelling
- Creative Intelligence
- Standards
The biggest limiting factor for most of us is “Time”. Either because of finances or availability, most of us aren’t able to dedicate 5 hours of every day to wushu. But while Time is one of the main factors, it is definitely not the ONLY factor, and many athletes have gotten excellent results on limited availability of time. And, if I can be frank, a lot of people use “time” as an excuse to not commit to their training. I’ve been guilty of it myself. But the truth is, if you want to make the time for something, you can. If it is important to you, then you will do it. But don’t make the mistake of deceiving yourself that your lack of interest in wushu is actually a lack of time for wushu, because you aren’t fooling anyone. Its okay to lose your interest in something, but at least be honest about it. (And if you lose your passion for wushu, then might I suggest reading my blog “How to Maintain Your Motivation for Training (12/14)”?)
I think she's go the whole 'intensity' thing down
Another factor that limits many of us is “Resources”. Many of us aren’t in China and don’t have access. Or we don’t speak Chinese so even if we had access we wouldn’t understand it. This is one of the reasons having a good Coach is very important. Often they have an understanding of the technologies and developments of wushu that we do not have access to. And even if you don’t have a coach on a regular basis, taking full advantage of whatever resources you have (online, seminars, instructional videos, etc) can go a long way.
And finally I think that “modelling” has been an issue for a lot of people too. I remember when I first started that the only people I had to model myself after were those that had been doing wushu for just a few years longer than myself. Then it was up to the coach to show us what good wushu was supposed to look like. But thanks to the advent of these series of tubes we call the internet (brought to you courtesy of Al Gore) you now have access to the best wushu athletes and the highest standards of excellence that ever existed. I would never say that youtube should be a substitute for a good coach, but it can help you find those upon which you can model your own training. Not quite as good as being in the same room as Zhao Qing Jian, of course, but it is better than nothing.
But then, after we take out all the limiting factors, what is left? Assuming you are in the middle of nowhere without a coach and no access to the internet (how are you reading this then?) you end up with …
- Intensity
- Action (Training)
- Creative Intelligence
- Standards
Trying to keep that intensity whenever I train
You can create an intensity of training for yourself every time you step in to the wushu guan (or gym or park or wherever you are).
You can train and take action to improve yourself regardless of whether or not you are in China or have a coach.
You can utilize your own creative intelligence to develop an understanding of the intricate details of wushu.
And you can raise your standards so that you accept nothing but the best from yourself.
If you develop these aspects of your training methodology, then when you DO have those other resources, coaches, available time or models of excellence, you will be able to take full advantage of them.
The great thing about developing these attributes is that it doesn’t just apply to your wushu training, but it applies to all areas of your life. And the skills you develop in honing these skills will benefit you in so many more ways than you can imagine.
Jiayou! (加油!)
No related posts.
For Us , we in Egypt try to do our best… but as you know our time is for other important fields and Sports is a secondary way.
This is very interesting.
i love wushu but i live in the UK and their are no classes in my area so i have to wait until i can drive to learn (about 17 – 18 years old)
i have liked wushu since i started watching jet li films from a young age. i started taekwondo at 14 and i am a red belt and have a grading in september so i will become i black stripe. after this i will be black belt and i can 100% concentrate on wushu. all i think about is wushu, and i have a few books with many basics in them which i have to teach myself. (one book is mastering wushu) most of my training at home is based on wushu stuff i have seen like i mainly do wushu stretches and wushu conditioning. i am practesing stance and kicks and i have a British expert that i can send vids of me doing it so he can say if im doing it correctly.
whats annoying is i will i be to told to be good? or with a lot of trainign and hard work would i be able to get their? i dont want too sound like i have a big head but i can usually pick things up quit fast and i am very determined, i dont want to be like most europeans wushu people that are a bit rubbish and dont concentrate enough on wushu. i will be working for my dad in about a month so i will have quit a bit of money so i can afford to travel to learn and i will work from about 7am to about 1pm so i will have a lot of time to practice and i will attend very lesson if possible. i will be learning with master chen de qing so he is a chinese expert that i will learn wushu proparly.
i love training and push myself all the time to practice more wushu.
i was just wondering if their was anything i could learn at home to get me more ready like leg stretch training and flexibility. i am very flexible already so i can do a lot of the wushu kicks but because i would be 17 to learn would i be able to get good with hard work and i would also like to train with the chinese would they let me train and offer help to me?
sorry for the long reply i am just obsessed with wushu and want a bit of advice of what to practice to get me ready.
thanks alot
Thanks for the post comment. Chen De Qing is a great guy and a solid coach. Please give him my regards when you start training with him.
To answer your question, I think that the main things you should be developing (and this applies to things that athletes can develop during their off-season too) is flexibility and strength/power.
For flexibility the most important is being able to open yourself up — especially the hips. Lots of straddle splits and be sure to work on your head-to-toe stretches as those two are pretty important for wushu. Straddle splits help you get proper depth and range in your stances, which helps with your transitional power, and the head-to-toe stretch works your hamstrings, knees and calves, which work along with many of the kicks in wushu which require a lot of flexibility in those areas. Those are probably the two stretches I would focus on the most. Secondary to those would be gluteal stretches, back and waist stretches and then shoulder stretches — all important as well.
For strength/power training, the most important thing is to get that “explosive” power from your muscles — to develop the fast twitch and quick-fire attributes. Plyometrics are good for this to some degree. Also certain types of weight training. To be honest, if I had just 2 or 3 exercises to focus on for wushu and that was all I could do, I would do the following:
Abs/Back: The core is of paramount importance in wushu. Can’t stress that enough. Gotta have a strong core. Lots of leg lifts, crunches, sit ups, back lifts, fish flops, etc. Work those obliques too.
Pushups/Pullups: I didn’t use to think this was a vital exercise, but I have since been schooled be a few professional athletes here in China. Push-ups are very helpful in developing good power and explosive energy with punches and upper body techniques. I like pull-ups because they are an upper-body exercise that uses a few different, important muscle groups. Plus it looks really bad-ass if you can pump a bunch of those out.
Squats/Lunges: You need to have some seriously strong legs for wushu. Lots and lots of lunge walks and lots and lots of squat-type exercises like wall-sits. Stance holding is helpful, but more important than that are stance transitions. Do a quarter mile of mabu-gongbu (horse stance – bow stance) transitions around the track and you are a beast. Having a really strong stance transition is crucial to good wushu. On top of that you should have the ability to go from a low drop stance to a higher stance without looking like you have osteoporosis. Part of that is leg strength and part of that is hip flexibility.
In any case, this is what I would focus on if I was preparing for some future wushu training. Of course, you can’t go wrong with cardio like running too. In fact, I would probably add that to the mix as well.
Dang … this is motivating me to get off my butt. Maybe I should take my own advice! Thanks for the comment! Hope this helps.
Yep, your right! I know about the chinese families forcing their children but thats another story.
Fact is that starting wushu at this young age is an essential point why they are so far better than we are. (but its only one of many of reasons as you know ^^)
But nevermind!
Everyone can do this.
I see wushu as a young baby in the world. It’s like karate or Judo in the 60′s and 70′s.
It spread over the howl world and NOONE was better than the japanese…A couple of years later netherland and france where far better than the japanese.
Same with TaeKwonDo.
When it became olyimpic discipline they said “We played with the others” No one was better than Korea…a view years later everything changed…
Same will be with wushu….Give it another 10 years and China will have it’s competition ^^
But it depends on people like you , me and everyone else out there who love to do what we do.
Thats why i appreceate this article and your work with wushuzilla.
You made it possible for us to see an amazing tournament like the 11th-ACG.
Great Job dude.
However the reason why i responded like i did was because some parts of the article sound little too harsh for me.
Like the part “If it does not look like it, it is not wushu”. Sure there is some truth in it but it sounds kinda hard.
For me trying you best,be creative (like cou said), motivated and finally evolve is gong fu and finally wushu.
there was only one sentence i heard more often than the word 快 (kuài)and it was 慢慢来 (mànmànlái)
And thats what they say. Wushu needs time! so take your time ^^
However there is another point i wanted to talk about.
The thing of time.
Yeah you allready pointed it out. THERE IS ALWAYS ENOUGH TIME TO TRAIN EVEN MORE!
BUT!
In Fact most of us have to make a living, and most of us can’t do this with wushu like in china.
Many of western athlets have a Job to finance their wushu training and living. I know there is always time to train but it’s not possible for everyone to train about 5-8 hours a day because they have a job.
I think this is also a reason why there is such a big gap between China and the world.
I just can talk for europe athlets, I dunno how it’s in the us, but wushu there is too less competition you can make a living with. Think it’s a big difference to china (correct me if i’m wrong)
Omg it’s just 3 o’clock in the morning and im enjoying myself writing this post and thinking about the future of our and my own wushu ^^
Can’t say it more often. I really appreciate your work ^^
- Xíng
a damnit sorre! Didn’t see the “reply” button XD
Thanks again for the comment.
I should clarify that the comment “Wushu is supposed to look like that, plain and simple, and if it doesn’t, then you aren’t doing wushu.” was an extreme example meant to illustrate the viewpoint (not necessarily my own) that I was talking about; that one must have high standards when working to achieve a high level skill.
This is a literary technique that many writers use to express an idea in a stronger than normal way. For example, when people say “I’m totally freaking out” they do not mean that they are literally freaking out, or they mean that they are having a strong reaction to something, but use this sort of speech in order to exaggerate their experience so that others can understand it.
You are probably aware of this, but since you brought it up, I felt I should clarify. Usually if one person is unclear on something, it means there are 10 other people reading the same thing that had the same lack of clarify.
Again, saying that “if wushu doesn’t look like that then it isn’t wushu” was an example of the attitude that some perfectionists or those with very high standards might have related to wushu. It is not my opinion. it was stated as an example of an extreme opinion that an athlete might have.
Thanks!
- mark
allright! everyhing clear now.
Keep up the good work!
- Xíng
Hey!
Thanks for the great article.
It is great to read that other people think about the same questions I (we) do.
In most points i agree with you but there are some i disagree with.
especially the part where you say “. Or perhaps they are just doing it for fun”
I think “Fun” is one of the most important party of practicing and improving ones wushu.
Fun is a great motivation nd it leads to passion and joy.
Like Zhao Qing Jian said in the interview with you friends of w1f.com.
The question was something like….How could this be that the chinese wushu lvl is so far beyond the lvl “we” train.
And his answer was everyone can do this. If they train with their heart.
I think this very important.
Another pint thats important im my opinion is that most of Chinese Athlets started when they where very young.
Compared to most westeners who mostly start at the age around 16. This summer, when i was in china parcticing wushu, one of my trainers and friends told me…”People who want to train wushu start at young age. At the age of 14 to 16 they have to decide if they want to do sanda or taolu. However if someone starts at the age of 16 he can just do sanda.”
Okay my obviouse question was then…” Why?”
…and he told me…” Because when they are young we OPEN the body, at the age of 16 it is no longer possible to do so”
i said okay ^^
Although i know what he was talking about i disagreed with him. And later he saw why.
Everything is in yourself. If you want to do so, and if you do it with your heart, you can do it!! no matter how old you are.
That leads me to the next point…Phlosophy of wushu/gong fu.
but i don’t want to get into this now ^^
Thats just a view points and i hope you know what i mean and wanted to express. There would be some more stuff but most of all you explained very well and i agree with you
I’ve got to train now!
Jiayou! (加油!) Omitofo!
Thanks for your comments. Just briefly, but “maybe they are just doing it for fun” I was referring to those people who join a wushu school without any desire to improve in wushu. In other words, they are just doing it to pass the time. I did not mean “fun” in the sense of enjoying one’s self, but in the sense of wasting time in the pursuit of an activity that you are not really interested in.
Of course, enjoying what you do is essential. In fact, if you didn’t enjoy wushu, then why do it at all? But in every school I’ve trained at (a good dozen or so) there are those students who aren’t there to develop skill in wushu, but are a drain on the energy of the class, either because their parents are forcing them to do it, or they don’t really care about practicing and just want to socialize (common in some College wushu clubs I know) or they don’t realize what it means to train in wushu and are constantly complaining and critisizing the school/students/class/style, etc.
I hope that clarifies my meaning.
Thanks again for your comment!
- Mark
sorry .. a typo. The first “but” should be “by”