城市记录 - Xi'an tv spotlight on li suiyin and the art of zhang xiang wu

Hello there everybody, welcome and thank you for watching "Chengshi Jilu" An American named Bailewen thought that after training martial arts for 10 years ...would have acquired some skill. When he first came to China, he visited the Shaolin Temple and he tried a little Sanda But it all left him a little disappointed Off all he had seen none of it was what he wanted to learn. untill 10 years ago while buying a sabre at an antique shop in Xi'an he unexpectedly met an inheritor of the Zhang Xiang Wu boxing method Li Suiyin The two of them made an appointment to meet in 3 days and "cross hands" As a result of that exchange Bailewen has been with us here in Xi'an ...for the past 10 years. And so far... ...still hasn't made any plans to leave. That encounter over 10 years ago when Bailewen thinks about it today he remembers it like it was yesterday He's over 70 now Back then he was over 60 He looked like a little guy But you could feel his hand had some sort of weird power to it. It felt like when you try to grab his hand you just get pulled in. ...sucked in sort of. You get stuck and can't get free. Mr. Li Suiyin back then when they met that day definitely wanted to make this hot shot American learn a thing or two about real kung fu. The much larger, taller, Bailewen was tossed around like a rag doll by the much smaller, very ordinary looking Li Suiyin Shifu To an kung fu crazy American guy like Bailewen this was extremely persuasive. He decided he must become as student of Mr. Li. I traveled all over China visited a lot of cities visited the Shaolin temple checked out a few wushu schools but one of my goals was that I had to find something traditional I'm not interested in the "new wushu". but then the traditional stuff it's hard to find Someone like Shifu especially 10 years back really hard to find It's not like there was a sign on the street or like you could find him online. You just needed to be lucky Or as the Chinese say, have "yuan fen", right? Bajiquan Master Li Suiyin was weak and sickly as a child Because he was small and thin he was often bullied Because of this, his family often wished he could learn martial arts. First, he could improve his health. And second, he could protect himself Li Suiyin was very lucky One year when he was 8 years old he had the good fortune to be taken to the once vice-chair of the Nanjing National Martial Arts Academy General Zhang Xiangwu He then became Zhang Xiangwu's youngest ever formal disciple Over these past 60 some years Mr. Li Suiyin has researched in great depth the national treasure passed down by Mr. Zhang Xiangwu: Bajiquan It's his life's work He has students all over Europe and America here we have an "an" (push) Right.. Like that... You "ji"(press) and he applies "an"(push) good But what he did here was no good. Look here..."ji"(press) Right here, look..."an"... You see? That's two yangs see... I hold you right here....like this... Teaching means actually you must first become a student of the students. If you want to be a teacher You must first learn to be a student So when I am working with them I must study their strengths. I should learn from their strengths and combine them with my own That way my teaching ability will improve All over China, and internationally in American and many other places I have many students. I have students in China are located all over China. in every province. So it is my wish to take the things I've learned and send them to the world To promote them for everyone. That way Hopefully, everyone can improve together This is a dream of mine, To spread and promote Chinese martial arts And, a foreign gentleman Mr. Bailewen performing the ritual 6 months later Mr. Li Suiyin decided to accept this young man, determined, to learn real kung fu, Bailewen. At Mr. Li's 60th birthday In accordance with traditional Chinese custom bowed and formally entered discipleship. This Bajiquan performance from 10 years ago at the time of the ceremony simply can't be compared to this performance later, after 10 years of training under Mr. Li's careful direction Every day, you progress like adding a single sheet of paper Over time, the thickness of just one sheet per day He...sometimes, very likely, gets a big head... Yes, sure, he trains hard.. he'll feel and he thinks, 'I've won a lot of gold medals...' Right then....his progress slows down. Actually, right now, his Bajiquan... is a long way from perfect. Among Li Suiyin's many students Bailewen trains the hardest. And one of the most respectful of traditional ettiquette, but... in the eyes of this very strict Li Shifu, he has many many innumerable faults. Anyways...this "father" is a really strict one. Yeah, me real father would never smack me around like that. But if you wanna lean this stuff reporter: But he doesn't seem like to praise you. To much praise and ... ...I'll just get lazy. reporter: It doesn't bother you? You know... If you really don't care about a person no matter what they do, praise them. If you really want to get good you have to ... shrink your self image. you have to look at your weaknesses Shifu is always emphasizing this. You don't want to spend all day thinking, "I'm really good at this" "Good" means your finished training You can come down from the mountain Head home. Li Suiyin and his students have just come back from a national competition at Wudang. One of many national and international competitions where the deep impression was made The number of foreigners who really love wushu and train like crazy outnumber the Chinese youth in training Wushu, is a Chinese national treasure This is like "a flower that blooms at home but the color is only seen outside the home" Because of this, Mr. Li Suiyin established the Zhang Xiangwu Martial Arts Association To help pass on all that he has learned To allow the essence of Chinese Wushu to spread, to grow and to prosper. Speaking for myself to take what I learned originally this used to all be very secretive. I didn't even take disciples. But now, together with everyone else my thinking has evolved I take these things....I better understand. It's better to teach and promote. When you teach and promote, everyone trains. even overseas. America, Germany, all those students.... France too. Once you have a lot of students what they are all promoting is our Chinese martial arts It's a service to all humanity This Bajiquan of ours in the future, we'd like to bring it into the schools into military training we'd like to see military Bajiquan. Soliers training with Bajiquan's ferocious power. We've got these sorts of ideals. In Mr. Li Suiyin's opinion To become good at Chinese wushu without a foundation in Chinese culture it's not possible to learn it's essence Mr. Li believes you must combine martial arts personal development and traditional culture all together Only then can you fully understand the depth, breadth and splendor of Chinese martial arts. What I study is not Chinese martial arts but rather Chinese culture Martial arts is just a starting point Just a beginning From there, you can branch out into classical Chinese culture Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism... You have to study all of them. you need to become more literate and better spoken That's actually the hardest part for me. I'm at a big disadvantage in this area compared to my training brothers Young American Bailewen has been studying with Li Suiyin Shifu for over 10 years Alltogether he had studied martial arts in America for 10 years and in Xi'an another 10 years His reasons for studying martial arts have changed as his understanding of martial arts has deepened Every year his goals are changings And after that l wanted to learn practical applications and then later, philiosophy Now, my reason for training is really simple I just like it. Nowadays, I feel like it's become just part of who I am Of course I do. When that day comes when I am truly able to pass on Zhang Xiangwu's method It's going to be bittersweet indeed. Sweet because I'll finally be able to be an official representative of the martial arts of Zhang Xiangwu But bitter because it'll be time to go back home I'll have to leave my teacher and training will become more difficult Maybe once a year I can come back and visit But that kind of "graduation" I don't know if I should be happy or sad. Bailewen works in the Xi'an High Tech Development District but his favorite parts of Xi'an are the back streets in the old neighborhoods and the simple pleasures of hanging out with the local Joes. He appreciates their frank and generous character and even more, he likes spending his days riding this old bike around the backstreets getting to know the locals He told us, one day he'll make his mom happy and come back to America to open his martial arts school But that school will not be opened in his own name. The name will be Chinese Xiang Wu Hui He wants to let American's know what he is teaching is a cultural tradition A Chinese national treasure