Wu Bin - The Father of Modern Wushu

By Melody Chung

The Father of Modern Wushu: Wu Bin Hailed the "father of modern wushu," Coach Wu Bin is synonymous with greatness. For decades, the ninth-degree grandmaster has directed wushu's backstage development by spotting potential, building world champions, and advancing wushu to the international arena. He is the architect of modern wushu, an architect still shaping wushu's future after forty years.



Wu Bin's past Wu Bin was born in Wuxing County of Zhejiang Province in 1937. Surprisingly, Coach Wu did not become involved with wushu until the late age of 19. "Even before wushu, I was already quite athletic," he says. "I trained professionally in weightlifting, and in my free time, I swam, played soccer, and practiced basketball." In 1958, he tested into the Beijing Physical Culture University, where he practiced three essential movements in weightlifting. After a year, he injured his waist and was unable to continue training seriously, so his career in weightlifting came to an end.

In 1959, Zhang Guangde, a wushu instructor at the school, recommended that the young Wu Bin switch his major to wushu because he would have a brighter future. Under Zhang Guangde, Wu Bin learned beginner fist forms, stances, and flexibility. He also worked on za quan in private lessons with renowned grandmaster Zhang Wenguang, the head of the wushu department and a performer at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Although there were only two other students in the class, Wu Bin worked furiously to catch up. "The flexibility aspect of wushu came fairly easy to me because my flexibility was already satisfactory," he says. "Kicks and splits were not a problem."



In 1964, Wu Bin was sent by the government to teach a small wushu class at the Beijing Sports School. The environment was incredibly poor, with limited space. Wu Bin disregarded these Spartan living conditions, saying that "it didn't matter," because his main goals were to train wushu athletes and to establish a renowned school. Others criticized his goal as being unrealistic, but Wu Bin was determined to pursue his dreams. In 1966 he was awarded "Outstanding Coach" by the government.




One of these athletes was Liu Qinghua of Liaoning Province. Although she was already 22 years old, Wu Bin approved of her standardized and clean movements. In 1995 she tore an ankle ligament and had an infected kidney. Other coaches doubted her ability to succeed, but Wu Bin simply found the best doctor to cure her kidney problems. When she competed in 1996, she made mistakes and did not place. Even under pressure to regain Beijing's lost reputation, Wu Bin did not yell or lecture her, only saying, "It's okay, try again next time." Later on, she secured her spot in wushu history by winning two gold medals in changquan and weapon forms.


To Wu Bin, a coach must invest as much energy and time as the students. If training were scheduled at 5:30 a.m., then he would show up ten minutes earlier. "The students would say, ?Hurry up! Coach is already out there,'" he says. "They would sprint out frantically, but eventually they learned to come out earlier. I wanted to show them that I was serious about training them," he says.

Wushu in America Wu Bin believes that certain obstacles are currently limiting the growth of wushu in America. Whereas Chinese athletes are often pushed to the limit, American students generally cannot be pushed too hard. "Students are comfortable in America because there is a higher standard of living. So for instance, I can't stretch them too hard or else they won't come back and learn anymore," he says.


Despite the obstacles, however, there is still hope that wushu can spread in America. Wu Bin believes that there are two ways to accomplish this. First of all, students must be passionate about what they are learning and develop a dedication to the sport. "Watching martial arts movies is one way to inspire kids to train," he says. Secondly, students must develop solid basics, but even this is challenging to achieve. It is difficult for coaches to train students in terms of coordination, legwork, posture, and jingqisheng. On top of that, coaches often have to worry about running their schools and paying rent.

Wu Bin gives an example about how hard it is to teach in America. "Suppose a coach is running a school in the U.S., but only two people show up to class. The coach still has the obligation of teaching them. If the students are youngsters, then the coach has to keep them happy, and so training sometimes becomes playing or even babysitting. It's not training anymore," he says.

Wu Bin states that he is always surprised when watching American kids compete or perform, because they seem to know everything: three-section staff, double broadswords, international routines, and more. Yet in the end, they seem to have "mastered nothing at all," because none of their movements have been executed completely. "They are not dao wei, or standardized and executed properly! The movements are done halfway," he says. That's why coaches and students must focus on developing strong basics and outline a long-term plan.


In the end, Wu Bin still believes that wushu's path to becoming a global sport begins in America. Since the U.S. is strong in athletics, wushu must first become popular in America. "Why did tae kwon do spread so fast? Why is it in the Olympics? It's because of America," he states. "The karate and tae kwon do community were able to make these sports easy to learn, teach, and understand. Students nationwide also have a passion for it. Wushu must learn from these sports."

Wushu in China and Nandu With the 1990s came nandu, or difficulty movements. Wushu's bid for the 2008 Olympics only made nandu more pronounced, as athletes raced to beat each other. With rotations and height increasing exponentially, Wu Bin wants us to ask, "Is this wushu? Is this martial arts? What is authentic?" Wu Bin admits that with nandu so widespread in China, it is difficult to reverse the process and go back to basics. He is not against nandu, though he states that this cannot define wushu or become the only aspect of it.

In China right now, nandu often determines who receives the highest score. But Wu Bin believes that this is wrong because it diminishes the value of shouyanshenfa. Wu Bin states that Chinese judges need to come together to modify the current system so that nandu is less emphasized. "Today shouyanshenfa is not considered nandu. This is wrong," he says. "If your jingqisheng is not good enough, then this is not wushu," he states. "Beauty lies in a person's jingqisheng."

In the days of "old school" wushu, it was difficult to measure shouyanshengfa, but judges could tell by instinct. He admits that jingqisheng is a subjective characteristic that cannot be measured explicitly: "It's a feeling you get. You can't explain why you feel impressed by a person's jingqisheng, but you can certainly feel it. For instance, back in the ?70s Grandmaster Chen Dao Yun had very good jingqisheng. That's why no one could beat her."

Coach Wu feels that wushu needs to go back to basics and be simplified for the rest of the world to follow. Nandu also makes it easy for athletes outside of China to get injured; forcing a movement can easily lead to injuries, since the athlete's condition and body are not up to par yet. "In China, the professionals train at least four hours a day. Their bodies are prepared for movements and nandu. In America, the athletes don't train as much, carpets are not standardized, and protection and equipment are not enough. This is unfair to the U.S. athletes. As of now, America cannot compare with China."

In addition to placing less emphasis on nandu, Wu Bin wants the wushu community to devise a method to make wushu more popular. Sports like ice-skating are artistic and aesthetically pleasing and can attract thousands of spectators and non-athletes. On the other hand, wushu competitions-even national ones in China-often draw small audiences. Wu Bin challenges the wushu community to ponder, "How can we make wushu more attractive, so that spectators can enjoy, appreciate, and understand the sport?" He believes that Chinese judges, coaches, and athletes need to come together to solve this question and develop standard rules for the rest of the world to follow.




Wu Bin likes Young Champions because it is a vehicle for expanding wushu to Caucasians in America. "The good thing about Young Champions is that it's like a chain store, so wushu can spread extremely fast," he says.

Wu Bin and Young Champions have also been planning a competition open to all athletes. Although still in its tentative stages, it will be held at the Mega Expo Center in Chicago from November 15-17, 2007. Divisions will include modern wushu judged by Olympic rules, modern wushu judged by International Wushu Federation rules, traditional wushu, and group sets. More information will be released as the date approaches. If you think Wu Bin is winding down, you're wrong. The wheels in his head are always turning, and he's always looking toward the next step. He's only just beginning.

Click here for Feature Articles from this issue and others published in 2007 .

About Melody Chung :
Melody Chung has won numerous national writing awards, including a Gold Award from the 2004 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and a national winner citation from the 2003 NCTE Promising Young Writers Program. She is also a co-author of the book Joy of Wushu.

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