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In 1972 Li Junfeng graduated from University and started as a Wushu coach at
Beijing’s Shichahai Spare Time Sports School (now more commonly known as the
home of the Beijing Wushu Team). He wanted to start up several new Wushu classes
so he decided to go to the local schools to select students.
 His
intention was to choose 10 students from each school, these students all being
from the 4th year so roughly about 10 years old. When he came to the school that
8 year old Lu Yan was attending he decided to make an exception.
As Lu Yan was only in the 2nd year he did not initially get the opportunity to
see the energetic youngster. Li Junfeng had already selected his 10 students
when Lu Yan’s teacher approached him and told him that she had a student who was
always dancing and had boundless energy. He agreed to meet this young girl, and
he immediately wanted Lu Yan to join his school. Li Junfeng believed Lu Yan to
be special, so instead of leaving with 10 students, he left with 11, Lu Yan
being the 11th.
Being selected was only the first step to being accepted into the new Wushu
classes. Every student had to pass an exam which tested their physical
abilities, these included skills like could they do the splits, what were their
kicks like, could they jump etc. Lu Yan easily passed this exam and was accepted
into the school.
So in March of 1972 the 11 students chosen from Lu Yan’s school walked the 3km
to Shichahai for their first days of training. At Shichahai itself there were
students from several other schools as well – in all there were about 60
children.
Every weekday these youngsters would train from 3:30 to 5:30. The training
itself was rigorous, and very competitive. In one class there was a Mabu
competition (horse riding stance) to see who could hold the stance for the
longest. Eventually it was down to Lu Yan and one other girl to battle it out,
neither wanting to give in, with Lu Yan’s unwillingness to lose finally seeing
her as the victor.
 As
the weeks passed these 60 students were whittled down to about 10. Everyone
chosen from Lu Yan’s school was rejected, until only she was left. This made Lu
Yan somewhat of a star at her school, with her often being asked to perform at
school meetings.
Her Wushu class were also gaining popularity, regularly being asked to perform
all over Beijing and its surrounding countryside. They performed in a variety of
places, not just schools and theatres but also in factories and marketplaces.
Competitions at this time had a different flavour to today. As such, they were
not competitions, but demonstrations.
Whoever performed the best demonstration would be the winner. In November of
1972 the Shichahai Wushu class attended its first competition, this being in Ji
Nan city in Shandong.
Lu Yan’s Wushu class were a lot younger than any of the other competitors, with
Lu Yan being the youngest athlete in the entire competition. They also had no
experience of this sort of meeting, it all being a far cry from their normal,
everyday training environment. This did not deter the youngsters with their
demonstrations, surprising and impressing the spectators with their exceptional
skills.
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Articles pages
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