by Zhou Yilan
FORT WORTH, United States, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — Krist Caldwell, a commentator for Sanda competitions of the continued sixteenth World Wushu Championships (WWC) in Fort Worth, U.S. state of Texas, is an American Wushu fanatic with over 20 years of expertise.
Caldwell, an American legal professional in his early 40s dwelling in Plano, a metropolis about 50 miles away from Fort Worth, shared his journey into Chinese martial arts with Xinhua in an unique interview in the course of the championships.
“My mother used to take my brother and me to the library every Sunday after church. And one day while in the sporting section I found a book on martial arts. It had all kinds of martial arts including Japanese martial arts, Korean martial arts, Chinese martial arts, and even martial arts from Thailand and American boxing,” he recalled.
Caldwell got here to the chapter on Chinese martial arts, the place he found that Chinese martial arts are the primary origin of all martial arts, beginning at Shaolin Temple in China. “All other martial arts come from there!”
“That really impressed me,” Caldwell mentioned. He continued to discover totally different kinds of Kung Fu, together with tiger, snake, and even the drunken fashion, which entails pretending to be drunk. “This caught my imagination. I fell in love with martial arts when I was 13 years old,” he mentioned.
After over 20 years of training Chinese conventional martial arts, “it is still my passion,” he advised Xinhua.
Caldwell noticed that Kung Fu is distinct from taekwondo or karate as a result of every transfer in Kung Fu has distinctive names just like the monkey king swings the stick, or General Kwan (Guan Yu, a common in historical China) holds a sword. “Then you have to read the history and then you find out this is the monkey king and that is the famous general from China’s Three Kingdoms Period,” Caldwell mentioned.
According to Caldwell, coaching in Kung Fu additionally entails studying in regards to the tradition and historical past behind Chinese martial arts.
Caldwell has had the chance to satisfy folks from everywhere in the nation and the world by means of Chinese martial arts, having competed twice at Wushu world championships in China. He expressed satisfaction in having visited Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, and even seeing pandas there.
“It was a very wonderful experience!” Caldwell mentioned.
The martial arts additionally supplied Caldwell entry to historic websites just like the Forbidden City in Beijing. “Those great buildings that were built thousands of years ago are still standing and they still look wonderful,” Caldwell mentioned.
“I’ve been very lucky to learn Chinese martial arts and it really taught me a lot about the culture and I’m very thankful for that,” he added.
In his statement, Chinese martial arts weren’t very well-known within the United States initially. However, figures like Bruce Lee within the Nineteen Seventies introduced consideration to them, adopted by Jackie Chan and Jet Li. “Now almost everybody knows martial arts or Chinese martial arts,” he mentioned.
Caldwell famous that Chinese martial arts characteristic prominently in American motion pictures, together with crime and motion movies, and even in common franchises like Star Wars. “If you watch those Star Wars movies, those Kung Fu stuntmen all do Woohoo!” Caldwell mentioned.
Caldwell additionally believes that Chinese martial arts are spreading all through the west, not just for leisure but in addition for health and well being. He sees an excellent potential marketplace for Chinese martial arts within the United States.
According to Caldwell, cultural symbols just like the cowboy characterize America, whereas Kung Fu or martial arts characterize China. He attracts parallels between the cowboy and the Kung Fu grasp, likening them to Yin and Yang.
“The cowboy is strong, benevolent, and somewhat wild. The Kung Fu master is patient, strong and looks out for the weaker. So I think the cowboy represents the west and the Kung Fu master represents the east, but if you put them together, they’re like Yin and Yang,” Caldwell mentioned.
Caldwell expressed pleasure in regards to the sixteenth World Wushu Championships, noting that martial arts construct group amongst totally different international locations.
“They can bring their culture from the east here and we can share the culture of the west with them when they come, you know, will be a wonderful exchange,” Caldwell mentioned.
This is the second time for the United States to host the match, with the third WWC having been held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1995.
The sixteenth championships is because of conclude on Monday.