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Foreign students enjoy taking
Chinese martial arts classes
Matt West (right) from the United States enjoys learning Chinese martial arts. (Cherry Cheung)
By Cherry Cheung
Not only do the Chinese practice Chinese martial arts. Foreign students are into it as well.
Matt West, who is from the United States, is a member of the United College Chinese Martial Arts Society at the Chinese University.
There are 20 members in the club. Four are foreign students.
The 24-year-old master’s student in anthropology said that foreign students in Hong Kong pick up Chinese martial arts because they are interested in Chinese culture.
Besides, the sport gives him some advantages.
He said, “It is a good exercise and a good way to meet people outside my department.”
Mr. West has learned more than just martial arts from joining the club.
“It’s like doing any sport: You have to commit yourself to it, come to the practices and be sure you are on time.
“So if you concentrate on Chinese martial arts and you do your studies as well, you have to make the time to do it.”
He said that he learnt how to budget his time and do the best in everything.
However, learning Chinese martial arts is sometimes difficult for him because the terms used are always in Cantonese.
He said that the difficult part comes when the instructor calls out a form, which is a specific set of hand and leg movements, in Cantonese, and asks students to follow it.
“It’s tough because it takes a couple of weeks for me to remember what the Cantonese is to do the form.”
Apart from the language barrier, cultural differences are also a problem for foreign martial arts followers.
Ying Fun Fong, an instructor of the Chinese Martial Arts of the University of Hong Kong, said, “Due to cultural differences, they may not really understand the meaning of Chinese martial arts since it is abstract and difficult to understand for people who do not know Chinese.”
Mr. West agreed, saying that the physical side of martial arts is as simple as watching, copying and being corrected. But it is difficult to learn all of the extra mental and tactical pieces of Chinese martial arts.
Despite this, foreign students have advantages over local students.
Tang Ying Wai, chairman of the United College Chinese Martial Arts Society, said, “Foreign students are more willing to go through hardships than local students.”
This is shown while practicing basic forms, which is harsh but important for practitioners.
He said that foreign students enjoy it, while local students think that it is boring and give up easily.
Besides, foreign students are also willing to spend more time on Chinese martial arts.
He said, “It is easier for exchange students to arrange their time because they do not take part in as many activities as local students do.”
Mr. West said foreign students are more anxious to learn martial arts.
“Because of the limited time here, exchange students want to learn as much as possible in order to show their friends at home what they have learned,” he said.
The
situation for foreign students enrolled in the university and exchange
students is different, he said.
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