After spending 2 weeks in Hong Kong training with coach Fu, my family and I took the speed train to Guangzhou. I was very impressed with the comfort of the stations and train running as speeds close to 300 km/h. Last time we travelled to the mainland in 2017 it took us over two hours to reach our destination in a very slow and busy train. Vehicle pollution was also a big issue in 2017, something that was greatly reduced this time around. One of the main reasons was the switch to EVs like scooters, buses and taxis; gas driven vehicles are still in use for long distance trips outside the city.
Back in 2017 travelling to certain areas in Guangzhou was a hassle, bus routes options were limited and finding taxis was difficult. Not anymore, we used the DiDi app to hire drivers to take us anywhere with comfort on EVs, other major change we noticed was the use of WeChat and Alipay to pay for almost everything rather than using cash. Unlike Hong Kong were you can use an Octopus card to pay for transport and other expenses or use your credit cards; in mainland China you need a Chinese cell number and/or local bank account to link it to DiDi and WeChat. We were able to use Alipay to link our credit cards to it. Also DiDi requires knowing Chinese to be able to use it.
We arrived at my in-law’s apartment in the Panyu district located by the Pearl river. The apartment is in a gated community with some small stores and restaurants outside the residential buildings. After eating out we had a walk around the budlings to see if it had changed much from our last visit. The first thing I noticed is that the administration had opened a gym besides the community pool, so I went to check it out. We were giving a short tour, to the right of the lobby is the pool and to the left a gym with machines and free weights, it was the second floor that really picked my interest. Once we reached the top of the stairs to our right we saw ping pong tables and to the left an area for martial arts training e.g., a matted area, mirrors, punching bags, kicking pads etc.
On one of the walls there was a poster offering private lessons on kick boxing, MMA, boxing and Sanda. I inquired about the latter but was told that I had to come back in the evening to talk to the head coach. We came back at 6PM and met Fang An Jie an MMA fighter who runs the gym. Prior to our trip I did not find information about sport colleges in Guangzhou that teach Sanda (unlike the ones in Beijing, Shanghai or the Shaolin Tagou school). Coach Fang informed me that he did not do Sanda, but he had a friend who did and could be hired for private lessons. This is how I met coach Xie Guolin (谢国林) from the Zhongguo Ziyou Boji Xiehui – Chinese Free Fighting Association (中国自由搏击协会). Coach Xie is in his early twenties and an avid competitor who was just at the end of his recovery from a shoulder injury he received in a recent Sanda competition.
Coach Xie did not speak English so we talked through my wife, after learning about my background we settled for 1.5 hour lessons every other day. The first lesson was almost free and the rest at a ~CAN$ 100 fee. Every lessons started with a thorough warm up, kicking/punching pads, to techniques like takedowns, leg catches and sweeps. Because I was not a beginner he showed me more advanced skills and had a very light sparring session. I was impressed with his speed, timing as well as his friendly and encouraging teaching style. He shared that this was his first time coaching a foreigner, and that he started his training at a very young age and how much he enjoys competing.
I personally felt Guangzhou was much hotter than Hong Kong, which made every training session more difficult, we started the session at 9 AM to try an beat the heat; we had a few days of heavy rain due to the Typhoon which brought a much needed even if short lived break from the heat. I had my son join us on our last class and as always coach Xie was very encouraging. Overall I had a lot of fun training, I highly recommend coach Xie for anyone in the area, coach Xie is learning English to make it easier to communicate with non Chinese students. he can be contacted via his WeChat ID: xgl2460.
Zhongguo Wu Xue 