Beijing Wushu Team

The Beijing Wushu Team was founded in November 1974 as a successor to the Beijing Wushu School, which was created in order to prepare Beijing for the First All China Games, a national multi-sport competition. Liu Peiwei, a graduate of the Beijing Sports University Wushu department was appointed team leader and coach. After the First All China Games, the team received a permanent home at the Beihai Sports Center, with Liu Peiwei serving as the first director. In 1963 Beijing Sports University graduate Wu Bin came to the school as a coach bringing new vitality into the Beihai Sports Center and establishing the foundation for the Beijing Wushu Team's later success. In 1964, after poor results at the national competition, Wu Bin and the other young coaches set out a plan to create a Championship team. Their plan was to start from a young age, selecting promising athletes and put them through a rigid, comprehensive, and scientific system of training. Within a year, the new Beijing Wushu team won second place at a citywide competition in the women's empty hand, short and long weapons divisions. Further success was quick to follow and from 1974 to 1997, they won the National Team Championship 11 times, finishing in the top 6 places 526 times; of those, 147 were gold, 108 silver and 96 bronzes. The members of the Team are first and foremost athletes and coaches, but they have also worked with movie producers to make films. Aside from Jet Li, many other athletes have been featured in movies: for example Wang Jue starred in "Shaolin Temple," "Shaolin Kids," and "North and South Shaolin"; Wang Qun was in "Zhen San," "Treasure beyond the Great Wall," and "Beggar Spirit"; Coach Li Junfeng appeared in "Wulin Zhi" and "Broadsword King 5"; Zhang Hong Mei was in "Xia Nuu Chu Bao" and "Xia Nuu 13 Mei," and Li Jinheng was in "11 Gold Medals." Each year the Beijing Wushu Team performs for the citizens of Beijing, including politicians, tourists, and visiting guests and dignitaries during holidays and special occasions. They have performed for President Carter as well as many other foreign heads of state visiting Beijing. The team has also helped promote the sport of Wushu throughout the world during visits to Japan, the United States, Great Britain, Spain, Ireland, Thailand, Syria, the Philippines, Burma, and Australia. As part of the Chinese Wushu Team, they have gone to Italy, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Moroco, France, Mexico, Vietnam, Algeria and Tunisia. These many trips overseas have allowed the Team to make many international relationships. The Beijing Wushu Team has an especially good relationship with the United States. While members of the Team came with the Chinese Wushu Delegation in 1974, the first official Beijing Wushu Team trip did not come until 1980, when they performed at Fort Mason in San Francisco. This included first-generation team members such as Yu Shao Wen, Zhang Hong Mei, Hao Zhi Hua, Li Xia, Zhang Guifeng, Cui Ya Hui, Zhou Jing Ping, Li Jing Heng, and Jet Li. In 1984, the Team came again and toured both the United States and Mexico. Additional members on this trip were Yan Ping, Tang Lai Wei, and Feng Zhi Qiang. Following a brief trip to the United States in 1986 to serve as judges at a national tournament, there was an 8-year gap before the next time they came in 1994. The Team also visited in 1997, 1998, 1999, and most recently in 2000, although they have been unable to travel outside of China as a group since then. Fortunately, we were able to find a way to bring them this year for another national tour. Please take this special opportunity to meet the current generation of Wushu athletes from Beijing and enjoy an exhibition of the highest level of Chinese Martial Arts. Enjoy!