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Affiliation: UC Berkeley Wushu Team (Cal Wushu)

Events: Changquan and Fanziquan

Styles Studied:
  • Longfist (Changquan)
  • Basic Shaolin Fist
  • Broadsword (Daoshu)
  • Straightsword (Jianshu)
  • Staff (Gunshu)
  • Tumbling Fist (Fanziquan)

    Bio: My first contact with martial arts probably started with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which were the coolest things in existence when I was a 5-year-old. I also watched a lot of Jet Li movies growing up, and would try out some of the moves when nobody was watching.

    Years later, when I was in middle school, I started training in Taekwondo with Master Delon Tan. I was fairly good at it, but after a year or so, I became too busy with music to continue training, so I quit TKD around the time I entered high school.

    In college, I discovered that UC Berkeley had a robust martial arts program, and due to my idolization of Jet Li, I decided to give Wushu a try. It was one of the best things I ever did at Cal.

    I found wushu to be the perfect sport for me because I didn't necessarily enjoy the confrontation necessary in other martial arts. A wushu athlete strives for individual perfection in physical ability and mental strength, and even during competitions, all the competitors cheer each other on, because we wanted nothing more than for the level of our competition to rise so that we could use that as motivation to push ourselves. Since wushu in the US was still fairly young when I started back in 2001, it was an exciting time to be a part of it because of the camaraderie that it inspired; wushu athletes from across the US always had a special bond, because we all wanted to promote the sport we loved so much.

    I also did my part by serving as the Head Demo Coordinator at Berkeley from 2002-2005, arranging performances for all types of intercultural festivals, charity shows, and campus events. I also led demo team workouts, regular advanced team workouts, and weekend open workouts from time to time. Even though I wasn't ever the best athlete on the Berkeley team, I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with the less advanced athletes, and found that to be one of the most rewarding things I did in college. I will always be thankful for the experience of being a part of the UC Berkeley Wushu Team.

    After graduation in May 2005, I traveled to China with some of my closest wushu friends to train at the famed Shichahai Sports School in Beijing, where Jet Li himself trained at when he was an active competitor in the 1970's. It was an eye-opening experience to see the kind of effort and dedication it takes to become a world-class martial artist, and though I had the time of my life there, all the injuries I had sustained over the past few years of being an active wushu competitor caught up with me and I decided to discontinue my training after I came back to the United States. Despite that, I still maintain close friendships with many of the people I've met through the sport, and I still hope wushu makes its way into the Olympics as a medal sport someday.

    - Jonathan (8/31/2009)
    		• Competition History
    2/26/2005 9th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships
    2/21/2004 8th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships
    - 3rd Place in Intermediate Traditional Open Hand Forms
    11/9/2002 7th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships
    - 3rd Place in Intermediate Traditional Open Hand Forms
    8/11/2002 10th Annual Chinese American Athletic Tournament
    - 1st Place in Beginner Traditional Northern Style
    - 2nd Place in Beginner Changquan
    4/13/2002 10th Annual UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament
    2/16/2002 6th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships


    Performance History
    4/16/2005 Chinese Student Association's Culture Show
    4/16/2005 Berkeley High School's Asian and Pacific Islander Culture Festival
    4/16/2005 Demo at the 30th National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships
    4/2/2005 13th Annual UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament Master's Demo *
    3/16/2005 Asian American Association's Date Auction Demo
    3/5/2005 Asian and Pacific Islander Culture Festival Demo
    2/23/2005 Spring In-class Demo
    2/10/2005 Tsunami Relief Charity Dinner Demo
    1/30/2005 Families with Children from China Demo *
    12/1/2004 Asian American Club's Culture Show *
    11/17/2004 Phi Sigma Pi Charity Demo *
    11/13/2004 Berkeley Art Museum's Fall Arts Demo *
    11/5/2004 ABA Charity Fashion Show Demo *
    10/8/2004 Ninja Card Promo Demo *
    9/24/2004 Fall 2004 In-class Demo *
    8/28/2004 Caltopia Demo *
    3/6/2004 Red Trousers Movie Promo Demo *
    2/8/2004 Lunar New Year Festival
    2/6/2004 Spring In-class Demo *
    1/31/2004 Families with Children from China Demo *
    1/27/2004 UCMAP Spring Orientation Demo *
    1/22/2004 Haas MBA Chinese New Year Celebration Demo *
    11/8/2003 Berkeley Arts Museum Fall Arts Fest *
    8/23/2003 Caltopia Demo
    8/21/2003 Calapalooza Demo (Welcome Week)
    4/12/2003 UC Berkeley Martial Arts Program Demo on Cal Day
    2/25/2003 Unit 3 UCMAP Demo
    1/25/2003 Demo for Families With Children From China
    11/2/2002 Demo as part of the Fall Arts Festival at the Berkeley Art Museum
    8/25/2002 Demo at the Oakland StreetFest
    8/22/2002 Calapalooza Demo (Welcome Week)
    4/20/2002 Cal-Day performance for UC Berkeley I-House Intercultural Spring Festival
    4/20/2002 Cal-Day performance for Asian and Pacific Islander REACH program
    3/2/2002 In-class Demo for new Calwushu students

    * - coordinator