Zhang Xiaoyan practices boxing on Huagai Mountain in the city. Photo by Liao Dake/
On Huagai Mountain in summer, there are still many people practicing martial arts and fitness every morning. Recently, an unusual person came - Zhang Xiaoyan, a famous martial arts star from Wenji, who suddenly made people's thoughts go back more than 30 years ago.
Zhang Xiaoyan starred in "Hearing Heroes from Ancient Times" in 1983. She once caused a sensation in China. Not only was her beautiful and handsome appearance, but also because of her practice of Snake Fist , which combines hardness and softness, she once won the hearts of audiences across the country. Later, she returned to Wenzhou to visit her relatives and often went to Huagaishan to exercise. The superb snake fist, the palm shadows that flew through the woods of Huagaishan are still impressive.
But after 1986, Zhang Xiaoyan went abroad and rarely met her again. This time she returned to Wenhuai and looked for traditional martial arts masters from the folk. So she worshipped Jin Guanglin and Lu Baoqing as her masters in Huagai Mountain and Zhongshan Park. She learned internal skills such as standing stances and Tai Chi pushers. She also visited internal skills such as Zhao Yuqing and other internal skills masters, visited the inheritors of the Southern Shaolin Luohan Fist in Wenzhou and the Four Elephant Fist of Wenzhou Fan Family, hoping to learn more about the essence of traditional martial arts.
Zhang Xiaoyan played the role of the young wife in "Heroes Since Ancient Times"
practiced martial arts since childhood, and thought it was practicing dance
1 Watch Zhang Xiaoyan's kung fu performance is nothing more than a very beautiful artistic enjoyment. The agile body, flexible limbs, free and easy movements, and skilled basic skills. As the saying goes, this is "young kung fu", which is learned from a young age, and it can be said to be a profound foundation.
Why does a girl choose martial arts as her lifelong career? Zhang Xiaoyan said that her ancestral home is Pingyang and was born in 1959 at Beauty Platform on Shanqian Street, Wenzhou City. When she was a child, she had weak constitutions and often had colds and fevers. Her mother introduced her to dance, hoping to exercise. Later, I accidentally heard her neighbor Qiuping say that the city sports school recruits martial arts students, and Qiuping’s Jianshe Primary School organized students to register. Zhang Xiaoyan understood martial arts as dance, so she followed her. When she arrived at the martial arts team of coach Shen Chengming, she saw many children kicking and somersaulting there. She thought that this is how she practiced dancing, but she quickly integrated into it. She practiced very hard and became an outstanding athlete. Therefore, Zhang Xiaoyan had an indissoluble bond with martial arts in this life.
Zhang Xiaoyan's mother also thinks that practicing martial arts can strengthen her body, so she also supports her very much. Due to her excellent results, she was selected into the Zhejiang Provincial Wushu Team in 1972. Under the guidance of Coach Chen Shun'an, she won the single championship and all-round championship in the National Wushu Championship for many years, including snake fist, double sword, gun , and became a Chinese martial arts athlete and eighth-stage martial arts athlete. After decades of hard work, Zhang Xiaoyan’s experience of girls practicing martial arts is that martial arts can cultivate girls’ bold and steady personality, make women more independent, and at the same time, it can also prevent physical fitness.
became famous for "Heroes Since Ancient Times"
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was the time when Chinese martial arts movies were popular all over the world. Chinese Martial Arts Association selects outstanding martial arts athletes from various provinces, forms the "National Youth Martial Arts delegation" to visit Europe, Africa and other countries to spread martial arts culture with Chinese characteristics to the world, including Jet Li , Zhang Xiaoyan and others. The team members went to Beijing to train together and received training from teachers such as Chinese martial arts masters at that time, Li Tianji , Sha Guozheng , Yu Hai , Wu Bin , and Chen Daoyun, who won the all-round championship of the 1963 National Martial Arts Competition, is also one of their coaches. The delegation's wonderful performance was warmly welcomed by audiences from all over the world.
In the early 1980s, Hong Kong martial arts films were popular in mainland China. Hong Kong star Xia Meng Production Company selected actors through the State Sports Commission at that time. At that time, Zhang Xiaoyan had won national championships for many consecutive years. The snake boxing style she performed was unique and very artistic. She was handsome and not only had the gentleness of a Jiangnan woman, but also the strength of a martial artist. So she was attracted by the director at a glance and invited her to play the role of the young wife in "Heroes Since Ancient Times" and "The King of Gambling in China", becoming a generation of martial arts stars. Now recalling his acting career back then, Zhang Xiaoyan said plainly: "I am just lucky."
served as the head coach of the French National Martial Arts Team
performed at the "World Martial Arts Conference" in France
1986, after Zhang Xiaoyan retired from the provincial team, he went to France. From 1995 to 2007, she served as the head coach of the French National Martial Arts Team for 12 consecutive years, and trained thousands of foreign disciples for France, many of whom were excellent competitive martial arts athletes. She won many championship honors for the French team in the World Martial Arts Championships and the European Martial Arts Championships.
During the decades in France, Zhang Xiaoyan witnessed the development of traditional martial arts projects in Europe from all over the world. The most eye-catching one is the sport of Japanese karate, which is very popular among Europeans. Although karate originated in China, it has become their traditional cultural content through the development of the Japanese, and even surpasses the influence of Chinese martial arts. In particular, they are extremely united and pay attention to etiquette and civilization. The impression that Chinese martial arts give people is that they are both independent and loose, and the content is more like fancy fists and embroidered. This made Zhang Xiaoyan deeply worried. So in 2008, she resolutely resigned from the position of head coach of the French National Martial Arts Team and established the Sino-French Traditional Martial Arts Association with her younger brother Zhang Chaolong, hoping to return to tradition from competitive martial arts. Zhang Chaolong is also a martial artist. When he was a teenager, he studied under Mr. Yuan Zhenlan, a famous martial arts teacher in Wenzhou. Therefore, he served as the president of the association and was responsible for administrative affairs, while Zhang Xiaoyan served as the head coach. The establishment of the association means a change in its research direction. Its significance is different from that of competitive martial arts projects. It is hoped to develop and study the essence of traditional Chinese martial arts and spread Chinese traditional culture. During this period, every two years she would organize a group of Tai Chi students to visit China, and at the same time learn about Chinese calligraphy and painting, tea ceremony, traditional Chinese medicine, Buddhism and Taoism, etc., and spread traditional culture through martial arts.
has spread Chinese martial arts in France for decades, and Zhang Xiaoyan has a wide influence. The "World Martial Arts Conference" held by the Bercy National Stadium in France is warmly invited to perform Chinese martial arts every year. This conference will have Muay Thai , karate competition, etc., which will have a huge impact in Europe and even the world. Zhang Xiaoyan's performance, as a retention program, has become a beautiful scenery in the competition.
Return to China to explore the roots of traditional martial arts
The decades of teaching abroad have not only honed Zhang Xiaoyan's martial arts practice, but also greatly broadened her horizons, allowing her to witness the development of traditional martial arts in various countries, especially Muay Thai, karate, Taekwondo, etc. This has made her think deeply about the development prospects of Chinese martial arts. In addition to competitive martial arts, how to better spread and carry forward Chinese traditional martial arts and its profound cultural heritage has become a topic that needs urgent research before her. She believes that there is a huge difference between competitive martial arts and traditional martial arts. If you have to make an example, competitive martial arts is a square with strict rules and edges and angles; while traditional martial arts is a circular body with rich connotations and varied content and needs to be continuously explored and sorted out.
Therefore, in recent years, she has always returned to China to explore the roots of traditional Chinese martial arts, searching for teachers and friends everywhere, learning and studying the characteristics of various sects, and not ashamed to ask questions. This kind of humble spirit of studying is really touching and admirable. You should know that from a social perspective, Zhang Xiaoyan has already achieved success and achieved brilliant achievements in the field of martial arts. For some people, they may be disdainful of folk amateur martial arts practitioners, but Zhang Xiaoyan learns from them very sincerely.Academic, Zhang Xiaoyan always says: "Learning is endless. When I learn from them, I put aside my previous achievements and regard my past as a zero."
Zhang Xiaoyan, this beautiful woman who has moved from Shanqian Street Beauty Platform in Wenzhou to the peak of world martial arts. Her beauty can really become a legend of Beauty Platform.
(Original title: Wen martial arts actress "Little Wife" Zhang Xiaoyan returns to her parents' home to explore the roots of traditional martial arts", original author Chaoxi. Editor Wang Yanqiong)
