Steven // Age 16 // Wushu // November 2021

It is time that we give one particular student his long-overdue recognition. In a school full of hard workers, Steven is not only among the most diligent but he has also worked his way up to the top level at our school. Few people can be struck by a pandemic and return to classes even better than what they were before but Steven did just that. Even on his worst days, he still gives all he has. No matter the challenge, he is driven by a force much larger and with high goals, he continues to give more impressive competitions and performances. Not only is he an endlessly hard worker, he is also a kind soul with a good sense of humor who doesn’t think twice to be helpful and is an inspiration to all his fellow classmates.

Thank you Steven for being such a wonderful student. You are an absolute joy to be around and it has been my honor to be your teacher over these years.

You may have seen Steven training for his virtual competition over the past month. Be sure to wish him the best of luck if you see him around!

 

 

(I) Okay, Steven! So, how long have you been taking Kungfu? 

(S) About 5 or 6 years.

(I) What made you want to start taking it?

(S) Because it’s a good exercise and a good way to keep my body fit. 

(I) …and you’re currently participating in a virtual competition. Can you tell us about that? 

(S) It’s a New England competition, somewhere in New Jersey (I forgot exactly). They used to hold it in person. We went there 2 years ago to compete but now because of the coronavirus we’re doing it online so we have to do the recordings in the school and email our videos over to them.

(I) Okay, so how did you get into competing and how many have you done? 

(S) I’ve done a lot of competitions, about at least 1 or 2 every year. I got into it because after I got advanced enough, the forms looked very appealing and I just felt like it would be very cool if I were able to do them too.

(I) Cool! So, you now have experience with both in-person and virtual competitions. Which do you prefer and why? Pros/cons/similarities and differences of both?

(S) Okay so virtual: obviously we can do multiple takes so if I mess up there’s the chance to make a better one, any person can do that but in person it feels more fun being in the atmosphere and you can meet new people. Yeah, I guess that’s the biggest pros and cons. 

(I) What is it you like about competing? 

(S) Well, it feels like a great achievement for me. 

(I) Do you like performances or competitions better? 

(S) They’re both good ways to keep me practicing and to go on to moving to higher level motions but I’d say I like competitions more.

(I) Cool. What does Kungfu mean to you and how has it impacted your life? 

(S) It means a lot to me, I met a lot of new people, I spent a lot of time and being able to train over the past few years was a really good experience for me. 

(I) Do you have any specific competition or training goals before you go to college? 

(S) Well, I just figured out the ariel to jump kick, that was a great achievement. Before I go to college I wanna get the b-twist and also the standing backflip as well. 

(I) Okay, that’s both doable. Absolutely. Anything else you wanna say? 

(S) I’d like to thank you to you and thank you all my other peers who gave me such a wonderful opportunity to do such great and fun things. Thank you!

(I) That’s sweet, thank you too!

~END~