Taste of China
Internationally renowned kung fu team visits VHS, Portage, VU
BY CHRIS BAROS
Times Correspondent
Valparaiso High School students witnessed some amazing feats of strength and discipline on the basketball court Monday. Without putting a single point on the scoreboard, a group of Chinese students drew tremendous applause from the audience.
In a display of physical strength and agility, the kung fu team from China's Shengxingtaibao School showcased its talents in martial arts.
The students, ranging in age from 13 to 17, came to the United States on March 2 to participate in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Classic World Martial Arts Festival.
The event is part of Schwarzenegger's Fitness Weekend in Columbus, Ohio, which had competitions from bodybuilding to Ping-Pong.
Jef Naayers, international director of Chinese arts for the festival, said this is the second year the team has participated in the event.
"These guys are amazing," said Naayers, an expert in martial arts with 29 years of experience.
Dan Pinkowski, a Hapkido master, invited the team to Valparaiso to demonstrate its skills. Pinkowski owns Valpo Asian Martial Arts on Lincolnway and a school in Merrillville.
The Chinese team visited Valparaiso and Portage high schools on Monday, showing off its talents and answering questions from students before performing at Valparaiso University's Asian Culture Night.
Students at VHS watched the team perform moves with open hands, double-sided swords, and spears. One team member lifted the entire weight of his body with only his index fingers, humbling some volunteers from the audience who had difficulty performing push-ups with only four fingers.
Hu Huitang, a 13-year-old practicing tai qi, wowed the audience with his ability to perform moves in slow motion.
But Liu Taishan, a 17-year-old full contact fighter, captured the attention of the females in the audience, showing that despite his mastery of self-control, he could not keep from blushing when told he was cute.
VHS students asked the team about their school in China, where they spend half of their time performing academics and the other half training in martial arts.
The two-hour evening show at Valparaiso University provided a much more in-depth look at the Chinese culture.
The event demonstrated even more of the team's strength as audience members watched them pound nails through wood with their bare hands, perform one-fingered hand stands and withstand the force of a 12-foot-long tree trunk driven into their stomach.
The event also featured Chinese tenor Shengmin Yan and the Lion Dance Group of the Chicago Chinese Cultural Center.
The kung fu team returns to China on Wednesday, but not before taking in the sights of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Chicago
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