Beijing University of Physical Education

[snarfer]

I was wondering if anyone here was a student at the Beijing University of Physical Education. I'd like to find out about what experience they might have had, and if they had any advice for me in terms of application procedures and studying Wu Shu and/or gymnastics as an adult.

[free_radical]

Hi snarfer

I didn't study at Beijing University of Physical Education but I visited my language exchange partners there lots of times so I hope you don't mind me replying

The campus is huge and quite beautiful, in fact you could almost forget you were in the middle of Beijing also a number of the national sports squads train there so the facilities are really good.

I watched a few of the wu shu classes and the students were pretty amazing, I never saw any foreign students training though, I assume they had a separate class somewhere else.

I did meet a number of foreign martial students in Beijing all of them adults, they said that at first it was very difficult to adjust to the training every day for 3 hours plus, the different climate and the different food all at the same time and because of this a lot of them got sick or were injured (a few badly enough to have to return home early) but having said that they all pretty much loved it really. I'd recommend you take some of that powered sports drink that replaces all the nutrients you lose very quickly and there's a distinct lack of moisture in the air in Beijing so keep hydrated all the time too.

I assume you already have the url for the Uni, if not let me know and I'll post it.

Good luck,

free_radical

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention Health Insurance, ensure it covers you for everything!

[snarfer]

That sounds great. I guess what I'm really looking for is some specific information on being a short term student there and how to get training in departments other than Wu Shu, for which the university has some english language information on its website. There are cryptic references to a $300 per month short term training plan, but it's unclear exactly what this consists of, and my email to the administration has so far gone unanswered.

As it happens I already train 3 or more hours a day as an aerialist here in the states. In fact it is the opportunity to stretch my physical limits even further that I'm coming to Beijing for. In Los Angeles, where I live, it's nearly impossible to even establish a regular training program. My classes are always being cancelled due to underenrollment and so forth...

I feel that I may be reduced to wandering over to the campus itself and hoping that someone with some rudimentary English will take pity on me.

[天峰]

I never went to tida but I lived beside it for almost 2 years adn played baseball there ever weekend in the summer. It is a nice campus but it is a little far away from the places. I never was a huge wudaokou fan anyway. The campus is pretty nice and i knwo a few people that studied wushu but they told me that the training actually wasn't hard enough for them and they felt like because they were foreigners that they weren't really given the same kind of instruction that the chinese students had. They felt it was just there to give them a taste of things but not really instruct them completly. Like so many things in Beijing now it seems liek it is geared to getting your money and not really teaching you to the fullest.

[xingxiang]

i have to admit, i didn't read all of the thread before writing this

but if you want to study at bei ti da then long term is the best bet. unless your level is really high, then i have heard that they don't take short termers very seriously. one semester at least is what i advise. i was there for 2, and seemed to improve from the moment that i first stepped on their carpet!! and ohhhhhh, the professional carpets!!! but there is gymnastics there, and one of my good friends paid a gymnastics coach there for private lessons sometimes. you'll be doing a lot of jumps at regular practice anyway, but you could suppliment it with private lessons. i think he paid about Y80 an hour or something. the one major complaint that i had was the administration. they wouldn't allow you to use the carpets outside of your normal practice time. but some of the coaches would turn their head if you did it, because they know that everyone needs more practice!! how could you expect people to refer other foreigners to the school if you don't allow the students every opportunity for improvement?? poor management. sorry, anyway... the coaches were great, and the classes were small... broken up by beginner and intermediate (no, you're not advanced), and there were 3 girls from the beijing team getting their undergrads there at the time. so you will be immersed in an environment made to lian gong. you could also do privates with the professionals studying there. but all of these connections take time to make, so if you are in a position to do so, i suggest that you go for at least a semester.

hope this helps!!

you're welcome to email me if you have any further questions.

man zou

[snarfer]

I tried to PM you [xingxiang] but I was rejected..

Anyway, I have a few more questions:

(1) Did the administration have a problem with using the facilities during private lessons, or just when students were practising on their own?

(2) When you say your friend had gymnastics coaching, was it limited to tumbling or did he actually get training on other apparatus like trampoline or rings?

(3) Were students ever able to sign up for the short term program while they went through the application process for the long term program?

(4) Did anyone there do any type of aerial work, as in performing while suspended on ropes or wires?

Thanks so much for your help. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

[roddy]

I tried to PM you [xingxiang] but I was rejected.

Should be fixed now. If it's information that might be of use to others though, might be best to post it in public.

[xingxiang]

the university administration will never have any problem with someone who is giving them money. private lessons are more expensive than regular classes. in fact, i once saw an american turn up for a week with his own private translator, and they pulled one of the normal class coaches over to teach the guy for the time he was there! of course her class still had to practice... on their own while they watched their teacher attend to that jerk! private lessons and private translator must have been quite expensive.

however, those are privates set up throgh the school. we did privates with our friends on the bj team on our own. these are people that are constantly practicing and have friends at the front doors of the tiyu guan or the wushu guan. we did run into problems a few times, when one of my class coaches saw us practicing with someone else (god forbid), and got jealous. after that we were restricted to the wushu guan.

my friend did tumbling specifically for wushu and performances. but i bet you could get instruction on aparatus also. again, you need the connection. my friend didn't pay the school for the privates, he knew the gymnastics coach. apparently someone that had enough pull that the school didn't try to stop it from happening (god forbid your students actually improve and then go represent the school well and tell other foreigners how great it is!!!)

i'm sure that you could start practicing in the short term while you do the application stuff for the long term. in fact, i know someone that did just that. she first went there for the summer, and then decided to stay. perhaps that would be your best bet. the foreign students office isn't so hot, however. if you can speak chinese it will serve you well. and you would be in the newly renevated foreign students' dorms!! you should have seen what they were like before!

you know what... there may be another school for you there after reading your last question. there was supposed to be a school teaching movie stunt work. they would definitely use wires... and fall through tables, do fight scenes, etc. z team is there in bj. you can check them out at www.zteamstunts.com and they might know of the school i am refering to. but as for the university, we all try to defy gravity, but only utilizing our own abilities. i'm sorry, after reading your 4th question for a second time i realize that you're not talking about stunt wire work. that sounds like some sort of traditional perfomance... like the type of place that you would find women spinning plates on sticks!!

ok, the fine print: i hear that the campus has completely changed since i was last there, 2 years ago. this may mean that it is easier/harder to get private lessons outside of the foreign students office. the school is known for having an old, communist mentality. it seemed like the situation was beginning to improve, and that their minds were starting to open a little bit, but wheels turn slowly there. one thing i learned in china, there's always a way around an obstacle.

let me advise you, do NOT go through worldlink or educasian or anything of the sort. just go there and work it out on your own, you'll be ok. the university will arrange for airport pick up for $50 USD or something like that. you will save thousands of dollars by setting up your studies on your own.

ps- the old name is beijing university of physical education. the new name is BSU: beijing sports university.

- chris

[snarfer]

Wow. I can't thank you enough for the thorough post. Actually the part about the stunt school is what i was really looking for. What happened is I signed up for a school in Beijing already, called the Beijing International Art Institute or something like that. But now I've found out more about the program and I'm afraid it is exactly that -- old women spinning plates on sticks and a lot of young Chinese boys locked in crappy dorms somewhere in a far off suburb.

I can see why someone would go to Beijing and just hire the coach privately for a week though. It may have looked expensive, but the American who did that probably saved money over hiring a trainer at $55-75 an hour here in Los Angeles. Yes I actually do that for my aerial work. I've been learning from Cirque de Soleil performers, but I need a more structured program.

I've emailed the zteam, just to see if they have anything useful. But otherwise it sounds like I will just show up in Beijing and make my way to BSU. Since I don't speak any Chinese at all yet I've put a personals ad up and found a number of Chinese girls who appear more than willing to accompany me to the school for purposes of interpretation. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[snarfer]

Oh this is even better. I followed the link you sent to the Z Team and got in touch with a guy named Luo Han. He sent me a brochure from a school about an hour out of Beijing. Their number is 010-61676631. Here's the brochure.

brochure

Luo Han further explained to me that at this school the "training is simply the same as in a typical wushu class except that, after praticing the basics kicks and else, they practice fight choreography instead of forms."

Now if anyone can give me rough translation of the brochure...

[xingxiang]

snarfer,

glad that laurent could help you... he's one of my best friends

i wasn't sure if that school still exists, or ever came to be, but i know laurent would know. he's bad ass, by the way, and you should really explore that stunt team site. i was supposed to be in that, doing my part here in the states, but i got caught up doing the ol' college thing now he and another friend are going to do a movie that should be released in the states

i will try to translate it for you, but i may not be able to from this computer. plus my dictionary is in another city!!

if that school fits you much better, then go for it. it sounds like a lot of fun, and i wanted to do it myself when they were first setting it up. BUT i still suggest studying at BSU. i improved real quickly there... too bad i'm fat now and lost it all while improving my GPA

best of luck, and be sure to keep us updated on how that school is.

peace,

chris

[snarfer]

Actually I think I will probably do BSU first for a few months, and take some intensive Chinese at the same time. The stunt school sounds like it is pretty far out from Beijing, an hour away, so I want to have acclimated myself to China a little first... I will keep you guys updated.

[snarfer]

I found what looks like the website of the school itself:

http://www.zh183.com/wuxing/

If my automated translation is accurate, the school offers a 3 year program of study in film and television stunt performance for students age 15 - 22. The yearly tuition including board and lodging, instruction, equipment, and medical assistance is 18 thousand Yuan.

There are some additional fees I don't quite understand, and there is a promise that the school will help the students film a reel, showcasing their abilities.

The telephone number is different, but the name of the school is the same. Perhaps this is an outdated site. I can't tell.

[xingxiang]

snarfer,

beijing is ginormous. an hour outside of the city is not necessarily as far as it sounds. i used to live on the northern tip of bj at hui long guan. actually that was just the closest station, i still had to travel from there to get to ma lian dian, a place that no taxi driver has ever heard of. it's not too bad up there, but there's one thing... it's coooooooold in the winter! it feels like it's about 10 degrees colder in the sticks north of bj than in the city. i was looking at the picture in the link you sent me and thinking how much it would suck to try to warm up and stretch out in that huge hanger they work out in!! and when you're outside of the city you're pretty much stuck there. not a whole lot going on, and i bet there won't be many foreigners. but then again, on the good side (if you can hack it), there won't be many foreigners.

you're best bet is to go to BSU, fall in love with china, stay there longer than you intended, and find the connections to do the things you want to do there.

BEST OF LUCK!!

-chris

[kailin]

My boyfriend is considering a teaching job there, but we're having a hard time figuring out where the school is located. Can anyone help? How far from, say BLCU, is it? Thanks!

[snarfer]

I took a cab from BLCU to BSU. Cost me 14 RMB and took around 7 minutes. I believe that means it was around 5 km. One could easily bicycle from one school to the other. There are also several buses available.

[kailin]

Thanks, Snarfer, that's helpful info. Do you happen to know where BSU is in relation to the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan)? We're trying to figure out how isolated (or not) the school is. I am planning to study at Beijing Normal, so we're also trying to figure out how far BSU and Beijing Normal are from one another....

[snarfer]

I finally visited the school in Huairou last week. Yes they are doing some training up there. 8 hours a day. 6 days a week. And they do wire work and trampoline. All for a very low, by Western standards, price.

That said, I have to admit that it really wasn't what I was looking for. Perhaps I need to go to Hong Kong.