{"id":243,"date":"2009-11-22T21:19:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-22T13:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mylast365days.com\/?p=243"},"modified":"2014-01-11T08:46:12","modified_gmt":"2014-01-11T08:46:12","slug":"alfred-hsing-qa-on-becoming-a-world-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/alfred-hsing-qa-on-becoming-a-world-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"On Becoming a World Champion: Alfred Hsing Q&A"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"alfred<\/a><\/p>\n

Alfred Hsing is the first American male to win a Gold Medal at the World Wushu Championships. He took first place in straight sword in 2009 at the 10th World Wushu Championships held in Toronto, Canada.<\/p>\n

These are the full responses to interview questions for Alfred posed by Kung Fu Magazine in Q&A form. See the article written by Kung Fu Magazine (Has American Wushu Arrived?<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start the Q&A \u2013<\/p>\n

How did you train for competition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was actually very tough to train for this competition. I think a
\nlot of other US wushu team members would agree that after the US Team
\nTrial competition you feel a little burnt out from training. I trained
\nas intense as I possibly could to ensure I could make the US team
\nbecause making the US wushu team has been a lifelong dream of mine.
\nAfter 3-4 months of rigorous training when you make the team, you
\nrealize you have to keep it up for another 4-5 months. Imagine running
\na 26.2 mile marathon but right when you approach the finish line, you
\nare told you have to run another 26.2 miles non stop. That\u2019s how I
\nfelt.<\/p>\n

Training for this competition became more of a mental challenge than a
\nphysical struggle. I was already at the peak of my physical skill
\nlevel in terms of being able to perform the difficulty moves like 540
\noutsides, butterfly twist to tornado kick, and so on. Also, at the
\ntime I was training for worlds I had a full time job, my own side
\nbusiness, and classes to teach so it was very tiring getting myself to
\npractice.<\/p>\n

I usually train by myself and it gets very boring sometimes. Something
\nthat helped me the most was training with people who are excited about
\nwushu as well. When others are excited it helps to keep you motivated.
\nAlso training with people who are at an elite level is also motivating
\nand it pushes you to want to do better.<\/p>\n

In training for the World Championships I knew that there would be no
\nroom for mistakes so I practiced focusing on perfection. Perfect
\nspeed, perfect difficulty moves, perfect stances, everything. I did
\nnot hit everything all the time, but whenever I would mess up on a
\njump or spin or kick I wouldn\u2019t let myself go until I re-did it and
\ndid a clean successful one. Every time I practiced a full form, I
\nwould pretend it was the real thing \u2013 that this was the ONE that
\ncounted. We train so many hours and years just for that 1 minute and
\n20 seconds on the carpet which is why it is so important to over train
\nyour abilities to the point where you could do all the moves 10 times
\nperfectly in your sleep.<\/p>\n

What was it like to win the medal? What do you think of your performance at
\nthe medal-winning event? What feelings did you have before, during, and
\nafter the event?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winning the medal was everything I dreamed it would be. It was also a
\nlittle unreal that such a big dream became a reality so fast. It\u2019s a
\nlittle bittersweet that I don\u2019t get to wake up chasing that big dream
\nanymore, but it just means I have to set bigger goals.<\/p>\n

I am absolutely proud of my performance in my medal winning event. In
\nfact I am happy with all of my events. The day of my events I did not
\nthink about medals or places. I just wanted to give my best possible
\nperformance and enjoy the moment and I did that so I have no regrets.<\/p>\n

A lot of people said it would be impossible to win a gold medal at the
\nWorld Wushu Championships, but the few people who didn\u2019t know much
\nabout wushu that said \u201cgo for the gold\u201d made me think that it was
\npossible. I adjusted my mindset a few weeks before the competition and
\nfelt that it was achievable. When you don\u2019t believe you can do it of
\ncourse you won\u2019t be able to.<\/p>\n

Before my actual event I was relatively calm. I put in my time
\ntraining and I was prepared. I came to do my best and wasn\u2019t competing
\nwith anyone else there except myself so there was nothing else to do
\nbut wait for my turn. After I finished my form I felt really good. I
\nknew I nailed everything. My score came out on the monitor and it said
\n9.72 and tentatively I was in first place after only four other
\ncompetitors. There were still many competitors behind me. It was
\nactually more nerve racking after my performance because each score
\nafter mine could have potentially bumped me down. After all the
\ncompetitors had gone, \u201cAlfred Hsing\u201d was still 1st on the monitor. I
\nwas relieved and excited that I had accomplished it. After
\naccomplishing such a goal, I realize what the saying \u201cIt\u2019s not the
\ndestination, it\u2019s the journey\u201d means.<\/p>\n

You were selected to the C team in 2007. Do you feel that anything changed
\n(your training, your attitude, etc.) between then and now to enable you to
\nprogress to the point where you could win a gold medal at the worlds?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not too much really changed with how I train. It was more about
\npreparedness. I tried out in 2003 and did not make the team and after
\nthat I almost gave up. Also I became really busy with college and
\nwork. I basically stopped training and competing until 2006 when I
\nnoticed a lot of people I knew continued to advance in wushu. My
\nhunger to make the US team and compete at worlds never died. I trained
\nreally hard from 2006-2007 which allowed me to catch back up to a top
\nlevel US standard, but still it wasn\u2019t enough. I was at a crossroads-
\nget back to reality and focus on my career or risk my corporate job
\nand focus on wushu for another 2 years. I chose wushu. Instead of
\ngiving up, my hunger to make the team only grew. Failing to make the
\n\u201cA\u201d team in 2007 infuriated me to the point that I vowed I would be so
\nmuch better that there would be no doubt I would make the A team at
\nthe next team trials. I went to a lot more competitions, got more
\nexperience, and made sure to fix all my mistakes from 2007. By the
\ntime 2009 rolled around I was a lot more confident because I prepared
\noff the competition carpet. I think since I wasn\u2019t willing to settle
\nand I made a point in my practices to not make a single mistake that
\nthe training carried over to my results at worlds games as well.<\/p>\n

What memories do you have of the championships? The city? The rest of the
\nteam (other athletes, officials)? The organizers? The venue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am going to have great memories of my trip to Toronto, Canada for
\nthe 10th World Wushu Championships, not just because of the victory in
\nmy competition but because of all the interlaced positive memories I
\nhave had in the city. It just so happened that along with bringing
\nhome a good score, I also had great teammates that all got along, a
\ngood roommate on the trip, a venue in Toronto that was close enough
\nfor my parents and friends to come watch, and so on. I was very
\nhonored that I had the fortune of having my parents there witnessing
\nsuch an important moment in my life. I also met great people from
\naround the world and ran into international friends that I had trained
\nwith from abroad. I have not been to past World Championships so I can
\nnot compare, but the organizing committee aimed to be as professional
\nand organized as possible. I want to thank everyone who was involved
\nin the event, my US wushu teammates for being awesome, my parents for
\nall their help and support, and all coaches far and near who have
\ngiven me advice and help whether it was for a day or for many years.<\/p>\n

Thanks again everyone for your support!<\/p>\n

-Alfred Hsing<\/p>\n

Original post at:\u00a0http:\/\/www.wushukicks.com\/chinese-martial-arts\/wushukicks-exclusive-interview-with-alfred-hsing-world-wushu-championships-gold-medalist\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfred Hsing is the first American male to win a Gold Medal at the World Wushu Championships. He took first place in straight sword in 2009 at the 10th World Wushu Championships held in Toronto, Canada. These are the full responses to interview questions for Alfred posed by Kung Fu …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,15],"tags":[22,64,249,251,451,455],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-advice","category-wushu","tag-10th-world-wushu-championships","tag-alfred-hsing","tag-kung-fu","tag-kung-fu-magazin","tag-world-wushu-champion","tag-wushu-2","column","twocol","has-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/alfredgoldmedal2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eMwQ-3V","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1133,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/1133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfredrocks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}