Gymnastics in China

Gymnastics is a government run sport in China, which means that the Institutions that have gymnastics facilities are supported by the government and meant for training local athletes.  The gymnasts are selected for participation, their training times usually cut into school, and they train 6 days a week.  So this has made tracking down an available gym for foreigners pretty difficult.

But...we found it in the form of a former University of Michigan gymnast (Coach Ted) who arranges gymnastics training for a small group of expats in Shanghai.  The program is still quite young, but seems to be growing and he's a nice guy -- very welcoming. Born in China, he moved to the U.S. as a child, and is now back in Shanghai.  The other coaches speak not one word of English.  Hope was pretty worried as we walked into the gym the first day, but after about 15 minutes she was bouncing off the walls and happy to be back at it.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our first official day of training.  Our commute does not look like the commute at home, that's for sure.  It's about 20-30 minutes from our house, on the other side of the river in Puxi.  Traffic is an issue everywhere....but we get a great view of the skyline on the way there and back.

(Hope gets some help from Peter.  It drives him crazy that she never ties her shoes. I just think this is a cute picture.)

The gym itself is a very standard looking city building...non descript with a bunch of storefronts and a foot massage place across the street (note to self...). There is no heat in the winter (I am told) and no air conditioning in the summer (I have proof of this). It really does feel like walking onto a movie set for a film about government run gymnastics training in China. I can see 60 minutes doing a segment here.

By our standards at home, it is dingy..the lighting is dim, the air smells (but really, that is not so unusual for a gymnastics place if you ask me). The kids who train here are selected to train for the Shanghai team (not sure how that part works), and work out all day long in this facility, then we are able to use it in the evenings.  Hope will be here about 4 hours each week...2x for 2 hours.  So far my plan is to stay with her for the 2 hours...not sure I can stomach leaving her in there alone.  Now I am a true Tiger mother.  Next week I am planning to arrive a little early so I can catch some of the Chinese training.  This sign at the entrance made Hope a little intimidated, but I love it.

One of the Shanghai team coaches (who I am told is a national team coach) wanders around wearing all black with his hands behind his back during practice just watching the girls....he doesn't say much.  The other coaches are also Shanghai "select" coaches who have agreed to work at the end of the day with our girls. As I mentioned, not one word of English....

The light kind of filters into the gym in the late afternoon, and as it dies down the overhead lights try to do their job, but you get the feeling the maintenance is not a top priority around here.  Everything is very sparse, the windows are covered with dirty film, and I have yet to hear any music playing. The coaching is upbeat but serious...and there's a very heavy emphasis on conditioning....much more so than Hope is used to.  But also they have fun and Hope has one friend from school who also trains with her...so she's loving it and is all smiles.  Here are some shots of her getting warmed up and appeasing me with some poses in front of the the Chinese flag and characters.

It's not easy to convey the feeling of the gym in these photos, but it makes for great stories about Hope's adventure in the world of Chinese gymnastics....makes me think of Rocky IV and training in Siberia.  Gymnastics seems to be a universal language, and we're really happy to have found this location.

Over and out!