In the first half of 2021, I made an appointment with Liu Wenlong to do an exclusive interview, but I didn't expect to make the trip until the end of November. The topic we talked about began with Sanda Wang Liu Hailong. Six years ago, a past event linked Liu Hailong and Liu Wenlong.
With Liu Hailong, a word difference
In 2015, 19-year-old Liu Wenlong participated in a commercial event "Fighting Goddess". Xu Rui, the chief planner of the event, gave the fledgling Liu Wenlong a resounding nickname - Sai Hai Split Hanging.
"Teacher Xu Rui hopes that I can 'surpass' Liu Hailong." But I know that there is still a big gap between me and Liu Hailong. Super Sanda King Liu Hailong is a generation legend that has influenced a generation of martial arts Sanda people. ”
"Many people compare me to Liu Hailong's predecessors. We are all surnamed 'Willow', which is uncommon. Our name is only one word in the middle. So many people will ask me: 'What does it have to do with Liu Hailong?' We weren't relatives, and we hadn't even met. The only connection between us is that we are all engaged in the martial arts sanda project, and we all play in the 75 kg class. ”
Liu Wenlong (Red Fang) whip leg attack
In 2017, the World Professional Sanda Championship opened in Beijing. Liu Wenlong's brothers Kong Hongxing and Ye Xiang, accompanied by the famous Sanda generals Li Jie and Xue Fengqiang, appeared to face the strong enemy. Unfortunately, Liu Wenlong was not able to represent the Chinese team at that time.
"If I can participate in the Chinese martial arts Sanda King Championship in the future, I will do my best." I hope to have the opportunity to play with Liu Hailong. ”
Eight hundred miles away, the fish jumped the dragon gate
Liu Wenlong was born on September 12, 1996 to a rural family in Linquan County, Anhui Province.
His father was a martial arts fighting fan. Liu Wenlong grew up with his father to watch fighting events such as "Hero List" and "People's Ring". Influenced by his father, Liu Wenlong gradually became interested in martial arts. As for his original intention of learning martial arts, Liu Wenlong did not shy away from it: "When I was a child, I was lively and active, very naughty, and it was difficult to 'discipline' me at home and school. So, a relative consulted with my parents: learning martial arts may be a way out for children. ”
In the winter of 2009, Liu Wenlong came to the Tagou Martial Arts School with his relatives. Fuyang, Anhui Province, is more than 400 kilometers from Dengfeng, Henan, and although the drive is only four hours, Liu Wenlong has returned home a handful of times in the following 12 years. Talking about his alma mater, Liu Wenlong is full of gratitude.
Mr. Liu Baoshan (left), founder of Tagou Martial Arts School, and Liu Wenlong
"In Tagou, I fell in love with the martial art Sanda and had a skill. In my mind, the martial arts sanda project is irreplaceable by any project. Sanda has allowed me to have my current life, have a lot of achievements, and also let people who looked down on me and my family look up to us before. ”
"Sanda, changed everything for me."
In 2013, the Tagou Wushu School Games became the starting point of Liu Wenlong's "Carp Leaping Dragon Gate". 17-year-old Liu Wenlong has been selected through layers of selection to enter the Henan Provincial Sanda Team.
"Our school adopts militarized management, and the management is very strict. This approach fosters our steely will and tenacious fighting spirit. ”
Sai Hai splits and hangs, perfect transformation
"There are a lot of masters (at my level) and the competition is very fierce. I'm not 100 percent sure I'll win. Zhang Kun, Miao Chenlei, Gao Shanghai, Xu Yong, etc., they are all excellent, they all have their own skills, and they have also left their names in the Sanda circle and written their own glory. ”
"So, I feel like the biggest 'enemy' is myself. My technical characteristic is that the fist and leg wrestling is more comprehensive. My most important characteristic is still 'stubbornness', and I have the style of 'daring to fight a hard battle' in Tagou Martial Arts School. ”
On the morning of September 4, 2017, the gymnasium of Tianjin Agricultural University, the final of the 13th National Games wushu sanda. After 3 hard rounds, Liu Wenlong defeated Shaanxi's "Grand Slam player" Zhang Kun 2:1 and became the champion of the National Games.
"It was a turning point in my career. After winning the 2017 National Games, my confidence was completely out. I felt like I had changed a lot. ”
This change is subtle. Technology can accumulate over time, but the temperament of the game needs to be "hardened" by "hard battles". The gap between high-level athletes is minimal in terms of technology and experience. There may be a difference between them: the "one breath" in the state of the game glue. Many long-established athletes may be "held back" by this breath for several seasons until they retire. Liu Wenlong was fortunate to have completed this "metamorphosis" at the beginning of his career.
After 2017, Liu Wenlong has been successful in professional competitions and commercial competitions, and has successively won the "Kung Fu King of Kings" championship, the Super Wushu League champion, and the national Wushu Sanda Championship champion. Among the many championship titles, Liu Wenlong values the most is the "National Games Champion". In his view, this honor belongs to the entire team of Henan Tagou Martial Arts School, and everyone has worked hard together to exchange it.
In the final of the 14th National Games, Liu Wenlong (red side) took the leg and wrestled Zhang Kun to win the key 2 points
Double Crown Throne, Battle to Defend
At the 14th National Games in 2021, the wushu sanda men's 75 kg category gathered China's best post-80s, post-90s and post-00s athletes:
Zhang Kun, a big favorite and "Grand Slam" after the 80s, fought at home in Shaanxi and occupied the right time and place; post-90s athletes, Jiangsu team Wang Jincan, etc., are ambitious and are in the year of fighting; after 00, Chongqing team He Feng and other young and strong masters dare to fight, no matter who they encounter, playing is "to die".
A Song of Ice and Fire has a classic line: "If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight." ”
On the podium of the National Games, Liu Wenlong (left) and Liu Haike, head coach of the Henan Provincial Sanda Team
Faced with the upcoming battle to defend his title, 25-year-old Liu Wenlong fell into the spell of "doubting himself". In the history of the National Games, there is no precedent for athletes to defend their titles in the 75 kg category. It is even more difficult to defend the title in the "Devil's Home" of the Shaanxi team.
"Winning the 2017 National Games, there is not much pressure. At that time, I was still young, and I didn't have too much psychological burden, that is, I went up to 'fight' and didn't think too much. At the 2021 National Games, to be honest, I am seriously underconfident. In training, there are gains and losses, and the pressure is very high. ”
"Head coach Liu Haike and the coaching staff have been cheering me up. Without them, the outcome is hard to imagine. The cooperation between the coach and the players is very important and I have always believed in our team. ”
"At Tagou Martial Arts School, coaches and team members live together, train together, 24 hours a day, almost eat and live together. Liu Haike, the head coach of the 50s, coached us in the ring, almost a whole morning or afternoon, sometimes with illness. The professionalism of the coaches has deeply infected each and every one of us. With the help of the coaching staff, I let go of the burden in my heart. Do your best to obey the destiny and do yourself well! ”
At half-time in the final, Head Coach Liu Haike and Coach Wu Jijian taught the opportunity face-to-face
"Do your best to obey the destiny of heaven" is the sentence I heard the most in my interview with Liu Wenlong. This sentence contains a simple truth about life. Many martial arts sanda athletes come from farming families. Thousands of years of life of "facing the loess and turning back to the sky" have forged the struggle genes passed down from generation to generation by the children of peasant families:
Do yourself well, everything will come to fruition; heaven rewards hard work, everything is the best arrangement.
Biggest regret
"I'm now a graduate student at Henan University, and I want to make up for my culture class. For the future, I think it is better to move forward steadily. I may be a coach in the future, but I don't feel like I have the talent to be a coach (laughs). Maybe I'll wait until the day I retire that I can figure out what I should do in the future. ”
When he was a child, Liu Wenlong's family was not very rich. His parents supported the family by selling vegetables and doing small businesses. Before sending Liu Wenlong to Tagou Martial Arts School, his parents experienced a long "ideological struggle":
On the one hand, I hope that Jackie Chan can do something; on the other hand, the martial arts school is too far away from home, and they can only meet once a year, and they are a little reluctant.
"I've been practicing martial arts for thirteen years, and my biggest regret is that I have too little time to spend with my parents."
"My parents are getting older every day, and now when it comes to the holidays, I will stay with them as much as possible."
Unlike many sports, martial arts sanda athletes are "beaten and beaten", nose blue face swelling is commonplace, dislocation, bone damage and so on also occur from time to time. Many athletes leave the professional team, on the one hand, they can't stand the "suffering", but more often, parents do not want their children to suffer this "crime" again.
"When I first started playing official matches, I wouldn't let my family go live to watch the games. I felt that they would be uncomfortable. After the game, I would call them and report the game. Now it's different, through the mobile phone live broadcast, they can see the game (if you want to let them see it, it is impossible). ”
"As my grades improve, I can get some bonuses. The most entrusted parents are: save it yourself and don't spend money indiscriminately. ”
One of Liu Wenlong's favorite songs is "Mama" sung by the Yi group, Liu Wenlong said: "The lyrics of this song are too well written, and it feels homesick to listen to. ”
"Always kind and beautiful mother, you are the torch that never goes out in my heart, I will not lose my way in the night, it is a wish that has not been fulfilled, I really do not want to disappoint you, Mother, because my dream is far away..."
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Author: Iron Guts Meng Taste
Editor-in-Charge: Bai Yue