Andrew Wang(11th grade), Danny Tang(8th grade), Thomas Seidel(11th grade), Master Qi, Jin Zhang(11th grade), Aston Liang(9th grade), Zoran Pan(9th grade).
This past summer, Bryson Liang, a 9th grader at Ladue Horton Watkins High School (LHWHS), traveled to China to compete in Beijing’s Open Wushu Competiton hosted by the Chinese Wushu Association. The Wushu competition, a Chinese word for KungFu, was held on July 19 and 20, 2019, at Beijing University of Technology Stadium, located in China’s capital of Beijing. Bryson won gold medals for his Nine Chain Whip and Staff performances, as well as a bronze medal for Mantis Boxing. The event was attended by over one thousand competitors.
Bryson began learning Chinese Kungfu when he was six years old and is known affectionately among friends as the KungFu kid. After eight years of hard work, Bryson has mastered many Kungfu skills including Long Spears, Sword, Mantis Boxing, Nine Chain Whip, Staff, and other skills.
“We are thrilled to see Bryson’s gold medals! But we are more impressed to see that Bryson has not only mastered the physical skills of Kungfu but that he also has gained through years of persistent practices the mental strength and determination to achieve his goals in life. We are so proud of him,” states Walter Liang, Bryson’s father.
Bryson is currently training to qualify for next year’s U.S. National KungFu team in hopes to compete worldwide. Among many other locations including the China Day Festival at the Botanical Gardens in front of thousands of spectators, Bryson has demonstrated his KungFu skills at various LHWHS events. He is now in the process of establishing a Chinese Kungfu Club at LHWHS to introduce the ancient Chinese martial art to more students.
Clayton High School junior Alex Zhang made a successful debut as a member of the U.S. National Traditional Wushu Team when he competed at the 8th World Kungfu Championships held in June in Emeishan, China. Alex earned a Gold Medal in the ChaQuan competition and a Silver Medal in the Sword competition.
Recently, Alex Zhang, a student of Master Qi, competed in the 2019 Golden State International Wushu Championships as well as the tryouts for the USAWKF Kungfu Team. The event that he attended was hosted by the USA Wushu Kungfu Federation (USAWKF) on April 6 in San Jose, California and this specific competition was one of the largest and most influential ones that they host. In this one competition there was 726 atheletes that had participated.