Life as a Iranian wushu team member (first month)
2007-08-24 9:13AM / 標準BLOG
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So far nothing much has changed logisticaly in regards to the final choice of who goes to compete in beijing. There are currently 11 people of which most likely 7 will go, 3 people in my events in which 2 will likely go.
In this entry i want to share with yall a few of the beautiful experiences i have been having in the training camp so far. First off let me explain the training schedule. We train 6 full days a week, two 2:30-3 hour sessions. 9:30-12 noon and 3:30-6pm. fridays are the only days we have off (which is when i am able to come online and write this beautiful poetry for yall). We wake up every morning at 7am for breakfast rest up then train, eat lunch, sleep, train, shower, eat, hang out, sleep. training itself is very intense. We have an extremely good coach from china. His name is Mu Ning and hes Jet Li, Hao Zhi Hua generation. Intensity of the training is china level. However the pressure is a lot stronger because every day you are training to your fullest so that you get chosen. So all in all this is the most intense training i have done so far. The pain and mental pressure is intense, but I have to say that I am loving every moment of it... kinda :)
Next thing i want to explain is the social aspect. I have made incredibly good friends with my fellow team mates. As always, the strong relationships that are created in these environments between the athletes is the dearest and sweetest gift i can ever ask for. Every day we create amazing, hilarious and adventurous stories together. Half of the ab workout I am getting in camp is from the laughter every night. Fortunately everyone that is left in the camp has a pure heart. Most of the people which had negative intentions didnt make the current semi-final draw. The level of competition is very healthy and constructive.
Now for a few interesting details regarding my social surroundings.
First off you must understand that all of the other team members are not from the capital of iran and are primarily from the large lower-middle socio-economic class of iran. This generation is not very highly educated, prettty religious and ruled by the media and teachings of "the islamic republic" of Iran. Because of this there are a few, rather amusing, differences and discussions that weve had. below i will list a few of the highlights:
1.body hair: Living away from my people for a long time, in the hairless land of china, i was looking forward to frolicking amongst my fellow hairy people. But much to my shock and dismay, in a country where i was considered to be devoid of body hair... i was the only man who didnt shave his body hair. I was confused and rather disgusted when i saw that most all of the men here had shaved armpits, legs, chests and pubic regions. i wont go into much more detail except to say that one of there primary reasons for doing so, aside from so called "hygene", was religious mandate... i argued the point and defended my case with as much scientific and cultural reasoning as i could, the results of which are to be seen.
2. Homosexuality: As most of you know, there is a lot of sexual humour amongst athletes, border line homosexual. all of which is in good love ;) but one time we actualy began a discussion about homosexuals. It was interesting to observe that they rather nonchalantly pointed out that the religious law when it comes to homosexuality is death by stoning... I calmly objected to this point and again began a long scientific and moral explanation as to why homosexuality is not a sin and in most cases is a matter of an individuals nature, not conscience choice of moral sin. It was a long arduous, borderline hilarious argument which ended in one of my favorite quotes of this trip:
"Shahaub, you know what the problem is? You try to explain things using science."
All in all I have learned many things. My experiences outside of wushu here have taught me a lot about the general populace and beliefs of the iranian public, which I believe will help me a lot with my future and careers to come.
Cheers to yall and thanks for your patience with all my writings. Love you all
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