My Kungfu Journey
同志社国際学院国際部

８年

鬼追桜子

I’ve been learning martial arts called Kungfu since I was 6 years old. It’s
been 7 years since I started learning it. Unlike the other martial arts like
Karate and Judo, you don’t actually fight with another person in competitions.
Kungfu is a performance of many fighting styles and poses combined. I

wanted me to learn and be able to move like the actors. I was just learningwith no motivation and feelings about Kungfu, but as time passed, I wanted
to stand on the top of the podium and get the gold medal. I really hated tolose, and I wanted to win. I even started going to the best dojo in Kansai totrain with the best athletes and coaches. Eventually, with lots of practice, I
caught up with the people who used to be more skilled than I was. I would
go 6 times a week to the class and sometimes practiced for hours at home,too.
There was a trip to China as a team in 2016. The purpose was to learn
with the local team and to learn about Kungfu in China as it is a Chinesesport. When I heard about this, I was half excited because this was mychance to get better at Kungfu and win my next competition. Since my rivalwasn’t going, I also thought that it would be my opportunity to get better
than she was. However, I was also half scared and anxious because my imageof China was negative. I imagined Chinese people being mad, unkind, and notso friendly and the training would be physically and mentally challenging. We
started to prepare for our trip as soon as it was decided. Our coaches spokeand knew Chinese so they sent us documents with some Chinese words andphrases as well as the rules and manners in China that we could use there.
Also, the daily practices got even harder so that we can get used to thetraining in China. It was the first time for us to go there, so we didn’t knowhow hard it would be but we thought we’d practiced enough.
Oh my gosh! We were wrong, and we totally underestimated the training

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中学生―Ｉ部門

started learning Kungfu because my mother likes Kungfu action movies andin China. I understood why they are all so good at Kungfu. They practiced all
day long with coaches who were really strict. When I first went into the dojo,
I was about to barf because it was so smelly. It smelled like rotten food andpeople’s sweat. The dojo had no air conditioner, so it was so hot, and myclothes were wet with sweat, but I put in 100 percent of my power and did
the same thing as everyone else who was older than me. I didn’t want towaste the opportunity and the time I received to learn and didn’t want to fallbehind just because I was the youngest in the group. I also didn’t want mycoach and the other team members to think that I was not motivated enough
中学生―Ｉ部門and that I was too weak. During my last practice, I started to have a badstomachache, and I wasn’t able to concentrate. But I had to, so I tried mybest following everyone and finished the class. The mates in China were all
really kind and friendly. They all helped me and cheered me on. When we
had to say goodbye to them, we exchanged our phone numbers so that wecould text often.
When we came back to Japan, I entered the Kinki regional competition
and won 5th place and qualified for the nationals for the first time. I knew Iwon, because of the training I had in China. At the nationals, I got the silver
medal, which was a surprise. Suddenly, my eyes and nose started to hurt andtears came out from my eyes. I was trying to hold it in, but I couldn’t. It was
my first time in this competition, and I won second place. We had to give alittle speech to our team afterward, but I couldn’t talk because I was crying
too much. After that, we took a photo, and my coach sent it to the coaches in
China to inform them of our results. I was thankful to the team in China
because it was definitely their exhausting training in China that helped me
win the competition. However, I was proud of my achievements and results
too. I am going to continue my journey to win first place in the nationals andin the world championship someday.

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