As soon as he stepped into the Chinese martial arts world， he wascompletely stunned by the performances of the excellent students inthe school.
“It was just like in the movies，” he said. At that time， he knewnothing about Wushu. He thought Wushu was great， and also felt discouraged.
It was too difficult， how would he be able to learn it? HisChinese was not very good， so he decided to choose Taiji to beginwith， because it is relatively slow.
He is smart， and his master， Zhu Yuming， also helped him a lot.
Ms. Zhu is a legend and once taught Taiji classes on TV. Li Rongfuhad finally found his Chinese master， and felt very confident in learningand practicing.
It was hard to find the feeling of Wushu at beginning. He did noteven sweat much. Language was one obstacle， and another was thestiffness of his body; he did not know how to relax. He said： “It is becauseyou need to have a stiff body for Karate. What could he do? To deal with the stiffness of his body， he couldonly work hard and practice a lot. Day after day， his sweat soaked hisshirts， but he had made the decision to work hard and finally made alot of progress.
“If a person’s always nervous， then it will cause them bigger health problems in the future.” Li Rongfu realized that practicingWushu could help to reduce his spiritual tense. He used to have a shorttemper， but now he is calmer. His changes have given him extra confidence，and he thinks that now there is no problem that he cannot solve.
Three years later， he won second place in the University’s contest.
Later， he gradually learned Long Fist， Knife， Spear and SouthernFist.
“I have never felt tired after practicing Taiji， on the contrary， Ifeel that I react quickly and I am more energetic. I am more sober andit is very good for my health. Now I have to practice Taiji every day，or I will feel really uncomfortable， as though I had skipped a meal. The hard and soft of Wushu， the harmony of both inside and outside，have helped this foreign-looking Chinese to turn on his Chineseheart.
According to Li Rongfu， the reason why Wushu is good for thehealth is that when you are practicing， you can feel the changes in yourbody. In this way， your body tends to be healthier and you will alsofeel better.
Li Rongfu now practices Wushu every day. No matter how busyhe is， he will at least practice the basic movements for at least sevenminutes. When I ask him how far he has reached in the world of Taiji，he smiles and says modestly： “In Taiji you never get a diploma， thereis always a long way to go.” He says he will never stop practicingmartial arts and he will study them his whole life.
The United Nations of Martial ArtsAlthough Li Rongfu left Beijing， he did not give up Wushu. He276 brought the authentic oriental kung fu back to Cuba.
In 1995， after he went back to Cuba， Li Rongfu founded the CubaWushu Association. There were no martial arts school before that， andhis school attracted a lot of attention.
He practices Taiji， Taiji Sword， and the Taiji Fan from 7 to every morning. In the afternoon from 6 to 8， there are classes for childrenand youths. There are eight classes now in his school， and thereare more than 100 people in each class. From Monday to Friday， hefollows this schedule without any exception. On weekends， Li Rongfulikes to go fishing， diving， or dancing with his Chinese wife in Havana.
“It causes too much trouble！” laughs Li Rongfu when talkingabout his identity in Havana. People always greet him on the street.
He did a couple of TV programs about Chinese martial arts， and introducedJackie Chan and Jet Lee. This made him a famous person inHavana.
His association has accepted more than 5，000 members since hefounded it 12 years ago. The oldest member is about 80 years old， andthe youngest is about 2 or 3 years old. Li’s school is like a mini UnitedNations， besides local people， there are also people from Mexico， Italy，Spain， the Czech Republic and America. Talking about the tuition， Litold me that he is a communist party member and he follows the rulesof communism — teaching for free.
In recent years， the Wushu association has often organized contestsin Cuba and also some exchange activities between China andCuba. The former Chief of the National Sports Bureau Yuan Weiminvisited Cuba. Li Rongfu and his students performed for him. Mr. Yuanwas very happy to see their performance， and gave the Cuba WushuAssociation 100，000 yuan worth of equipment on behalf of China.
In 2005 Li Rongfu brought his team to Jiaozuo in Henan Provincefor the Taijiquan （Shadow Boxing） Annual Conference. There weremore than 20 countries competing. Their team won the third place， andwon four gold medals and six silver medals. Just after the ceremony，he called his wife and told her excitedly： “Dear， our team succeeded. The average age of the members of his team is 20 years old. Theyoung team members all love Chinese movies， for example CrouchingTiger Hidden Dragon. They love Chinese actors like Chow Yunfat，Bruce Lee， Jet Lee and Jackie Chan. Jet Lee is their favorite， because“he is the best at kung fu. Li bought a five story building near the ocean in Havana. He hasenough room to practice kung fu and it has always been the “majortheme” of his home. He has also given his identity as a Chinese personto his 16-month-old daughter.
“She has learned how to stand like a martial artist.” Li Rongfuopens his hands and poses like a martial artist. He plans to have hisdaughter start learning martial arts when she is two years old. He looksso happy as he talks about this.
By Zhang Hong
Translated by Ma Dongxiao
