Mai Baochan’s life story

Ms. Mai was born in Guangdong, China. She has been a lively and active girl since she was a child. She especially loves Peking Opera and red silk dance. She has practiced martial arts since she was a child, starting with Changquan and straight sword. Ms. Mai's precocious talent attracted the attention of the famous master Fu Wing Fay. Mr. Fu's father is one of the legendary Five Northern Tigers and the founder of the Nanking Central Kuoshu Institute.

Fu style martial arts includes three internal martial arts in Chinese boxing (Tai Chi, Bagua Zhang and Xingyiquan), as well as Wudang Sword. This is a profound and demanding system. It can be seen from the documents presented by Ms. Mai that her master at that time praised her as "a disciple who has learned everything I have" and "can truly become my successor."

The qualifications of a disciple of Fu Yonghui are enough to become a martial artist. However, in the 1970s, when Ms. Mai immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, the entire nature of Chinese Kung Fu was undergoing a watershed change. Traditional martial arts are gradually transforming from a living museum of ancient fighting skills into a dizzying and physically demanding sport.

Ms. Mai decided to build a bridge between traditional Kung Fu and new martial arts. Therefore, in 1981, she began to learn swordsmanship, Tai Chi, and push hands from Li Tian Ji. Coach Li was one of the leaders of the new martial arts. He was responsible for the formulation of competition procedures for 24-position Tai Chi and 32-position Tai Chi Sword, both of which were It is a daily exercise for millions of people.

Even such dazzling glory has not slowed down Ms. Mai’s pursuit of personal achievement. She is one of three founders of the promising National Chinese Martial Arts Federation in the United States. Ms. Mai lectures tirelessly in many places, including at Harvard University.

Lectures at the American Repertory Theater led to what is perhaps Ms. Mak’s most famous creation: a sweet yet poignant one-woman dance performance called The Song of Yang Guan. "The Drunken Sword" is an emotional stage interpretation of this famous ancient poem, vividly reflecting the sadness of drunken lovers when they part ways. (Note: Could it be that the song of Yangguan is: The morning rain in Weicheng is lightly dusting, the guest houses are green and the willows are new... I urge you to drink another glass of wine, and there are no old friends when you leave Yangguan in the west.)

Smooth, free, elegant , Ms. Mai’s stage performance is bright and cheerful. In class, she is a gentle little woman with a spark of wisdom. Her sense of humor and energy are astonishing.

The foundation of the practice is listening to your body. She said to the students: When the students were preparing for the competition, Ms. Mai only asked them one question: Do you believe in yourself?

1995 was the year of the World Wushu Championship. Ms. Mai and her students won a huge victory in the world's largest kung fu championship, the World Wushu Championship. In front of martial artists from 48 countries around the world, Ms. Mai showed them all her skills. This is the Kung Fu Queen as portrayed by Chinese martial artists for 2000 years. In view of the fact that Ms. Mai represents both the traditional past of martial arts and its future connected with the Olympics, an irreplaceable golden bridge is needed between these two different worlds. Ms. Mai Baochan was honored as the Martial Artist of the Year by Black Belt Magazine.

Coaching career

Boston University (since 1986)

American Theater Company of Harvard University (1992-1994)