前世界冠军斯托琴科是个中国功夫迷，这一点大家都知道吧。他以前的节目也有很多功夫元素，这也是他的Style。如今，退役三年的他已经在功夫界闯出另一片天地，获得了代表加拿大参加武术世界锦标赛的资格，他的项目是双刀。下面一篇文章就是讲述他由花样滑冰选手转为武术选手的经历。
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Kung fu fighting, Stojko style
More than three years after he retired from competitive figure skating, three-time world champion Elvis Stojko is fitter than ever.But fitter in a different way. The 33-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., is stockier, especially in the upper body, arms and legs. He weighs a little more, but it's all muscle mass. And the skating star is eating differently, shunning soda pop, and opting for organic food, soy milk, and a lot of water. The ultimate competitor, Mr. Stojko is in training for another world championship, but with a different set of blades: double daggers instead of skates. He's aiming for the world martial arts championships in Niagara Falls, Ont., in November, an event that will attract 3,000 competitors from 52 countries.
Just last month, he qualified for the Canadian championships, by finishing in the top eight in two classes. He won a hand-form class, and finished second with double daggers in a weapons class that usually favours the Japanese bow. In double daggers, Mr. Stojko uses short, quick, explosive movements with real daggers that have six-inch blades.
Mr. Stojko earned a black belt in karate when he was 16, but now he's engaged in the Chinese martial art of kung fu, which has more fluid movement. While karate is a form of self-defence, using stiff movements, kung fu is a more aggressive martial art, built on combat, he said.
"He's a competitor, heart and soul," said his sifu [teacher], Glen Doyle , who is now also his business partner. They share ownership in a martial arts club called Céad Bua Fighting Arts Centre, which opened in Milton, Ont., in early March. In Irish Gaelic, Céad Bua means "100 victories" and is a reference to Mr. Doyle's ancestor from Galway who scored 100 battle victories without a defeat while using the family's Irish stick-fighting style. Mr. Doyle finally persuaded his father to let him teach the skill that has been handed down to only family members for about 12 generations. "Now, he's the only person on the planet who teaches it," Mr. Stojko said.
Mr. Stojko now lives in the United States, but when he returns, he serves as senior instructor in the club. For now, Mr. Doyle teaches him as he prepares for the world martial arts championships. It's an exhausting regimen, perhaps even more so than figure skating.
Unlike figure skating, Mr. Stojko can train in martial arts anywhere. He managed to squeeze in training sessions while on the Celebration on Ice skating tour across Canada in March, as well as the Champions on Ice tour in the United States. He would plant himself in a horse stance for 15 minutes, with his knees slightly bent, as if he were riding. "After that, my legs are cooked," Mr. Stojko said. "It's pretty gruelling."
These exercises prepare Mr. Stojko for the lateral movement necessary for martial arts; in figure skating, it is more vertical. And the exercises work his cardiovascular system differently. Although he is quite accustomed to the high cardio demands of a skating long program that lasts 4 minutes, skaters don't always skate full tilt, with rest spots and slow sections. "In kung fu, you just go, go, go," Mr. Doyle said.
Mr. Stojko was completely spent after his martial arts qualifying competition, Mr. Doyle said. "None of his muscles get to rest now," he said. Mr. Stojko trains with heavier weapons than what he uses for competitions; with double broadswords that are heavy and quite long so that the daggers feel weightless in his hands during competition.
Mr. Doyle also teaches Mr. Stojko Chi |
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
喧嚣卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
楼主