Li Weipeng and his teammates share cuju culture with foreign fans.
On November 20th, local time, 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicked off in Doha, Qatar, and 32 teams from all over the world competed on the highest stage of football. Although China football team did not appear on this stage, Cuju, a traditional football skill in China, was invited by the organizing committee. Cuju players including Li Weipeng, the seventh generation inheritor of Linzi Cuju Team in China, came to Doha Football Training Center and venues outside the stadium to introduce the history of Cuju to fans all over the world and show the unique Cuju skills in China.
On November 23rd, Li Weipeng accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Beiqing Daily. When he came to Doha this time, he communicated with local football coaches and children practicing football, invited them to experience the traditional single-goal cuju competition in China, and showed a lot of cuju stunts called "tricks".
Qatar local football coach Dimitri and Li Weipeng said in an interview with the media after the exchange that cuju is difficult, but it can also improve football skills well. He hopes to introduce cuju in his club in the future to help children who play football practice their skills. James Zhou, China’s ambassador to Qatar, also expressed the hope that cuju exchange activities would help more Qatari people and even fans around the world to understand China and China culture.
According to the introduction of Linzi Football Museum to which Li Weipeng belongs, Cuju is a unique title of ancient football in China, which has influenced sports and entertainment in China for more than two thousand years, and has had a far-reaching impact on world sports, especially modern football. On July 15th, 2004, FIFA President Blatter announced in Beijing: "World football originated in China, and the ancient cuju in China was the origin of football." At this point, Cuju, an ancient sport, began to shine again in the world.
conversation
I used to be a teammate with Messi. Foreign fans are very interested in Cuju.
Beiqing Daily: What is Cuju? What are the similarities and differences between it and football?
Li Weipeng: Cuju is actually the name of football in ancient China, with a history of more than 2,000 years. As early as the Han Dynasty, Cuju was a part of military training to exercise soldiers’ willpower. At that time, the venue was square and there were two small goals in it. Compared with today’s football, cuju at that time was more similar to today’s football. Soldiers could not touch the ball with their hands, but they could wrestle in order to stop the opponent’s attack.
Later, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Cuju developed again. At this time, Cuju’s goal is very different from the current football goal. Cuju’s goal hole is called "wind eye". This "eye" is very small and is located at a height of about 9 meters from the ground. You need to control your strength before you can kick the ball in. During the game, the two teams stand on both sides of the goal, and there will be no physical contact between them. In the game, the ball can’t land, so all the players must learn how to hit the ball first. Only one person named "Ball Head" in a team can shoot, and other players will help "Ball Head" catch the ball to avoid the ball landing, or pass it to "Ball Head" for him to attack.
In addition to this kind of shooting competition, there will be a special "pattern" competition in ancient times, which is to perform stunts with cuju balls, similar to the current gymnastics competition. For example, Gao Qiu in Water Margin is said to be a master of cuju "tricks".
Beiqing Daily: How did you participate in the traditional sport of Cuju?
Li Weipeng: I have received professional football training since I was 8 years old and practiced for almost 10 years. Around 2004, we recruited members of the Cuju team in Linzi, and I signed up. Since then, I have been practicing until today, and it has been 18 years.
When I started to practice cuju, I had to practice it for 8 hours a day, and they all practiced monotonous ball. At that time, we were training in a gym. After one day’s training, I sat on the base of the basketball stand and fell asleep.
When I can easily bounce hundreds of balls at a time, I will enter the next stage of practice and start practicing "pattern" and single goal competition, and the height of the goal will be reduced in proportion, about 3 meters or more, less than 4 meters. After 18 years of practice, I can top the ball more than 10,000 times in a row at most, and I can also combine a variety of "tricks" to perform it.
Beiqing Daily: What is the most difficult part in practicing cuju?
Li Weipeng: That’s the practice of "tricks". Cuju has many "tricks" and some beautiful names. For example, the most common one is called "picking peaches at the bottom of leaves", which means that after kicking the ball with the instep, you draw a circle around the ball with your legs during the rising and falling of the ball, and finally let the ball stop firmly on your instep.
Another example is the action of "carrying the moon on your shoulders". After picking up the ball, stop at the position between your shoulders on your back. These movements have nice names, but it’s great to be able to practice one in a day after practice. Many times, an action needs to be practiced repeatedly for more than a week.
The most difficult thing is to string together a number of "tricks". In the process, there are both head and shoulder movements, waist and back movements, and finally foot movements, and the whole body participates in the performance.
Beiqing Daily: How did you communicate with fans all over the world when you came to Qatar this time?
Li Weipeng: I arrived in Doha in the early morning of 21st, had a rest, and had an exchange with local football coaches and children playing football during the day. The "eye of the wind" goal we used for their experience this time is very short, only more than 1 meter high. In fact, this kind of goal is a little difficult for me, because it is much shorter than usual.
On the 22nd, I went to the fan center outside the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Stadium, where the organizing committee gave us a special performance venue. I put on ancient China costumes and performed Cuju "tricks" with my teammates.
Beiqing Daily: Will foreigners be shocked to see Cuju?
Li Weipeng: Yes, we started to perform, and soon many foreign fans came to watch. When we made wonderful "tricks", they would scream and applaud for us. Although I don’t know a foreign language, I can tell from their expressions that they are interested in China’s cuju, and some fans will give us thumbs up.
And many fans are very enthusiastic. As soon as I kick the ball to them, they will take it and play with us. There are many foreign fans coming to our traditional China costumes to experience the original Cuju with us. I will point to the CuJu ball and the signboard with the word cuju printed next to it, and read "cuju" to them. They will soon understand that this is the pronunciation of cuju and read it with us.
Beiqing Daily: I noticed that in addition to traditional costumes, the cuju ball you used this time seems to be completely different from modern football. How is this ball made?
Li Weipeng: Yes, this ball is our traditional cuju ball in China. In fact, the Linzi Football Museum where I am located has also done textual research. In the Han Dynasty, Cuju balls were sewn with more than 10 pieces of cooked cowhide and stuffed with animal hair, but the balls were too heavy to kick. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, people invented the method of stuffing animal bladders in cooked cowhide coats and made inflatable cuju balls similar to modern football. This is also the cuju ball that we brought this time. It was made according to the way recorded in ancient times, just to show the most traditional cuju culture in China and let everyone know the history of cuju in China.
Beiqing Daily: Who is the best player among the foreigners you have met who are in contact with Cuju?
Li Weipeng: A few years ago, Argentine star Messi visited our museum. At that time, we had a single-goal competition. Messi and I were teammates. He was the "ball head" and I made the ball for him to shoot. Messi’s level is fierce, which I didn’t expect at first. He grasped the strength very well, and soon got into the state after understanding the rules, successfully completed many shots, and finally our team won. It can also be seen that cuju and modern football are interlinked in many aspects.
Text/reporter Qu Chang Coordinator/Jiang Wei