| Lu Yan's wushu career started at the age of 8, when she was hand picked by the famous Wushu coach Li Junfeng to start training at the then Shichahai Spare Time Sport school. Li Junfeng was looking for students who were 10 years old, so it was only through the insistence of Lu Yan's teacher that he meet this energetic youngster that she was selected. As soon as he met Lu Yan, Li Junfeng immediately wanted her to join his school.
For the next two years she trained Wushu every afternoon, walking the 3km from her house to Shichahai with friend and neighbour Li Lianjie (Jet Li). The original 60 children that Li Junfeng had picked were gradually whittled down to only 10, these 10 being the future members of the Beijing Wushu Team.
This period of history was still a turbulent time for China. Relations between China and America were only just beginning to be forged. In September of 1973 Lu Yan was selected to join the Chinese Wushu Delegation who were to go to America to promote friendship between the two great nations. She would become an ambassador for her country at the age of only 10.
Over 100 athletes were selected for the delegation, of which only a final 30 were to actually go to America. So in 1974 a now classic piece of Wushu history took place. Lu Yan had the great honour of performing Chang Quan for President Nixon on the White House Lawns, with Li Lianjie and Cai Yahui also performing a two man form for the President.
Up to this point the Beijing Wushu team still did not exist. Li Junfeng and Wu Bin had been working on a proposal to found a Wushu team at Shichahai, they presented their proposal to the Beijing Sports Commission and two months later, in November 1974, the Beijing Wushu team was founded. Yan was in the team right from the very first selection, and remained in the team for the next 13 years.
Training was hard with 3 sessions every day amounting to about 6 hours overall. Li Junfeng and Wu Bin are well known for their rigorous training regimes, but this training is what made the athletes of this era the champions that they became.
The Beijing Wushu team ruled the Chinese Wushu Competition circuit for over 10 years, with Lu Yan winning 5 National Gold Medals and 6 Beijing Gold Medals. During her exceptional 10 year competitive Wushu career Lu Yan acquired an overall medal tally of over 40 medals in National competitions, and secured the lifetime Wu Ying award, or Wushu Hero .
Retiring from competition in 1987 Lu Yan was accepted at the Beijing Capital Sports University and majored in Sports Science. Once she completed this three year course she returned to teaching Wushu alongside her former coach Wu Bin. Many of her students from this period went on to become National and Beijing champions.
In 1995 she was invited to spend two years in Manila teaching the Philippines National Wushu team. She accepted, and took the team to their best ever competition results. At the 1995 World Wushu Competition her team secured 2 Gold, one Silver and three Bronze Medals, and in the same year went on to further success at the South East Asian Wushu Championships, taking no less than 7 Gold Medals. In 1996 she also guided the team to win 6 Gold Medals at the Asian Wushu Championships.
Returning to China in 1997, Lu Yan still lives and teaches in Beijing.
- courtesy of luyanwushu.com | 
