Zhao Qingjian

Early career

Growing up in Dongping County, Zhao was inspired by the 1982 film Shaolin Temple was a kid and decided to sign up for wushu classes.^[3] He was the all-around champion at the Dongping County Tournament. Unable to progress to the provincial team due to his age, Zhao moved south at the age of twelve in 1990 to join the Shanwei municipal team until the age of fifteen.

Returning to Shandong, Zhao was eventually convinced to join the Henan Songshan Shaolin Temple by Xu Dezheng.^[3][4] He was quickly drafted into the performance team which went on tours throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe during the mid-1990s.^[5][4] Upon conclusion of the 1998 American tour, Zhao decided to try to enroll at the Wuhan Sports University.^[6] Although never being formally educated, he caught the attention of coach Mei Hanchao in the technical exam and was given a large scholarship to attend the university.^[3]

Transition to modern wushu

In 1999, he was recruited by coach Wu Bin and joined the Beijing Wushu Team.^[3] Zhao's first competition representing Beijing was in the 2000 National Taolu Championships where he won a gold medals in changquan and daoshu, and a bronze medal in gunshu, thus becoming the all-around champion.^[3] At the 2001 National Games of China, he won the silver medal in the changquan combined event which featured rounds for an optional routine and the IWUF second compulsory routine.^[7]

Zhao's international debut was at the 2003 World Wushu Championships where he won gold in the changquan event and in the duilian event with Wei Jian and Yi Peng.^[8][6][9] He then won gold in the daoshu and gunshu combined event at the 2005 East Asian Games.^[10][11][12] The same year, he also won a gold medal in changquan and a silver medal in daoshu and gunshu combined at the 2005 National Games of China.^[13] After winning gold in daoshu at the 2007 World Wushu Championships,^[14][15] Zhao qualified to compete in the 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament and won in the daoshu and gunshu combined event by a significant margin.^{[16][17][18][19]} A year later, he won gold in the same combined event at the 2009 World Games. Shortly after, Zhao was able to win in the changquan event at the 2009 National Games of China, narrowly placing above Yuan Xiaochao.^[3][20][21] Zhao subsequently retired from competition.^[3][22]

Post-retirement

Today, Zhao hosts seminars on wushu and shaolinquan throughout China, the United States, and other Asian and European countries.^[23] In 2006, he was appointed as a wushu teacher at the Capital Institute of Sports Education [zh].^[4] Later in 2020, he became director of the Chinese Kung Fu Inheritance Committee by the Cultural China Fund of the China Chinese Education Foundation.^[5][24]