Rick McCharles
Valentin, editor of The Gym Press, notified us of a documentary on the Li Xiaoshuang gymnastics school. It’s pretty intense.
The first 10min video features a father bringing his 5-year-old son to “try out”. If accepted, the father will take the train 9hrs home. And leave the boy in the care of the school.
To see what happens, click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
documentary part 2 documentary part 3 documentary part 4 documentary part 5
Valentin asks what people think of this documentary. Leave a comment below.
I am trying to be sympathetic of a nation in transition from third world to superpower. Yet these truths are self-evident:
Summing up, the focus of the Chinese system (parents, children, coaches) on “winning” is illogical. Only one can “win” the Olympics. If that’s the goal for all, everyone loses — except that one.
Living this lie cannot persist. As China gains confidence as a nation, as affluence and education increase, parents will not tolerate boarding schools like this. Their children will have better options.
Free enterprise will bring change for the better.
Most surprising of all to me is how poor is the coaching of the young boys. The technical training is very old fashioned. Inefficient. Most of the top coaches in the “West” are better, in my opinion, than the coaches at the Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School.
We should be educating them, not the other way round.
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UPDATE: A more damning exposé, and more unfairly edited, was the CNN documentary on Parkettes in Pennsylvania.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 
Anyone have these videos saved? I can’t see it. It has been deleted.
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