After Jen and I returned from Bangkok, an old spark had reemerged deep inside of me. It was the spark of exercise, or more specifically, the spark of Frisbee. Staying up in the mountains, I had played basketball a few times, but it was too damn cold to throw a Frisbee. Staying in Chengdu, I had fewer excuses. March was just beginning, the weather was getting better in Chengdu, and I would not be allowed to go back up into the mountains any time soon. Thus, the time was ripe for Frisbee in Chengdu.With Gareth and Jim, both of whom we met in Bangkok, as allies, Jen and I got to work. We had plenty of Frisbees, but we needed people and we needed fields. Jen did her best to recruit from her school, initially getting some fellow teachers to join us and, ultimately, getting many of her students to play as well. Jim had played quite a bit of rugby in Chengdu and invited Gareth and I to check out the scene. One fateful afternoon we met Peter. It was a very fortunate occasion because Peter was a primary organizer for many of the sports in Chengdu. He knew what it takes to make a recreational sport work; from fields to email lists. He had even tried to organize an ultimate team before, but had limited success in the past.
Once we had Peter on our side, we arranged to meet at Taipingsi, a field a little ways outside of town. Jen and I sent out text messages to as many people we could think of in an attempt to draw anybody we may have missed. That Friday evening we were off to the fields and did not quite know what to expect. We showed up and found five or six teachers from Jen's school, Meishi, Gareth along with three co-workers from Huaxi, and Peter and Jim from rugby. We had a game!We started by doing our best to explain how to throw. Forehands, backhands, and, of course, the hammer. The Kiwi gym teacher from Meishi became very fond the hammer, teaching all of the kids how to throw it in gym class. After a brief discussion of the rules, we started playing.
Not everybody really knew what was going on, but I think a fun time was had by all. We were playing Frisbee, after all, and I was elated. Eventually, a weekly Sunday game would accompany our weekly Friday game until people may have gotten over loaded. We tried different fields and eventually settled on having a small practice session on Fridays and big games on Sundays.
Over time, we began to have more and more people show up. As I mentioned earlier, Matt began to teach Frisbee at school and nearly a dozen of Meishi students joined the games, making numbers no longer an issue. We also encountered another small group of local Chinese players who had been playing independently for some time. We were excited to have them join us. They really added quite a bit of skill to the games. A friend from the Southwest Nationalities University got in touch with me and said that his friend would like to play. Eventually he and many more friends started to come. At one practice, I remember, five languages were being spoken on the field at one time: English, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Urdu. Something had really started! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267714&id=1505459&l=4982f858f0We continued to play every week. I was very happy. I had also begun to take Taiji (Tai Chi) classes three times a week, so every Sunday I would practice Taiji for two hours and then race home on my bike to make it to Frisbee. Sometimes I would even go straight to Frisbee and bring my Taiji sword. By the end of those days I was always very tired, but I would feel excellent. Biking and Frisbee would tire me out quite a bit, but all of the stretching and calisthenics of Taiji helped me stay balanced and healthy; gradually growing stronger and avoiding injury.
Eventually it was time to go. My old friend, Spike, was getting married at the beginning of June and I would be the best man at the wedding. Chinese Nationals (http://chinaupa.fiveultimate.com/?q=en) would be in the middle of May in Beijing. Thus, I made a plan. I would go to Beijing, stay with my old teacher for a week, see sights, and play frisbee. After it was all done, I would go back to the States and attend College Nationals (http://college2009.upa.org/) the following weekend. Night Train of my alma mater, UVA, would be attending for the first time in UVA Ultimate history (as a 4th seed, no less!). I was very excited for all of this.I left Chengdu Ultimate, unsure of whether it would still be there when I got back. After all, Jen, Gareth, and I all would be in Beijing and then Gareth would be traveling a bit afterward. Without the initial group present, would the games still go on? Fortunately, after a wonderful week in Beijing, experiencing life as a Tibetan house guest, seeing the Great Wall, Summer Palace, and Forbidden City, playing in Chinese Nationals with the Shanghai team, flying back to the States, attending College Nationals with many fellow UVA alumni, starting a project at the Library of Congress, studying for the GRE (I've yet to take it), and attending Spike's wedding as the best man; I am happy to say that, from what I've been told, Chengdu Ultimate still lives.
Having returned to the States and played some out here, I am reminded of where I come from and why I play. In the past two months I have played in pick-up games in Chengdu with good friends, played at a national tournament in Beijing with new friends, watched a national tournament in Ohio with old friends, played in a D-league tournament in Washington DC with my father's team, played summer league in Charlottesville with old friends, and thrown a lot in my front yard with my little brother. I love this game and I love these people. Thoughts and stresses of work and money, of inadequacy and survival, shrink and fade until all that is left is that lovely plastic disc floating in space and dancing with my fingertips.
