Jake Pinnick, the 36-year-old from the United States, has an unusual story of “Becoming Chinese”. Now he is known as a foreign coach at Wudang Mountain in Hubei province, teaching martial arts (武术) to students from around the world.

As a fan of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, Pinnick always wanted to learn “real kung fu from its roots (根源)”. Attracted by a video of Wudang martial arts online, he finally made up his mind to come to China in 2010.

Life in China was not easy at the beginning. The training was hard, but he never gave up. By repeating every move countless times each day, he gradually realized that martial arts are never supposed to compete against or win over others. Instead, they help achieve balance between inner spirit and outer strength, just as his master once told him, “Develop virtue before practising martial arts.”

After finishing his five-year training at Wudang Mountain, Pinnick returned to the US with his Chinese wife and their daughter. However, he found himself “stuck between Chinese and American culture”. So in 2018, he decided to return to Wudang Mountain to teach and spread Wudang culture.

Over the past years in China, Pinnick has become completely used to the local life. He now enjoys drinking hot tea instead of coffee. He is also proud of his Chinese name, Li Zigen, given by his master.

Pinnick hopes to deepen understanding between different cultures through his efforts. With encouragement from his wife, he started posting videos online about martial arts in 2020. His videos soon got popular, attracting millions of fans. Now he is busy preparing for a new international summer camp. “I want to let people from all over the world enjoy the beauty of traditional Chinese culture and benefit from it,” he said.