An Interview with Wushu World Junior Champion Jada He

Recently, the STC Student Media Team had the opportunity to interview Jada He (12G1), a member of STC’s Junior Athlete Group, a full-time student athlete at the HKSI, and a specialist in Wushu and martial arts. Although she only joined STC last August, her resounding success in both local and international competitions has made her well-known across the school community. Today, we will be taking a closer look at Jada’s career story and successes, as well as how she has learnt to overcome her personal struggles.

When inquired about what inspired her to take on martial arts at a young age, Jada credited it to the fact that both of her parents are martial arts coaches and athletes. She was “really inspired” by them, which was why she decided to start martial arts. Her passion for martial arts makes her a keen advocate for the sport and she hopes others will try it out as she believes it is a rewarding activity that anyone can do for fun or leisure. Jada also adds that “if you like the sport to a certain level, and want to achieve something bigger then you should join the World Championships or Asian Championships”.

Like every other professional athlete, Jada’s career as a martial artist hasn’t been completely perfect. One of the major challenges she faces is balancing her personal life while frequently training for Wushu. She follows a rigorous training schedule “every day, two times a day, two and a half hours per section” which takes up a significant portion of her time. Another obstacle she faces are injuries which could happen abruptly and unexpectedly—she recalls that she was once “doing a (extremely difficult) jump” and landed in the wrong position and twisted her leg. She couldn’t walk for three weeks.

A common misconception many may have regarding martial arts athletes is that they seem threatening due to their strong body movements and facial expressions, as well as martial arts being traditionally rooted in combat and fighting. “After my CNY performance, everyone sees me as this scary person as I kept shouting, but learning martial arts does not make you scary. You just have to perform and put your emotions inside your sequence so that you can score better”. In reality, Jada is a “really nice” person, so don’t be intimidated when you see her around school!

Jada takes pride in her wide array of achievements, including being a two-time World Junior Champion, two-time Asian Junior Champion, as well as being the winner of the Outstanding Junior Athletes of Hong Kong Award and the Cathay Pacific Best Junior Athletes Award in 2019. Most recently, she earned three bronze medals and a silver medal at the 8th World Junior Wushu Championship in December 2022. Moving forward, Jada hopes to take her skills to the next level and is aiming to participate in the next Asian Games and other major Wushu events. However, she has decided that she will not continue to pursue Wushu professionally in University to focus on her academic studies.

Additionally, STC students can look forward to the martial arts club that Jada will be hosting in May, where “you can learn some martial arts skills and create your own sequence by the end of the programme”. Students shouldn’t miss out on this invaluable opportunity to learn martial arts from a professional, especially if they haven’t tried it before! Jada reassures athletes who are just starting out to not be afraid, advising that “if you’re not really good at first, you will gradually improve after you train”.

Jada is an inspiration to aspiring student athletes and there is no doubt that the STC community is proud of Jada’s impressive sporting achievements. Wherever her martial arts journey takes her, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Written and edited by: Raphael Lee (12D2), Sam Cheung (12X1)