China’s underwater Tai Chi star hopes to spread martial art’s popularity

Long Jiaoer performs Tai Chi underwater. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

“I hope that more and more people can fall in love with this sort of sport through my efforts,” said Long Jiaoer, whose video footage practicing the centuries-old Chinese martial art of Tai Chi underwater recently stunned many Chinese netizens.

Long, born in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, started practicing Tai Chi at the age of 8. Physically weak as a little girl, her parents hoped that doing this physical activity would build up her physical strength.

Long’s dedication to this sport paid off when she won a series of awards. In 2013, she was selected for a provincial martial arts team. Only one year later, Long won first prize in a sub-group of the first World Taijiquan Championships, becoming the first world champion of Tai Chi in Sichuan province.

"Practicing Tai Chi has helped me boost my physical fitness. Plus, I can make friends with people from all over the world," said Long, who believes that practicing Tai Chi has not just taught her about the skills involved, but also about its profound culture.

From Long's perspective, as an essential part of Chinese culture, Tai Chi represents a kind of philosophy and wisdom, rather than simply competition. "To practice Tai Chi, you must feel the movements with your heart, and you need to have no distractions," she explained.

Talking about the footage of her doing Tai Chi underwater, Long revealed that it took her and the photographer six hours to film the entire sequence. "It is quite difficult to keep your balance underwater as you can't touch the ground with your heels,” Long recalled.

During the shooting, Long had to resurface every 40 seconds to catch her breath. To keep her balance, she fastened four pieces of lead weighing about 5 kilograms around her waist. Thanks to her solid martial arts skills, Long was able to successfully complete the filming.

“I hope that more and more people can fall in love with this sort of sport through my efforts,” said Long, who became a professional Tai Chi teacher after leaving the provincial team in 2018.

"I will continue to be committed to practicing and teaching Tai Chi," Long said when asked about her future career plans.