After being selected for the US national wushu team, Huang now has a more ambitious goal: to be a world champion.

Lu noticed that in the US, more people participate in sports for fun. Therefore, said Lu, it’s important to emphasize wushu’s entertaining components in order to popularize it.

“I was a college instructor back in China, so my students were selected to be future wushu professionals,” Lu said. “But here in the US, I have to teach a variety of students with different ages and physical conditions. … I had to modify the teaching content, methods and arrangements,” said Lu, who was invited to teach wushu at several American universities and was vice-president of the US Wushu-Kungfu Federation.

Now, with students ranging in age from 4 to 90, O-mei offers a variety of training programs for different levels.

In addition to weapons or bare-hand classes designed for young competitors, O-mei has tai chi lessons for health-oriented seniors. O-mei also puts on wushu demonstrations for large groups.

“We do shows here and there — within communities, during NBA game intermissions, for cultural galas and in universities,” said Fan. “Many people here still have no idea what wushu is. So hopefully, we can contribute to their knowledge base and make wushu attractive to them.”

Some of O-mei’s students after heading off to college have established wushu clubs on campus and serve as wushu instructors.

“Students have taken wushu with them even after they left O-mei,” Lu said. “For example, the current coach of the Columbia University wushu team was my student at O-mei.”

Yuan Yuan in Washington contributed to the story