Outweighing setbacks

"Yet, I have been able to persist for over a decade because most children can persevere in training," he says, adding that seeing some of them achieve top national rankings or improve their physical fitness, he feels very accomplished.

"When I saw some of them performing certain movements very well, I feel happy — a spiritual strength that has enabled me to persevere."

One of the strengths comes from an 8-year-old girl, whose hands have been covered in callosities after practicing wrestling for eight months.

Every afternoon after school, her mother brings her from a place 20 km away to the wrestling gym.

"Her mother is very open-minded and very persistent," Bai says.

Despite the girl Sun Chenjun's petite frame, she can bend over and lift a stone block weighing 50 kilograms, swaying back and forth.

"This can help me practice waist strength and others. I don't feel tired at all," the girl says.

Her mother, Li Jingcai, says that she initially heard from a friend that there was a good wrestling gym here.

"At that time, my child was a bit troubled, in her studies and various aspects. She only wanted to win and couldn't accept losing," Li says.