Jet describes himself as quiet, well mannered and obedient. He attended the Changqiao Primary School, where he did well at his studies. He was popular with his teachers, achieving good results.
"Lots of people ask me if I was sent to study wushu because I was a naughty kid. Actually, I was a poster child for obedience. The mischief came later...
Describing how he went on to the Excercise School:
"At that time in China the school would send children to special schools: "You and you: Learn how to play the basketball. And you: Learn how to swim. You: Learn how to play table tennis. You have to learn martial arts." I said, "Oh. What is martial arts? I don't know. Tell me and I'll learn.
Jet describes one of his performances:
"China was gearing up to host for a very important diplomatic event: the Pan-Asian-African-Latin American Table Tennis Championships For the opening ceremonies, the organizers were planning a whole slate of artistic performances to represent the best of Chinese culture: Peking opera, dance, and of course, wushu. Our group was scheduled to perform five programs, and I was in three of them.
Afterwards, in fact, we were invited to meet with Premier Zhou Enlai, the head of state (at the time, Chairman Mao was still alive, but he was already in seclusion). Just imagine: to be chosen to represent your country with wushu and to meet the leader of your country--and then to hear him praise you for your performance. That was an indescribable honor in China, not to mention a thrilling experience for a 9-year old boy."
1974
Wins championship at National Youth Sports Competition.
Tours U.S. as member of Beijing Wushu Team - performs for President Nixon on White House lawn.
In preparation for this visit to the West, we were put through an astonishingly detailed training course. And I don't just mean wushu training -- we were used to that by now. This time, we were required to learn the ins and outs of Western social etiquette. Not only were we taught how to eat with a knife and a fork, but we had to know which knife and fork were used for each course.
Everything was so complicated. It took half a year, that etiquette training! And we had to learn all this in addition to all the wushu forms that we were expected to perform flawlessly."
Jet was to travel to over 40 countries to give demonstrations.
"My winning first place caused quite a sensation, because I was so young. I was 12 years old, and the other two medallists were in their mid- to late twenties. During the awards ceremony, as I stood on the top step of the podium, I was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medallists. It must have been quite a sight."
Chinese Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion
1975
Chinese Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion
1977
Chinese Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion
1978
Chinese Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion
1979
Chinese Men's All-Around National Wushu Champion
"I am not a prodigy and newspaper reports about my having consciously trained and practiced wushu since I was a child often annoyed me beyond measure. It was simply not true. Like everyone else, I came across numerous problems in the course of training and many a time I wavered and thought of dropping out. It was my coach Wu Bin who helped me steer clear of all obstacles and encourage me never to give up. His admonitions and his patience in guiding me along will always remain in my heart of hearts."