Raising the bar

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-18 15:43

With Gillis speaking what he calls "functional" Mandarin, a skill picked up during his 12-year stay in China, and Xie speaking just enough English, the two have formed a growing partnership.

During training, however, they often revert to pantomime and short English phrases, Gillis says.

"'Power' is probably the word he most often uses," Gillis says, "but I prefer hearing 'good lift' more".

As with Zhang, Xie's trained eye saw potential in the 55-year-old.

"Paul has a lot of power, but power is very different from strength," Xie says.

Power, explains Gillis, is the ability to channel strength, regardless of level, at high speeds.

Xie says his most important role is to teach Gillis the proper technique while building his strength.

The pair began a regimen of two or three training sessions each week, considerably less than the nine times a week expected of Xie's 15 to 20 younger athletes.

Owing to his age, Gillis needs more recovery time between training sessions, says Xie.

Though the lessons are less frequent, the teacher treats Gillis just as he would any other athlete. "The method is similar, but the time is limited and the lesson is limited," he says.

"If he would have come to me 20 years ago, I could have made him an Olympic weightlifter," says Xie, glancing at Gillis.

"Maybe if I came to you 30 years ago," Gillis responds, smiling.

Initially, Xie insisted on training Gillis for free, delighted with the prospect of training a worldly-wise expat for competition, but after several bouts of Xie refusing pay, Gillis finally convinced him. "The amount is nowhere near what Xie's expertise deserves, but I couldn't accept his time for free," he says.

Gillis developed his passion for lifting three years ago after his wife introduced him to Aileen Fan, fitness coordinator at Alexander City Club in Beijing.

Working with Fan revived Gillis' competitive spirit, something he had thought he had lost since playing American football in his youth. "I really hated it at first, but as I started to lift more and more, the competitive side started to catch fire in me."

At first he competed with himself, pushing to exceed the goal set by Fan each month.

Pretty soon, Gillis found that the weights at the gym weren't heavy enough for him, so he began having Fan stand on the bar as he lifted.

While he concedes he will never reach the Olympic level, Gillis hopes that within the next year he can compete in his age group at the international level. He says he is also considering adding the shot put and discus to his repertoire. "I've decided I want to become the strongest college professor on the planet," he says.

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