By Raul Menchaca
Director of the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong, Roberto Vargas Lee, walks in front of his restaurant, in the Chinatown of Havana, capital of Cuba, on Sept. 3, 2024. For three decades, Cuban Roberto Vargas Lee has dedicated himself to teaching and spreading the practice of Wushu, the ancient martial art born in China. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
HAVANA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) — For three decades, Cuban Roberto Vargas Lee has dedicated himself to teaching and spreading the practice of Wushu, the ancient martial art born in China.
The director of the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong began his contact with Chinese culture early on thanks to the efforts of his mother Ana, a Cantonese opera singer in Havana’s Chinatown, who learned this martial art from her grandfather, who was born in the city of Zhongshan, in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
But it all began in a more formal way in 1994, when Vargas Lee, after practicing karate-do, became the first Cuban sent to study Chinese martial arts at the Beijing Institute of Physical Culture, where he came into direct contact with Chinese culture.
“It was a huge impact in every sense. It was like being reborn and rediscovering everything that I have today as a philosophy of life,” Vargas Lee told Xinhua.
He added that what he learned in China has been part of his training, not only in sports, but also in personal transformation to become a better human being.
After studying in China, where he also married a Shanghainese, he returned to Cuba and set about establishing in an abandoned cinema what is today a brand new sociocultural, sports and health project, which brings together some 6,000 practitioners throughout the Caribbean country.
“I was committed to developing what I had learned and I started with a small group, but today it is spread throughout the country, although we still have a long way to go,” said the teacher.
Today, the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong is not only a tool for cultural dissemination, but also an instrument for improving the health of older people and shaping a lifestyle for new generations.
Both disciplines have spread throughout all the provinces of the country, with practitioners meeting every day, although the board and coordinating center are in Havana, the headquarters of the school.
In parallel, representatives of the school have participated in several international Wushu championships since 2001, where they have achieved significant success.
But Vargas Lee, who holds the sixth duan (degree) in Wushu, in Daoyin Yangsheng Gong and in Quanshen Qigong, as well as the fifth in Joshinmon karate, does not stop at merely sporting matters.
A few years ago, the master opened the Tien Tan restaurant, which has now become the most typical restaurant in Havana’s Chinatown, where he can be seen supervising the preparation of Chinese cuisine, which he shares with dishes from Cuban and international cuisine.
On weekends, the restaurant’s upper floor becomes a unique cultural centre, where, alongside local singers and musical groups, the professor dares to sing in Chinese, a language he speaks and writes fluently.
“The Chinese look at me with respect and even confuse me with some of their Cantonese compatriots, because I have immersed myself deeply in that culture,” he explained.
Beyond that vision, for Cubans, Vargas Lee, 58, is a humble, affable man, willing to help others and whose goal in life seems to be to defend the Chinese cultural heritage bequeathed to him by his grandparents.
The director of the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong, Roberto Vargas Lee (R), teaches a class to his students, in the Chinatown of Havana, capital of Cuba, on Sept. 3, 2024. For three decades, Cuban Roberto Vargas Lee has dedicated himself to teaching and spreading the practice of Wushu, the ancient martial art born in China. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
The director of the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong, Roberto Vargas Lee (C), talks to a diner at his restaurant, in the Chinatown of Havana, capital of Cuba, on Sept. 3, 2024. For three decades, Cuban Roberto Vargas Lee has dedicated himself to teaching and spreading the practice of Wushu, the ancient martial art born in China. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
Director of the Cuban School of Wushu and Qigong, Roberto Vargas Lee (C), prepares Chinese food at his restaurant, in Chinatown in Havana, capital of Cuba, on Sept. 3, 2024. For three decades, Cuban Roberto Vargas Lee has dedicated himself to teaching and spreading the practice of Wushu, the ancient martial art born in China. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
