The Plum Blossom Quan is one of the oldest traditional Wushu in China. It has not only the value of performance and appreciation, but also the function of fighting the enemy.

The Plum Blossom Spear is the representative weapon of the Plum Blossom Quan. It requires sheer force at the tip of the spear and a smooth wield. The body should be agile and the spear fast. The steps lead the body, and the body leads the spear.

Xing Wengang is a Plum Blossom Spear coach. At the beginning he started practicing Wushu with the elderly in the village, but the result did not meet his expectations. "Many of the village elders didn't want to teach me the key techniques, and my ten years of practice was not as good as the three years others had practiced." Xing said.

Once by chance, Xing went to Pingxiang County, the birthplace of the Plum Blossom Quan, more than 200 kilometers away from home. 

The Plum Blossom Spear practice emphasizes the coordination of body, feet and spear. Xing often went to practice in the woods near the village. The woods are similar to the quincuncial piles, where he can train the coordination of body, feet and spear.

Xing works as a Wushu coach in the Pingxiang vocational education center, teaching the Plum Blossom Quan to students from the first-year of middle school to the second-year of high school. The students are generally from rural areas, and their education level is below average. Other than to keep fit, they could be enrolled in a good college if they have Wushu skills.

Xing's student, Wang Zhipeng recently won the first place of Quan techniques at the Hebei Provincial Wushu Championships. Xing plans to teach him the Plum Blossom Spear, hoping he would have a chance to be admitted to a good university next year. He could be an example for the juniors, and their parents will see that practitioners can also go to college.

In order to help Wang Zhipeng improve his body coordination, Xing is going to adopt an ancient training tool - the quincuncial piles. The piles Xing plans to build consist of 12 wood piles of over one meter long. They are to be arranged in a fixed position to take on the shape of a plum blossom. The pile exercise is "based on feet positions and their angles." The diameter of the pile should not exceed foot width, and the spacing between the piles not larger than a stride.

A fan of kung fu films, Xing has been practicing Wushu since he was a child. Now, Wushu are no longer a swordsman's dream for him, but a chance for his students to be admitted to university after five years of practice. Entering a good university means a better future.