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| ▲ Top left, Sung Changha demonstrates the prowess that just won first place. Other scenes, both on and off stage, from Mr. Chilsimni. Photos by Alpha Newberry |
Late last year, after the Chilsimni Festival’s cooking competition and traditional drumming had ended, as the sun set over the Cheonjiyeon bridge, an unusual group congregated under the stage lights: bodybuilders.
Both young and old were competing for the title of Mr. Chilsimni.
Backstage, Sung Changha, a 61-year-old grandfather and retired driver, related to us the story of his entry into the sport. He had just finished competing.
Sung began working out in the year 2000 after an illness.
“I collapsed from a stroke, so I was hospitalized. I gained a great deal of weight while I was in the hospital. After that, I realized that I should start to work out to get back my health.”
Three hours of exercise each day and 10 years later he won first place in the silver category for Mr. Chilsimni. He will show his strength again in another Jeju-wide competition to be held in April or May.
“I believe bodybuilding should be every man’s sport. When I had facial nerve palsy and was very weak physically, bodybuilding helped me recover my health. It is a great exercise.”
This wasn’t his first rodeo either. “It was my 16th time in a bodybuilding competition.” Sung is a member of the Seogwipo Bodybuilding Association, part of an island-wide group which includes some 600 members, both men and women.
And Jeju isn’t familiar only with its home-grown bodybuilders. In 2007 it hosted the 61st Men’s World Championships. South Korean, Cho Wangbung claimed the title in the 60-kilogram weight class.
Sung may not be competing in the World Championships. Still his family cheered him on nonetheless.
Unfortunately, his granddaughter could not make it. She was at kindergarten. There was no Ms. Chilsimni this year, but there may be one in the future.
According to Sung, “There will be the first women’s bodybuilding competition in Jeju next year or the year after.” Perhaps that will give new meaning to the oft-said phrase, “strong Jeju women.”
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ⓒ Jeju Weekly 2009 (http://www.jejuweekly.net)
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Copyright ⓒ 2009 All materials on this site are protected under the Korean Copyright Law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published
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