For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Continued Tour Part 15, click here.

August 4: Interview with Turkish Wushu Federation President Abdurrahman Akyuz & World Champion many times over - Elif Akyuz

Today was a gold medal day for me in that I got an interview with Turkish Wushu Federation President Abdurrahman Akyuz and his Wushu Wushu Champion, linguist and medical student 19-year-old daughter, Elif Akyuz.

Founded relatively recently in 2006, the Turkish Wushu Federation has experienced lightning fast growth to make up for that late start. Federation President Abdurrahman Akyuz was pleased to inform me that as of the most recent accounting, their federation had more than 8,000 certified trainers and 45,000 students and their National Team can boast of having more than 300 highly-skilled competitors, though all naturally don’t go to every international competition.

Abdurrahman Akyuz is more than a Federation President, he’s also husband and father of a remarkably talented Wushu family, given that his wife is Head Coach of the National Wushu Taolu Team, and his four children have been remarkably successful in national and international competitions.

But, of course this is Turkey and Federation President Akyuz didn’t just come out and say this. Instead I pieced it together in follow-up conversations with other organization members after our interview. Looking on the computer of their most excellent translator while searching for good team photos, I noticed a magazine cover featuring President Akyuz’s family, and that turned the key in my mind, cementing what I’d been slowly figuring out on my own. His family is amazing! Ankara is the very modern capital city of a great and very large country but many traditions still hold sway, with modesty being foremost among them.

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to interview his oldest daughter, Elif over the phone at least, which was something of a relief, because her English is quite good. But, we didn’t start speaking English right away. Nope. When I introduced myself to Federation President Akyuz I told him (honestly of course) that I’m from Beijing. So, when I was given the phone with Elif on the line she started in Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) which I speak a lot better than Turkish – a language I’m learning now: “Sifir, bir, iki, uc, dort, besh…” (that’s 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5) which is pretty easy to remember compared to some other languages. Anyways, I found out that she’s 19 years old and won gold medals in the 2011, 2013, and 2015 World Wushu Championships, is heading to a medical school in China to become a doctor, is a lively conversationalist, has a great sense of humor, and I found out later, speaks English very well indeed.

Wushu Champion Elif Akyüz

 

Present in the office during my interviews with Federation President Akyuz and Elif (via telephone) were several other fascinating individuals including Nesrin Aydin, a journalism student at Ankara University and translator for my interview with the Federation President, and Serap Yasar, a young lady with remarkable Sanda skills, as well as several others who spoke English to varying degrees from not at all, to at least a little.

Federation President Akyuz is a very busy man because in addition to his job with the IWuF, he also is the Chief Executive of a mechanical engineering company he’d founded. This did not surprise me much, because I’ve learned from other interviews that highly successful businessmen are often appointed to become leaders of sports federations in different countries, precisely because they are very good organizers and know how to generate and manage the capital that is so essential to a growing sports federation. Of course in President Akyuz’s case there’s a lot more than that going on. He’s the patriarch of a Wushu dynasty here in Turkey, and a man with considerable expertise in Wushu himself, as he’s worked as coach and trainer before, though these days he’s pretty busy with administrative responsibilities.

After our preliminary interview I asked if it was OK to get a photo of him. He politely agreed, and invited me to join him in the picture. Honored to stand next to such a highly successful, talented and genuine person I quickly agreed. Before he had to leave for another appointment he asked me if I’d eaten – like maybe he’d read my mind and knew I hadn’t – and being such a compulsively honest person I said: “Not really,” so he asked me to wait a few moments, and in no time at all a most delicious dinner appeared, and I and one of those who spoke no English at all sat down for some seriously great food! Later, while looking through Nesrin’s photo collection on her computer, I happened to notice several of Federation President Akyuz and his children with Turkish President Erdogan. Very cool!

Turkish Wushu Federation President Abdurrahman Akyuz & Greg Brundage.

 

These interviews today more or less complete the goals for interviews I’d set on this leg of my Silk Road Kung Fu (Wushu) Friendship Tour.

Of course, this journey isn’t nearly over yet. Thanks to some historical insights freely given to me by a most excellent history professor I met at my hotel, I’ve decided to make a couple of short stops on my way to what may be the most culturally/historically rich city in the world, Istanbul. As I sit here comfortably in my hotel typing these notes, the soulful sounds of Azan, the Call to Prayer wafts across this ancient city as a cooling evening breeze floats through the land - dissipating the summer afternoon heat during the grandly colored sunset.

A couple of days ago in Ankara I celebrated my 60th birthday and got a real treat when I got back to my hotel only to meet a group of American archeologists and one historian, named Gregory McMahon from the University of New Hampshire. I found out a bit about their work, and told them a little about my Silk Road plan. Professor McMahon then very kindly informed me that simply getting to Istanbul and visiting a port wasn’t going to do it. Nope. My work was not finished. OMG! First, he enlightened me on a rather important topic. He explained that Caravanserais were as I knew, trading posts along the Silk Road, but they were not the end points. They were not the destinations. They were NOT THE END! “Oh noooo!”

Fortunately he clued me in, “What you need to visit are the ‘hans’ because the hans were the real terminal endpoints of the Silk Road. “There are some right here in Ankara, quite a few in fact. You should visit some. Also, you would really enjoy stopping in a city called “Bursa” on the way to Istanbul, because that was the major Silk production city, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire and the true western end of the land Silk Road in West Asia.

Four simple sentences that changed my destiny, oh yes they were.

Then he continued, “You might even like to take a boat from Bursa to Istanbul across the Marmara Sea. It would be grand,” he said, or something to that effect. Wow. Professor McMahon reminded me how much I miss university and the kindly, knowledgeable and often wise professors that share so much.

Before leaving Ankara I visited one of the digs of those archeologists about an hour drive outside the capital, specifically Gordian’s Tomb, father of King Midas in a village called Yassihoyuk, and in fact there is also a whole village of burial mounds left by King Gordian’s royal family yet to be excavated. Gordian was once the capital of the Phrygians who dominated most of Central Anatolia during the 1st Millennium BC and is comparable to Athens, Rome, Pompeii, the Hittite capital at Hattusha and Babylon.

The reader should know there are no simple stories, truths or paths for this intrepid martial arts wanderer; no simple fast trains to Istanbul.

First thing next day I visited Suluhani, the largest of the ancient hans in Ankara. It was fantastic, partly because Turkey is very different from most countries. Specifically they don’t throw everyone out of their national monuments or other ancient places, instead they just usually upgrade the place and everyone stays put. So, Suluhani is still a thriving marketplace today.

Koza Han; largest in Bursa, the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire.

 

Also in Ankara I visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. This museum redefined my understanding of ancient civilizations with its spectacular collection. Never before have I seen so many, so well preserved, so highly evolved objects of such great antiquity. I could write a hundred books about the astonishing things in there and not cover half of it.

One thing that rocked my world was the stone: “Gladyator Chrisampelos’un Mezar Steli, Mermer, Roma Donemi, (The Funerary Stela of Gladiator Chrisampelos), carved in marble during the Roman Period, 2nd Century AD. To quote a book I bought (Ancient Cities of Turkey) “In theaters one can see the changes made to accommodate the gladiator fights and wild animal shows so popular in major city theaters during Roman times…” (P. 13)

There was also the Bust of Ulpius Aelius Pompeianus, from the Period of Hadrianus (AD 117-138, “the superintendent of the sacred games in Ankara;” he’s also credited with organizing games in other cities, e.g. Claudiopolis (Bolu). (Photos 297 - 298)

This, of course, isn’t to suggest that Roman influence was all cruel and bad, for they also aided and refurbished much of ancient Anatolia:

“Anatolia occupied a privileged position in the eyes of Roman rulers who believed that their origins lay in Anatolia. Moreover, they were also aware of the strategic importance of Anatolia’s rich natural resources in terms of keeping Syria, Palestine and Egypt under their control. As a result they founded new cities in Anatolia and repaired old cities in line with their advanced engineering skills. It is thus that the Anatolian cities have survived to our day all display traces of the Roman period and it is obvious that, even if they were founded before the Roman period, they were subsequently Romanized.

Yasar Yilmaz, Ancient Cities of Turkey, published by YEM Yayun, Istanbul 2014, P. 12

Also in the “ground floor” collection are displays of coins through the ages, divided neatly into appropriate era. It is certainly worth noting that the first minted coins on earth were found made in ancient Anatolia.

Though innumerable books and articles obviously have been and will be written about the unbelievably excellent collection in the Museum of Anatolian Civilization, I have to say I felt slightly dizzy there, which is an unusual experience for me. I felt almost lost in the vastness of time, representing a million years of history and most of the evolution of humanity at least since the beginning of farming some 9,000 years ago. Also I felt humbled by the extraordinary skills utilized so very, very long ago.

Also before leaving Ankara I visited the ancient Ankara Citadel/castle/fortress atop the highest hill, and spent a lovely sunset with some young attorneys and a judge standing upon the highest outside wall, which was less than a meter wide. One fellow was flying kites up there and I gotta say it was a long way down the outside wall if someone tripped or something.

The Ankara Citadel.

 

After finishing up other business in Ankara, I was off for Bursa. Turns out the Marmara Sea has dropped a few meters during the past few hundred years and Bursa is no longer exactly on the coast, but the monuments and more importantly, many, many han are still there. So I went to the Bursa Silk Market, the Koza Hani, sat and drank tea with some locals for a couple of hours and even met some silk dealers, one of whom gave me some silkworm cocoons. So, this was the end point, or actually one of hundreds of purchasing houses - terminal endpoints - for Silk Road products. They all seemed to have similar internal structures, e.g. couches in an “L” shape with a coffee table in the middle. It was there that Silk Road goods were finally sold at journey’s end.

In Bursa, I visited the Turk Islam Eserleri Muzesi,(Islamic Museum of Turkey), the Emir Sultan Camii (pronounced “Jami”) which is a mausoleum for some of the greatest Ottoman Sultans and of course the Yesil Camii the famous and spectacular “Green Mosque.”

All too soon, I had to jump the boat for Istanbul, and what I found there just escalated my sense of the absolute hugeness of time. I read in one of the books I bought that Turkey is the world’s largest living museum with three times the number of ancient historical cities than actual cities now, so vast and wide is its history. The boat to Istanbul was exciting, effortlessly gliding across the Marmara Sea, examining the shoreline and realizing there were hundreds of ideal locations for ports and smaller shipping docks.

In Istanbul of course I visited the Blue Masjid, the coast (where I swam out of the Golden Horn, around Sarayburnu into the Marmara Sea), the Spice Market, Ismail Aga, The Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, the Istanbul Archeological Museum, Turkish and Islamic Museum, the Egyptian Obelisk, Greek Serpent Column, yes, the remains of the Hippodrome where the Eastern Roman empire - which lasted a thousand years longer than the Western roman Empire - celebrated the “Games” including of course chariot races and gladiatorial fights to the death.

Artist's rendering of the Hippodrome

 

I could try to describe for example the Hagia Sophia supported by columns collected from innumerable pagan temples and located on what was a pre-Christian temple of some kind, built over a 16 year period by 14,000 workers under the supervision of 400 masters working day and night according to the designs of two Anatolians, the architect Antemios of Tralles and the mathematician Isidore of Miletus, into an Orthodox Cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople starting in 537, which it remained for 667 years until 1204 when it was converted into a Roman Catholic Cathedral by the Fourth Crusaders under the Latin Empire of Constantinople, however a mere 249 years later in 1453 when Constantinople reverted to its indigenous owners the Anatolian/Turks, the Hagia Sophia was converted into an Ottoman Masjid, but, I’m above my word count for this story.

Or, I tell the story of Ibrahim Pasha who was the son of a sailor in Parga, northwest Greece, who as a child was abducted by pirates and sold to the Manisa Palace in Western Anatolia where the Ottoman crown princes were being educated and how he met crown Prince Suleiman who was the same age and the deep friendship they forged resulting in his first royal position as the Sultan’s falconer, and how he graduated through the ranks as diplomat and successful commander acquiring numerous titles and awards, but ultimately how he sided with the wrong side of a succession argument and one of Suleiman’s wives successfully plotted against him and had him strangled in the Topkapi Palace one night and mention, of course that Ibrahim Pasha’s former “pleasure” palace has stood silently above the steps of the Hippodrome facing the Walled Obelisk and Serpent Column for the past 600 plus years and is now the quite nicely refurbished Turkish and Islamic Museum. But, I’m way over the word count now for sure.

In conclusion, about 13 months ago I ventured out on the ground from Beijing to Xian, Turpan, Urumqi, Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Turkmenabad, Mary/Merv, Ashgabat, then flew over Iran for the time being, continued on the ground in Tbilisi, went east to Baku where I swam in the Caspian Sea, then back west again to Tbilisi, and on to Kobuleti where I swam in the Black Sea, and from there crossed the border into Turkey at Sharpi, went to Hopa, Erzurum, and Ankara before visiting Bursa and finally Istanbul where I swam from the Golden Horn into the Bosphorus as it mingles with the Marmara Sea, interviewing as many of the Kung Fu masters as I could, visiting as many of the Silk Road sites as possible, and fully exploring every major museum along the way. I could mention that during the three segments of this Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship tour so far I’ve traveled some 10,347 kilometers or 6,428 miles on the ground, but… oops, I already did.

Topkapi Palace

 

Of course, this series may never end as the Silk Road and her martial art masters and mysteries are virtually endless. Certainly next year I hope to get to Iran, and if possible Pakistan, and after that Iraq and Syria (I may wait a few years on these latter two), Lebanon, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, many other locations in Afghanistan outside Kabul, and there are some major Silk Road crossroads here in China I have yet to visit, e.g. the Southern Route from Kashgar along the Taklimakan Desert and so on. Though I’m nearly finished with the “straight” North Road west across the continent of Asia from Xian to Istanbul, this Silk Road journey may be only beginning. “There are over 40 countries today alongside the historic Land and Maritime Silk Roads, all still bearing witness to the impact of these routes in their culture, traditions and customs…”

http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/countries-alongside-silk-road-routes

If all that doesn’t satisfy me there is also the North African Caravan Routes through and around the Sahara Desert. I’ve always longed to see Marrakesh, Timbuktu, and Khartoum, not to mention cross the Saharan desert sand dunes on camels under skies brushed by the timeless rosy fingers of endless sunrises and sunsets.

As always, I must thank God, and all the most excellent masters, trainers, coaches, organizers, and Kung Fu and Wushu people, as well as the innumerable regular extraordinary people all along this road who so often gave me directions and companionship, Professor McMahon for his kindly and generous instruction and especially Gene Ching of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine that somehow always manages to get my stories published in spite of my endless irreverence, other ridiculous nonsense and word counts that are always just a little higher than they should be.

Editor’s Note: After the 2011 World Wushu Championships were held in Ankara, some controversy arose about bribery accusations, however the IWuF did not deem it credible and dropped the investigation.

For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 17, click here.