Former National Ice Hockey Coach: Falun Dafa Totally Changed Me for the Better

Brief introduction: Mr. Gao Weixi, 69-years-old, used to be the coach of the National Ice Hockey Team. He began to cultivate in Falun Dafa in September of 1998. Before cultivation, he had more than 20 health ailments. After he started to practise Falun Gong many of his stubborn diseases disappeared without a trace. During the 9th Winter Sports Meet, he was invited to be the coach of the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Team. He handled every situation following the standard of a cultivator--"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance"--and gained the team members' trust and respect. Public figures in the sports field highly praised him. After witnessing how he changed, many people began to understand and accept Falun Dafa.

After the illegal persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20th, 1999, 60-year-old Mr. Gao was continually persecuted. In December of 2000, he was followed for a long time and eventually taken into custody by officers of the Nanguan District Police Department. He was sentenced to forced labour for three years and taken to Weizigou Forced Labour Camp and Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp. On May 9th, 2007, large-scale arrests took place in Changchun City. This was the largest sweep since the mass arrests of March 5th, 2002. Mr. Gao was arrested again and is now facing trial.

The following is the experience sharing article written by Mr. Gao Weixi before the brutal persecution started on July 20th, 1999.

My name is Gao Weixi and I am 61 years old. I used to be the coach of The National Ice Hockey Team. At present, I am working for the Changchun City Sports Team. Before cultivation, I developed coronary disease, arteriosclerosis, cholecystitus, gastritis, a duodenal ulcer, arthritis, prostatitis, proctitis, serious kidney problems, and mild liver cirrhosis resulting from hepatitis. Due to injuries from training and competition, I also developed recurring serious cerebral trauma, cerebral concussion requiring surgery, glaucoma, joint damage, bone fracture, cervical vertebra disease, curvature of my chest and lumbar vertebra, collagen proliferation and thigh bone necrosis, and so on. I was in pain everyday. In 1996, my diseases got worse, resulting in seizures, nerve disorder, coronary disease, and heart failure. Eventually, I was bedridden.

My wife is a Falun Gong practitioner. At first, I did not believe in Falun Gong. Later, I learnt some of its principles and thought that they made sense. But I could not understand some of the content, so I doubted it.

As my condition worsened daily, I began to watch the Falun Gong lectures given by Falun Gong's founder Mr. Li Hongzhi on video, with the idea of curing my diseases. Although I began to realise that (Falun) Dafa is extremely good, I could not forget about my diseases. I also had a very strong inferiority complex and thought that, although Dafa was good, I could not cultivate in it. I thought that Teacher Li Hongzhi would not take me as a student, and I would be dead soon without a doubt. I always thought that I was not qualified to be a Dafa disciple. If something went wrong with me, I would discredit the practice. At that time, I wrote a personal statement. In the statement, to prevent people with ulterior motives from attacking Dafa, I declared that in case anything went wrong with me, that it was due to my own reasons and had nothing to do with Dafa. During the one and half years I laid in bed, I read Zhuan Falun through my reading glasses. But I did not practise the exercises. I really struggled with myself during that time.

In 1998, with my wife's help, I read Teacher's overseas Falun Gong lectures and listened to the audio recording. After I realised that Teacher had opened the gate so widely to save us, I made up my mind to cultivate. Due to my long-term constipation and distension of my abdomen, I could not eat normally, and I had difficulty breathing and sweat all over. My oedema was very serious so I could not walk. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to practise the exercises. At first, I could practise several minutes to ten minutes. After one week, I could practise for a half hour. At that time, I began to have diarrhoea and discharged only yellow water. I could not eat or drink then. This situation lasted for three days. To my surprise, I never felt weak and my spirit did not deteriorate. Moreover, during the 40 minutes of practising, I did not have diarrhoea. After three days, I felt my stomach and intestines calm down and recover; I could eat three meals each day. After ten days, I began to discharge a little black blood. On the third day, I suddenly began to discharge only blood, as if running water from the tap, until the blood became bright red. I totally discharged about 1,000 millilitres blood. I was not afraid. I did not feel pain in my stomach. I also did not feel uncomfortable. I realised that Teacher was purifying my body this way, so I did not take medicine or go to the hospital. I also did not treat it as a disease. After that, my appetite became better and better, and my ability to eat became better and better. I gradually gained weight. I could read Zhuan Falun and practise the exercises every day. Soon I increased practising the moving exercise from 30 minutes to 70 minutes and meditation from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. Afterwards, I went to the practice site at the Animal and Plant Park for group practise. On the weekends, I helped to teach others to practise.

Thanks to Falun Dafa, I became stronger and stronger. The pain in my head and eyes disappeared. Previously, due to cerebral trauma, I developed a 2.0 cm by 1.8 cm calcified lump above my left eye socket and three centimetres away from the centre of my head. The lump pressed on my eye. Due to the concussion, I had recurring headache and eye pain for several decades that caused me tremendous pain. Soon after I began to study the Fa (Falun Gong teachings), I read the Fa until 3 a.m. one day and then fell asleep. Soon, I clearly saw something glittering enter the lump and circle around inside. Then the light dimmed until it vanished. At that time, I was in a great deal of pain and a little hot. Later I had a CT scan in the hospital and my tumour was gone. Now, my leg pain, cervical vertebra pain, frozen shoulder, joint disease, and thigh bone necrosis have all disappeared. Currently, I get up after 4 a.m. to study the Fa. At 5 a.m., I go to the park for group practise. After returning home from the park, I either study the Fa or sit in meditation. During the daytime, I study the Fa and handle other issues. After dinner I study the Fa or practise the exercises. I go to bed at about 10:30 p.m. Although I frequently eliminate karma, my energy is abundant. I can walk or ride a bicycle without feeling tired. My vision has also continuously improved. Before, even though I wore 200 strength reading glasses, I still could not read the book clearly. Now, I do not need any glasses to read.

When I was seriously ill before, Mr. Xiao, the director of the Sports Team, had discussed with me my funeral arrangements. I had also worked out my posthumous statement. To everyone's surprise, Falun Gong saved me and gave me a new life.

Since Falun Gong is a cultivation practice of both mind and body, it gradually improved my health, rectified my thoughts and behaviours, and enhanced my character. Just when I began to participate in group practise, I received an invitation from the Hong Kong Skating Association to train the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Team for the 9th Winter Sports Meet. Although I was not very strong then and was eliminating karma and undergoing tribulations each day, I continued to study the Fa and practised the exercises daily. Finally, I completed the training task successfully. During the meet, leaders and members from various teams made good appraisals of me. Mr. Li Guangjing, the director of the Hong Kong Skating Association, then invited me to be a coach to train the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Team for other international competitions. Also, the standard skating hall would be built in Hong Kong. He hoped I could act as manager and coach there.

When I was seriously ill before, some people learnt that I was still critically ill, and some thought that I had died. When I returned to Changchuan City for the meeting, they were so surprised, asking how I had made such an amazing recovery. I told them openly, "I am a cultivator of Falun Gong. It is Falun Gong that saved me and totally changed me." During the meet, all the ice hockey teams across China gathered in Changchun City. When my acquaintances saw me, they all saw for themselves that my health had improved, I looked much younger and, more obviously, my attitude had taken on an entirely new look and I treated people much nicer. When Mr. Li Guangjing saw me, he said, "I am so glad to witness how you've change inside and outside." When the meet was close to being finished, he told me, "It impresses me profoundly that your ways of dealing with people, handling matters, and viewing issues are so different from the past. Your temperament has also changed. " Based on my introduction and influence, Ms. Feng Hui, the deputy director of the Hong Kong Skating Association and director of Figure Skating Association, and Mr. Li Guangjing both obtained copies of Zhuan Falun from me before returning to Hong Kong. They indicated that they would study the book carefully. I knew that was not because of me, but because Dafa had lead them to learn Dafa. During the whole meet, I kept on introducing Dafa to others and the effect was extremely good.

At present, I study the Fa and practice the exercises every day. At work and with family, I strictly follow the standard of Dafa, looking inwards when anything comes up and unceasingly enhancing my character and frame of mind. I take myself as a cultivator all the time and try never to hurt others and to be considerate of others. I also stopped struggling for fame and wealth and just let nature take its course. As a result, many of my attachments and desires became weaker and weaker.

In the future, I will study the Fa, practise the exercises, improve my mind, and assimilate myself into Dafa more diligently. I treasure Dafa and know it is not easy to come by. I am wholeheartedly grateful to Teacher for saving me. I will remove all disturbances in my path of cultivation and forge ahead diligently until consummation.

* * * * * this part is from http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/6/2/156109.html

Postscript: Mr. Gao Weixi was scheduled to see his daughter, who just flew back from the United States and had been away from her parents for nearly ten years. His daughter went to the U.S. in 1999. After the persecution was launched, Mr. Gao was sentenced to Chaoyanggou Forced Labour Camp for three years in 2000. His daughter gave birth to two children. When the first child was born, Mr. Gao was detained in the labour camp. When the second child was born, Mr. Gao's wife was listed as being wanted by the Chinese Communist Party and had no source of income, and Mr. Gao was forced to be homeless and destitute after he was released. Beset by these devastating events, plus missing her 70-year-old parents, his daughter nearly suffered a mental breakdown and her health became extremely poor.

The daughter had expected to see her parents. Reuniting with her family after ten years of separation would have been a comfort to her. However, on the afternoon of July 9th, 2007, officers from the Jilin Province Police Department and Nanguan Police Department took Mr. Gao into custody. On May 10th, 2007, his family was unable to pick him up at the train station and were very worried. They waited for several days without any more news. The family then took a train to Changchun City and went to where Mr. Gao was living. After they forced open the door, they saw two police officers living there. It was obvious that they had been living there for several days. The officers were quite startled and asked how the family had learnt the news. Mr. Gao's family asked to see him. Jilin Province Police Department officers said, "We could have sentenced him to prison if we had found just five Falun Gong books in his room, but we found three bags of books. Just wait. You may see him after the sentencing." At that time, he was in the No. 3 Detention Centre in Changchun City.

After the large-scale arrests took place in Changchun City on May 9th, 2007, most of the practitioners were sentenced to forced labour. What is more, over ten days after Ms. Wang Yuhuan was persecuted to death, the offices concerned still had not released the the news. The cause of her death is still unclear and those responsible are at large. In addition, Mr. Gao Weixi and Ms. Wang Fuxia, a Falun Gong practitioner in Changchun City, are facing trial in the Luyuan District Court, Nanguan District Court, and Changchun City Supreme Court.