Meeting National Table Tennis Player Chuang Chih Yuan - the story of Artificer Meeting Chuang Chih Yuan

In the 2012 London Olympics, Zhuang Zhiyuan reached the semi-finals of the Olympic men's table tennis for the first time in his life. We admire him for his continued persistence and drive after going through a long low.

Athletes have been competing overseas for many years. Although there are many companies, association workers, or seniors who have been accompanying these athletes and trying their best to support them. Most of the opponents they face have relatively abundant training resources, or they are from countries with well established corporation networks that fund their athletes (such as mainland China, Europe and Japan). Therefore, in order to set up an international base, in addition to having exceptional talent, hard work and relentless effort are absolutely indispensable.

When we were seeking spokespersons that Artificer could work with, athletes naturally came to mind. The spirit represented by Artificer is that in addition to focusing on your particular field or specialty, that you must also have a determined heart and steadfast courage to continue growing and making breakthroughs. The person who matches these traits is an athlete!

After long-term observation and understanding of sports-related information, the team intuitively chose Chuang Chih Yuan and Hsu Shu Ching, two professional athletes who emanate the Artificer spirit.

After contacting Chuang Chih Yuan’s family, the team members set off for Kaohsiung to visit him at his Table Tennis Studio.

What greeted us was the sound of barking. The number of dogs in the studio was shocking. Calling it an army of dogs would be an understatement. Later we learned that these were all stray dogs adopted by Chih-yuan’s family, and each one was taken care of meticulously. In the evening, Chih-yuan’s mom personally puts on gloves to prepare the meat trimmings that she got from the meat vendors from the traditional market to satisfy the hunger of the dog army.

During our discussions, their family was very courteous, down to earth, natural and earnest, which is our impression of them.

Building a Table Tennis Studio, the Whole Family Working Together to Cultivate New Table Tennis Seedlings

Walking into Chih Yuan the Ping Pong Stadium, there are many young players very serious as they practice and focused while being trained by the Chuang family. The constant sounds of the small round balls hitting the paddles and hitting the practice tables almost make people feel like they’re in a concert hall listening to percussion performance. In addition to practicing table tennis skills, Chuang’s mother and Chuang Chi-hsiung (Chuang Chih-yuan’s brother) also have educational requisites for the young players. Very polite and social is our impression of the students in Chih Yuan the Ping Pong Stadium.

This stadium is sacred ground that Chuang Chih-yuan's family has cultivated for the development of table tennis in Taiwan. They once said that pressure to build the stadium was very high. But they were able to continue due to the support of many people. In addition to thanking everyone they’ve invested with all their hearts in order to sow the seeds of hope one by one, and look forward to bringing more possibilities to the table tennis community in Taiwan.

Chuang Chih-yuan has been in table tennis for more than 30 years. He has endured difficult times such as resource limitations and having to train abroad. He has competed in large and small events to gain experience. In recent years, he has established a studio to train the upcoming generations of this sport. You can say that he’s dedicated his life to table tennis. Even now he is still competing non-stop in tournaments around the world to challenge himself.

For Artificer, it is truly by the luck of fate that we are able to meet and cooperate with such a tenacious and dedicated partner.

>更多關於莊智淵的心路歷程