My Chinese Weightlifting Journey

To all Ma Weightlifting fans,

I want to introduce myself—my name is Hansen, and I work with Coach Ma to build Ma Weightlifting and expand his online presence. From time to time, I travel with Coach Ma to assist him in teaching seminars in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, and Barcelona. Some of you may have met me at these events. I look forward to sharing more blog posts and connecting with people who are curious about Chinese weightlifting.

My professional background is in biomechanical engineering, with experience in professional sports and clinical orthopedics. I have worked extensively with motion capture, force plates, and data analysis for human movement—focusing on performance optimization, injury prevention, and clinical spine disorder research. Chinese weightlifting techniques align closely with optimal mechanical principles of human anatomy.

Me on the right working on the Ma Weightlifting Course

I want to share my perspective on Chinese weightlifting through the lens of my Chinese heritage, Western upbringing, and personal experience as a hobbyist learning under Coach Ma. Here’s the story of how I began my journey.

Like many of you, I started learning weightlifting from scratch later in life. Around 2015, finding a legitimate Olympic weightlifting coach was incredibly difficult. I had no guidance, terrible technique, and relied on old-school YouTube fitness channels like the Hodgetwins, Physiques of Greatness, Elliott Hulse, and Scooby for information. Initially, I followed split routines from Bodybuilding.com, then transitioned into powerlifting with Starting Strength before finally attempting Olympic weightlifting during university.

I was a freshman studying mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo when I first saw Olympic weightlifters at my university gym. I learned bits and pieces from senior students and tried to mimic Olympians I watched on YouTube. Like many others, I was in awe when I saw Lu Xiaojun’s technique and his dominance in weightlifting. His lifting looked more like art—filled with precision and control—compared to other athletes who appeared more brute-force oriented. That was the moment I began descent into the rabbit hole of Chinese weightlifting.

A friend of mine had attended one of Coach Ma’s seminars in Toronto and told me about him. At the time, Coach Ma was coaching at Lindenwood University in Missouri. That summer, we drove 16 hours to train with him at his university gym for a week. That was my first exposure to learning Chinese weightlifting, and I was hooked. The following summer, I temporarily withdrew from my engineering program to train with Coach Ma for the entire summer of 2017.

Like in his seminars, Coach Ma taught Chinese weightlifting through a structured progression—starting with the initial position and building through the full lift. I began to understand how each phase influenced the next. For example, how initiating the lift from the heels could cause unwanted swinging during contact. My lifts became more crisp and precise. I finally began to understand real weightlifting and Coach Ma’s five guiding principles: close, fast, low, timing, and stable.

Me (left) directing the photoshoot

After that summer, I returned to Canada and resumed my engineering studies. I recorded my training sessions and used self-analysis to further refine my technique. However, injuries started to catch up to me, preventing me from doing what I loved most. I spent time in the gym learning from kinesiology students to understand biomechanics, hoping to rehabilitate myself and train without injury. That was when I finally connected my engineering studies—something I had felt dispassionate about—with my passion for weightlifting.

Fortunately, the University of Waterloo was home to Stuart McGill, one of the world’s leading experts on spine mechanics. His influence ultimately paved my path into biomechanics. I graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, specializing in biomechanics.

Now, I help write the online course to break down weightlifting techniques in detail. For those starting out or struggling to understand weightlifting technique, this course is designed for you. It’s for those who want to learn Chinese weightlifting but can’t find or afford a coach. This is everything I wish I had when I first started.

To me, Chinese weightlifting is an incredible art, and my goal is to help spread this knowledge worldwide.

Thanks for reading,

Hansen