How to Become Pro?

SmoothOper · **#21**

EdLee wrote:

SmoothOper wrote:

or B) have a family that is somehow connected to go in the first place...

If by "connected to Go" you mean "aware of Go," then this would include most families as Go has been part of the culture for thousands of years;
otherwise if you mean "connected to a Go pro or the Chinese Go Association," that would be no for most families.

The latter of course. The connection of to Go of most families in Japan-China-Korea is probably much less than you might think having been around so long.

snorri · **#22**

EdLee wrote:

snorri wrote:

There may be no analogy here for what is happening to these very young go students.

snorri, do you know (and I'm genuinely asking) about the situations for children striving to become tennis pros, swimming pros, etc
in various countries (including the US) ?

I am not claiming to be an expert and there are many things I am ignorant of on both sides of this. Some hard facts would be welcome. What makes me feel that some of the asian go schools are on a different scale of commitment are statements like the following from the interview with Curtis Tang:

Quote:

About 2,000 students at the Beijing school live in dorm rooms. After a morning jog at 6 a.m., he and the other kids studied or played Go until 11 p.m., he said. Every day. No literature, art or science lessons, not even math, he added. Just strategy, lectures, replaying classic games from years past and challenging each other to matches.

The young athletes you mention certainly make a lot of sacrifices. They move in with their coaches, lose almost all social life, etc. Often they are tutored or home schooled. But most U.S. states have homeschooling laws. The are limits to the sacrifice.

Maybe there is some analogy, but I still get the impression the scale is different.

SmoothOper · **#23**

snorri wrote:

EdLee wrote:

snorri wrote:

There may be no analogy here for what is happening to these very young go students.

snorri, do you know (and I'm genuinely asking) about the situations for children striving to become tennis pros, swimming pros, etc
in various countries (including the US) ?

I am not claiming to be an expert and there are many things I am ignorant of on both sides of this. Some hard facts would be welcome. What makes me feel that some of the asian go schools are on a different scale of commitment are statements like the following from the interview with Curtis Tang:

Quote:

About 2,000 students at the Beijing school live in dorm rooms. After a morning jog at 6 a.m., he and the other kids studied or played Go until 11 p.m., he said. Every day. No literature, art or science lessons, not even math, he added. Just strategy, lectures, replaying classic games from years past and challenging each other to matches.

The young athletes you mention certainly make a lot of sacrifices. They move in with their coaches, lose almost all social life, etc. Often they are tutored or home schooled. But most U.S. states have homeschooling laws. The are limits to the sacrifice.

Maybe there is some analogy, but I still get the impression the scale is different.

I think that is/was the Chinese communist approach to athletics/arts/games/etc. The movie "Mao's Last Dancer" is a good example of how they would select talent almost randomly at a young age. I am pretty sure Japan and South Korea didn't do it that way. Also keep in mind if a young go player didn't succeed in the communist system they weren't necessarily thrown to the sharks.

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