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Crouching cat eyes hidden mouse
By Zhang Tianxin (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2004-06-21 16:48
Bodyguards are cool dudes with bulging biceps and stylish shades, right?
Wrong. The way 25-year-old Fa Zhiyuan sees it, standing out from the crowd is
the last thing an effective bodyguard wants to do.
Despite rising
demands for their services, bodyguards in Beijing are not always what they
seem. [file] | And the unassuming employee of Beijing VIP Security Consultative Company has
had plenty of personal experience to back up his preferred low-key approach to
this unusual job.
Said Fa: "I don't want people to recognize me easily while I am on duty.
Actually, I dislike showy bodyguards who look so cool that they often become the
objects of beautiful women's attention. The way I see it, they are nothing but
fabricated figures in some low-class kungfu film."
The 192-centimetre-tall, 105-kilogram bodyguard seldom wears the trademark
sunglasses and black suit of popular imagination unless actually required to do
so by his client.
Fa uses the analogy of cat and mouse to help explain his job. "Some
troublemakers are just like mice and a bodyguard is a cat. If a cat is in the
spotlight, can he still stop the unexpected danger brought about by the mice in
time? That's why I prefer to remain as low-key as possible."
Fa was put in charge of ensuring the security of pop singers from Taiwan and
Hong Kong at Beijing Capital Gymnasium a couple of years ago. Wearing plain
clothes, he crouched near the left side of the stage. Armed policemen in
uniforms patrolled to and fro along the other sides of the stage.
When a female singer named Pan Meichen mounted the stage, one young man in
the audience suddenly rushed towards her brandishing a knife. As the man came
close, Fa stretched out both of his arms and pushed the attacker to the ground,
pinning his arms so he could not move.
Fa's movement was so nimble and fast that almost no one in the crowd saw what
had happened. It was all over in five seconds. The end result could have been
very different had the inconspicuous bodyguard not acted as he did. In the
event, the concert proceeded smoothly. Fa's work was done.
A savvy attacker will typically avoid conspicuous armed police when trying to
create trouble. In this instance, he simply didn't know Fa was there. And that's
the way the burly bodyguard likes it.
Added Fa: "After that, I came to believe that only standing out of the focus
of people's attention could enable me to finish my task successfully. If a
bodyguard conjures an image of cool youth intentionally, he might suffer a great
failure."
Fa says he can expect to sustain injury in a day's work but will do so
willingly if that's what it takes to get the job done.
"A concert by Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau (Liu Dehua) a year ago is one
case in point," Fa recalled.
Fa accompanied Lau along a secret passage from the stage to the parking lot
after the show. But as soon as they showed up in the parking area, many fans
recognized Lau and rushed towards the pair. Holding an umbrella to ward off the
heavy rain for Lau with his left hand, Fa had no choice but to elbow their way
through the crowd before getting into the waiting limo.
Unfortunately the crowd grew bigger and more excited and the car was unable
to move. Recalling the incident, Fa admits to having felt fear after seeing some
drunks striking the car windows with bottles.
"I restored calm a few moments later. Besides, I kept reminding myself of the
fact that I was a bodyguard and had the ability to keep Lau from being
physically hurt."
Before the driver eventually managed to find a way out, the broken car
windows grazed the skin of Fa's arms. "I did not mind at all because Lau, the
object of my protection, was safe and sound," he recalled.
Unlike the armed policemen equipped with weapons, bodyguards working with
legal companies are not allowed to carry weapons. Typically people like Fa must
rely on their strength and mastery of martial arts to subdue troublemakers and
protect clients.
"Keeping myself as strong as possible and further improving martial arts are
the two most important requirements of doing a good job," said Fa, who comes
from East China's Shandong Province. Fa began to practise martial arts at the
age of 16 and has won prizes nationwide.
When Beijing VIP Security Consultative Company was founded a couple of years
ago, Fa signed up to work as a bodyguard and passed a series of examinations. He
was very curious about what a bodyguard does.
He spends almost all his spare time improving his skills and carrying out
physical strength training, no matter how busy he is.
"My practical programmes mainly involve boxing, Chinese-style wrestling and
how to use ancient weapons such as a sword and club in addition to running and
mountain climbing. So I dare say that I am an all-rounder," he said.
Thanks to his rigorous training and self-discipline, Fa has great confidence
in his abilities and believes he is capable of preventing up to 10 ordinary
people from getting close to him.
The other necessary capability for a good bodyguard is constant vigilance on
duty. When Fa is busy with work, he often gets just three hours' rest a day.
"Just like an owl, I must remain on the alert even during the three-hour
break. Whenever something unexpected takes place, I must make it to the scene
immediately."
He can earn anything between 5,000 yuan (US$600) and 20,000 yuan (US$2,410) a
month. Asked to sum up his feelings about the job, he said: "I love it though it
is challenging. I meet different problems every single day and I need to rack my
brains to tackle them."
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