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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
ASIAN ATHLETES LIMITED BY GENES OR NURTURE?
o debate on the prospects of Asian athletes in American sports passes without mention of Yao Ming, the Shanghai Sharks's 7-6, 265-pound center who recently led China to an 83-82 upset over the U.S. His prospects as the likely top pick of the 2002 NBA draft have been trumpeted by no lesser authorities than Michael Jordan and Bill Walton.
But the 21-year-old superstar is literally one in a billion (1.25 billion to be exact). Young Yao is the product, genetically and culturally, of a 6-10 father and 6-4 mother, both of whom played basketball for China's national teams. His case is as likely to confuse the nature-vs-nurture debate as to help resolve it. After all, his height may be merely the tip of the genetic iceberg when it comes to his promise as a world-class basketballer.
More familiar to Asian Americans are Michael Chang (5-9) who won the French Open at age 17, and Ichiro Suzuki (5-9), whose batting and base-stealing have lifted the Mariners from the basement to the heavens. Both seem endowed with standard physical equipment but have outperformed more powerful physiques. And on the women's side Kristi Yamaguchi, Michele Kwan, Seri Pak and legions of Chinese divers and gymnasts have shown that champions needn't be amazons.
But these successes haven't silenced those who argue that as a race Asians lack the genetic gifts to challenge black and white athletes in power sports. Asians are genetically smaller and weaker, they claim, and can only excel in sports calling for quickness and agility. They cite Asian underrepresentation in track and field, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, boxing and the like.
Will the future mirror the past? Are we genetically limited to excelling only in a few select sports or will changing social and economic conditions produce a generation of Asian superstars across the sports spectrum?
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Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:57:47 PM)
Jim,
Your so-called 'truth' does not hurt cos it's not the truth. Yes, you don't know jack about Chinese pple and you can't face the truth. The fact that you lived in both Hong Kong and Taiwan for 12 yrs does not detract your ignorance. 12 yrs is a short span of time. We are speaking of time span of generations here. I am from Hong Kong. I stand 5'11". My young cousins are 6'1" and 6'4". We are only 5 & 7 yrs apart. We look as Asian as every other Southern Chinese. Compared to other European whites in Hong Kong, we are taller than a lot of them.
Back in the medieval time, European kings had to search thru the continent for men over 6' to be the guards at their castle. So tell me economic and technology advancements have nothing to do with height. Or maybe we need to have Ming Yao or Wang ZhiZhi stand right next to you and see how they tower you.
FOP
Monday, February 04, 2002 at 09:48:34 (PST)
To Bugger Off Jim,
PLEASE, I've been all over China (North/West/South/East) and the height differences between the various groups is miniscule. Chinese, whether you wish to believe it or not, are a homogenous race. Perhaps (maybe), the people in the northern areas of Beijing and Shanghai have an inch or two over the southern ones, but it hardly matters. The fact is Caucasians and Blacks are generally taller than Asians. It's in the genes. And besides, the only thing height and body build matters is in sports. The sad fact of it is that a lot of sports are power reliant where finesse is relegated to a secondary role. Even in a supposed "finesse" sport like tennis I seen a lot of Asian guys being forced to play a baseline game because they just don't have the height and power for a serve/volley type play (a la Michael Chang). The next Asian tennis star will most likely be a baseline hustle kind of guy like Chang. Hoping to see an Asian guy winning the 100 meter dash is probably also a hopeless cause. I have yet to see any Asian guy do the 100 meter in less than 9 seconds. I've pretty much given up all hope of seeing any Asian even being a finalist in the 100m and 200m. Going down the line, it seems to be all black. The fact is, in most western sports, asians have a lot of things going against them. If its not for the lack of height, it's for the lack of power. If it's not for the lack of power, it's for the lack of speed. The thing to remember is that Asian people do good in finesse sports (skating, gymnastics, diving). And finesse is a testament to intensive training they undergo- which says a lot more than being big, strong, or fast
Wei Chi Master
Monday, February 04, 2002 at 08:43:55 (PST)
Jim,
Get it through your thick head that the majority of the Chinese people you know in Taiwan and Hong Kong have grown up without the benefit of decent nutrition.
Get it through your thick head that the Beijing census measures the height of people who have mostly grown up without the benefit of decent nutrition.
Comparing the Chinese and the African Pygmies effectively counters your blanket statement that Chinese people are genetically shorter than Blacks. One exception is sufficient to prove falsehood. You might want to learn how to qualify your statements so they are not so easily discredited.
You have a problem with reading comprehension. The point about Blacks having White blood and having gone through hardship is that whatever one observes as genetic traits in American Blacks do not necessarily apply to the Black race itself, most of whom still live in Africa and have not gone through the same history. The point is about athletic performance and not about height. Do you get it now?
You have a problem with reading comprehension. I wrote about the height statistics of TEENS in affluent Asian countries. Is English your native language?
Okay, here's a sincere question: What was the medal count and events of the Chinese delegates from Olympics 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000? Let's hear your happy answers.
Grow a brain, Jim
Monday, February 04, 2002 at 08:32:28 (PST)
Jim,
Taiwan and Hong Kong are two rinky dink islands with Chinese people on it. That would be like someone Asian Tourist living in SF island and Mahatten island making broad generalization about white America. Having also lived in those places you mentioned. You should really take a train ride to the mainland next time you are in HK.
AC dropout
Monday, February 04, 2002 at 06:43:00 (PST)
who cares if chinese are small or short? they have fighting spirits in sports. remember, in the last olympics,china was third after US and Russia. China is the best asian country in sports.and i believe china can still go further and perform even better in the next olympics.
han ren
Monday, February 04, 2002 at 05:29:24 (PST)
Chinese are tall bottom line!We are also unisex race....lol I am kidding bout that.It just seems like our women are like 5'10 and men like 5'11.
Get this Jim!
I live in hongkong too....ya sure...some are short...but not the tall young kids who are fed well.It has to do something with genes are nurture, dont ignore that.
Ignore old ladies and men.Ignore ching dynasty survivors.Ignore malnurished people.Ignore kung fu men.Ignore gymnasts.
Wow u see lah, I go to mainland china for business trip and the chinese hooker people from the journey there are super tall, they prey on hong kong men cause they got money.Not all north are hookers though.Some are feminine and classy.The buk mui (northern hookers) walk around being mostly 5'9 tall with white skin talk in high pitched mandarin and laughing at my height...compared to northern men...lol.But oh well, I dont mind being shorter than norther chinese.
Nurture and genes have something to do with chinese height.Genes give us a code to be tall, while nurture reinforces it.We all know chinese people can reach super tall heights and a good average height too.
Jim, u are a caucasian man who cant stand beautiful chinese!
Cause they destroyed your business in hongkong. U lost the monopoly.
Just being humourous.
I assume.
ass/u/me assume I made an ASS out of U and ME get it? get it?
Aiya
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 23:47:37 (PST)
to Jim aka smug whitey
Ri Myong Hun (North Korea, basketball player): 7'9" (listed as the world's tallest man..)
Yao Ming (China, basketball player): 7'6"
I don't care if a billion asians is 5ft nothin
until a white man is that height whatever trash comes from u is pretty much irrelevant.. goodbye dipshit
crackerjimmyboy
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 21:27:56 (PST)
China did win a gold medal in the women's super heavyweight class (the biggest class) in weight lifting.
Someone from South Korea came close to winning a medal in the men's super heavywieght class in weight lifting. He ended up in fifth place.
B. Lee
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 19:38:36 (PST)
Near Olympian,
If we were to summarize the physical characteristics of people by nationality based on the results of the 2000 summer olympics, here are some conclusions we can make.
*India, having over 1 billion people, and reported to be as big as caucasians, won only one bronze medal. If that's all they can win in any sports, big or small, then Indians are the smallest people on earth who suck in any sport.
*Brazil, the 5th most populated country in the world, won no gold medals at all (just 6 silver and 6 bronze). Therefore, Brazilians are small and unathletic.
Also, why do you emphasize the steroids part so much about Chinese olympians? Black and white athletes use it far more frequently, and have been using it much longer.
B. Lee
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 18:54:20 (PST)
near Olympian,
Why do you portray only Chinese as using steriods. Blacks and whites olympians and athletes have been using this crap considerably longer.
East German women swimmers taking testosterone in the 70s, Ben Johnson using steriods in the 80s to beat Carl Lewis, then having his gold medal stripped away. There are many, many more examples.
observer
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 17:38:02 (PST)
Jim,
"No I've never been to China but I lived in Hong Kong and Taiwan for a combined 12 years. "
Hong Kong is part of China (since 1997).
Cantonese American man,
You're 6 feet and 10 inches tall? That equates to 82 inches, which equals 208 centimeters. If you are that tall, then I say, damn, you sure are tall.
observer
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 16:46:21 (PST)
Jim,
The most or one of the most recent census (2000) shows 17 year old males in Beijing average 173.6 cm. Just to compare, the NHANES in the USA did a study from '88-'94 and it showed that black american 17 year old males averaged about 174 cm. So the two are largely similiar.
It appears your truth may be a bit outdated.
John
Sunday, February 03, 2002 at 14:21:58 (PST)
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