A martial arts odyssey in Sichuan

At the top of Emei Mountain and beyond, the fog-covered peaks below unfold like pages of a book.

Emei Mountain, in Sichuan province, has been a historic hub for martial arts training and competition due to its treacherous terrain. Over time, martial artists have gathered there for exchanges and sparring, making it a significant venue for martial arts competitions.

In August 2023, Emei's Golden Summit Temple shone in the summer sunlight. A young man from Michigan set foot on the summit of the mountain. After decades of martial arts training, he said he stood where his dreams had led him.

"Being a martial artist and competing against the best martial artists in the world on Emei Mountain is the dream. It's a fantasy," said Joshua Chiatovich, who organized the USA team to participate in the ninth World Kungfu Championships in Sichuan, China.

Chiatovich, an author and a Chinese martial arts teacher at a martial arts club in Detroit, has been practicing kung fu for decades. He now instructs students, mostly Chinese Americans, in the practice of kung fu.

Stretching his hands to mimic the movements of a mantis in combat, and with fingers curved like sharp claws, Chiatovich demonstrated his own style of Praying Mantis boxing at the competition.

There he met someone who practiced Six Harmonies Praying Mantis. They argued about Chiatovich's style, Baiji Mantis. The man said there's no such thing. Chiatovich said his grandmaster mixed Baiji and Mantis for more power and speed.

The argument seemed like a scene from Chiatovich's kung fu novel, The Baiji Mantis, published in July 2023.

It is a martial arts fantasy, based in ancient China, about a young praying mantis, whose obsession with the human world leads him on a journey of adventure, discovery and kung fu, Chiatovich said.

Chiatovich didn't feel alone while he was in China, as the three mantis characters accompanied him on the trip: Wu Liang, Xu Pang, and Xiaoxiao. The martial arts trip to China has given him much inspiration to continue the story of the three mantises, which will be a trilogy, he said.

The Baiji Mantis story begins with a young mantis age 9, and readers will witness him growing up to 18. "It's kind of like the lessons they learn and the growth that they undergo because it's a coming of age story," he said.

Chiatovich was "shocked" with the Western audience he gained from the book.

"The audience I'm gaining in the West has no knowledge of China; they've never been to China; they don't speak Chinese. And they know almost nothing about Chinese culture," he said.

"A lot of the reviews I'm reading have people saying, "I'm accidentally teaching them about Chinese culture, and they're learning about Chinese martial arts and culture seamlessly through the story. So those things make me really happy when I read that," he said.

Chiatovich's kung fu dreams began at the age of 8. One night he stumbled on an old kung fu movie on Channel 20 in metro Detroit. It happened to be Drunken Master, and that was his first kung fu film.

"It changed my life, introducing me to kung fu, Jackie Chan, and the idea of China. From that moment, my dream of practicing kung fu and moving to China began," he said.

After graduating from Eastern Michigan University, Chiatovich traveled to China to study Chinese culture and philosophy at Xiamen University, where he lived for four years. That was "the best time of my life", he said.

After returning to his hometown of Detroit, he began promoting Chinese martial arts and traditional festivals, such as the Chinese New Year, to publicize traditional Chinese culture.

"Every time I'm in China, I feel I'm living my dream, and I will be traveling back and forth the rest of my life," said Chiatovich, who is also the chief communications officer of the Detroit Chinatown Group.