Taiwan Today

Well-known model Chen Ling has built a new career for herself as a fitness expert and public health promoter. Chen Ling, also known as Jessica Chen, has been featured in a number of television advertisements for products ranging from the now-defunct Alexander Gym and Itai bathroom fixtures to milk and fat reduction cream. However, Chen has been adamant in her desire to not just be a spokesperson for trendy items. Over the past 10 years, she has spent over NT$3 million (US$93,000) going overseas to study, taking exams for various licenses, traveling and taking various courses. While the money was surely enough to buy a studio apartment, Chen decided instead to invest it in her future. Still only in her 30s, Chen is certified by the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America and the American National Academy of Sports Medicine. Meanwhile, she is a coach for A-PIC as well as an aerobics coach for Maternity Fitness. As if this was not enough, Chen is also qualified as a science instructor by Mat Science, and is certified in resistance training, in addition to being a private instructor for Pilates. In all, she has over 10 international licenses and about 50 domestic licenses. The number surpasses 100 if the various study certificates she has received from courses worldwide are included. Chen began studying dance as a little girl. She graduated from the Department of Dance at Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School and later on studied in the Department of Sport Promotion at National Taiwan College of Physical Education. Chen always had a strong desire to learn; she sensed early on that this is an age when professional and specialized services licenses are in demand. She frequently boarded planes with a minimal amount of baggage and jetted off overseas to various study courses, feeling that spending one's savings to learn new things was the best choice. Presently a lecturer on aerobics at National Taiwan College of Physical Education, she is also working towards her master's degree in exercise and health science. This exercise expert is 166 centimeters tall and weighs 49 kilograms. She has instructed over 100,000 students at various health clubs throughout Taiwan in a variety of disciplines including yoga, belly dancing, Pilates, body sculpture and physical and spiritual balance. Visitors to her classes are immediately infected by her dynamic vibe. In the past several years, Chen has made her rounds through the Taipei districts of Neihu, Nangang, Da-an, Xinyi and Wanhua to instruct women and senior citizens in how to stay active. Part of her teaching is also aimed at preventing diabetes, incontinence and enlargement of the prostate, as well as pelvis muscle training. While the pay she receives for teaching in the community is considerably lower than at private health clubs, she said she gets a sense of pleasure from helping senior citizens maintain their health. Chen feels Taiwan's sports academies focus too much on trying to train athletes to compete. She questioned this policy, wondering aloud how many people are actually able to become a Wang Chien-ming, the Taiwanese baseball player pitching for the New York Yankees. "Working out should be an activity that everyone can participate in and that should not break the bank," Chen said, adding that the wealthy and those with plenty of leisure time should not have a patent on working out. Chen also stated that she has come to realize that Taiwan lacks a mechanism for training people to become personal trainers or exercise specialists. As a result, Taiwan has introduced group instruction systems from foreign health clubs and markets books such as "Fashion Yoga" and "Six Weeks to a Better Figure." Chen said her biggest wish is to no longer be a household name because of her modeling. Rather, she wants to serve as a public health ambassador. (This article first appeared Nov. 16, 2009 in the “Liberty Times.”)