"I am a Malaysian Chinese and have been studying in China for eight years," said Lin Yuankai, a postgraduate student majoring in acupuncture and massage at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. Dressing in Chinese martial arts wear, wielding a Tai Chi sword, and speaking Mandarin with a slight Guangdong accent, Lin makes it hard for those who first meet him to recognize him as a "foreigner". His story with Chinese medicine also starts with Chinese martial arts.

Lin started to study martial arts at the age of ten. Once in his middle school years, he was seriously injured during a difficult martial arts training due to a lack of warm-up. Hoping to gain back his chance to practice martial arts again, his families took him to a traditional Chinese doctor, who then treated him with traditional acupuncture for three months, allowing him to practice in the training hall again. That was when the miraculous Chinese medicine attracted him to the journey of acupuncture learning.

"Hey, Lin! I have pain in my knee recently, would you please treat me with acupuncture to relieve it?" Seeing Lin entering the training hall of the school, members of the martial arts team came and surrounded him with open arms, chatting with him excitedly. It is said that Lin will voluntarily offer acupuncture treatments to the team members, and teach them how to do the warm-ups properly every week, so as to help them avoid muscle injury and joint strain. "They regard me as 'one of them', and I also treat them as my families," said Lin.

"After graduation, I hope to bring the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) management model I learned in China to Malaysia, and work with doctors in my hometown to establish a patient service model that is in line with the TCM concept, so as to made further contributions to the spread of Chinese medicine culture in Malaysia," said Lin.

学中医、会武术，没人看得出他是外国人 | 外国人学中医

“我是马来西亚华人，在中国留学已经有八年了。”一袭练功服，一柄太极剑，一口略带广东口音的普通话……任何第一次见到林元凯的人都不会觉得他是一名“老外”。林元凯是广州中医药大学针灸推拿学硕士研究生，他与中医的渊源，要从武术说起。

10岁的时候，林元凯正式开始习武。中学时期，在一次习武的过程中由于缺乏热身加上习练难度动作时，他受了严重的伤。为了寻找重新习武的机会，他的家人带他找到了中医。经过当地中医的针灸治疗，三个月后，林元凯重新站上了习武场地。中医的神奇也让他走上了学习中医针灸的道路。

“林学长来了！我最近膝盖有些难受，能帮我做个针灸调理一下吗？”在学校的训练馆，不少武术队队员看到林元凯都热情地围了上来，他也很热络地与大家聊天。据悉，林元凯每周都会义务为武术队的队友针灸调理、带领队友科学热身，帮助队友避免肌肉损伤、减少关节劳损。“大家都拿我当‘自己人’，我也拿大家当我的家人。”

“毕业后，我希望将在中国留学了解到的中医管理模式带回马来西亚，与家乡的医生一同建立起符合中医理念的患者服务模式，为家乡中医文化传播出力。”林元凯透露。

策划｜龚丹枫 王倩
统筹｜林清清
执行｜林清清 陈辉 薛仁政
文、图｜羊城晚报全媒体记者 薛仁政 通讯员 廖晓键 苗青
视频｜薛仁政 秦小杰 甘卓然 吕凌棘（实习生）涂露倩（实习生）
翻译｜洪婷
责编 | 王楠