TC Media&KF Mag. Snubs US Team

[ngokfei]

My name is Ron Wheeler and I am posting under Eric Hargrove's account because I don't have a computer at this time:( . He is innocent of any controversy this thread creates, (this time:p )

I was one of the members on the US Team to China for "The First World Traditional Wushu Festival" and won a few gold medals as has many of my other team mates.

Was happy that a dvd was produced on this tournament (The First World Traditional Wushu Festival
http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-gc001.html)

and quickly obtained a copy of it.

much to my suprise and dismay not even one of the US Team appears on this.:confused:

Much confusion as this appears in the advertisement.

"Gene Ching presents the landmark spectacle of the largest martial arts event the world has ever seen, the First World Traditional Wushu Festival held in Mainland China. From the monstrous Opening Gala, to the record-breaking 45,000 performer procession to Shaolin Temple, to the thousands of international competitors"

Guess the US doesn't count?

and also goes against TC Media declaration:

“...Friends of Shaolin, a special committee of the non-profit Tiger Claw Foundation dedicated to the promotion of traditional Chinese martial arts”

Again guess it means everyone except us here in the US.

In general passing I was told that KFM & TCM follow a policy that readers and consumers of their products are only interested in "Oriental Masters/Exponents" as that is what sells.

can you believe this?

[Shaolin Wookie]

Strange.....but considering your credentials and your location.....

You or Hargrove teach in Georgia....or what schools are you guys associated with?

I've was looking around of late (either cross-training or finding a new school from the one I currently go to), and I wonder if I ever came across you guys.....

[Shaolinlueb]

maybe gene didnt get any of the us team? i mean do you want to see us team or some masters on it that you wont be able to find anywhere else? no offense us team, i want the masters. plus i have scene videos from that festival on jiayo.

*edit
LET THE CONTROVERSY BEGIN!!!

[shuaichiao]

Did anybody on the US team sign over the video rights of their performance?

[Shaolin Wookie]

Nope, no controversy or legal stuff.

Gene refused to give out free "Got Qi?" t-shirts to the Dutch team, and apparently the Dutch are really tight with the Chinese. Go figure.....:rolleyes:

I heard that's what also started the whole Falun Gong controversy......

[ngokfei]

hey guys its the real me now speaking:D

shaolinlueb.

Members of the US Team were the 1st ones to compete in many of the divisions.

and hell did you see the tape. Can't say that many of those performing were "Masters". The opening with the guy doing the "Heavy" monk spade, but it was sooooo slow. Just walking through it.

on a correction one of Doc Fai Wong's students was on the tape doing Hook Swords but he was not a member of the team. It wasn't advertised but you could enter the tournament as and independent.

But on Gene's defense it was taped material.

Shuachiao: I don't think anyone signed over their rights, but again thats the policy of China. Funny thing lately. China was the biggest industry of pirated music, videos etc and now they have a anti-piracy campaign against Karaoke (of course chinese artist).

shaolinwookie: Ron wheeler is from washington DC and a Jow Ga stylist. I'm the only one living in Georgia.

[Ravenshaw]

Much confusion as this appears in the advertisement.

"Gene Ching presents the landmark spectacle of the largest martial arts event the world has ever seen, the First World Traditional Wushu Festival held in Mainland China. From the monstrous Opening Gala, to the record-breaking 45,000 performer procession to Shaolin Temple, to the thousands of international competitors"

Guess the US doesn't count?

and also goes against TC Media declaration:

“...Friends of Shaolin, a special committee of the non-profit Tiger Claw Foundation dedicated to the promotion of traditional Chinese martial arts”

Again guess it means everyone except us here in the US.

In general passing I was told that KFM & TCM follow a policy that readers and consumers of their products are only interested in "Oriental Masters/Exponents" as that is what sells.

can you believe this?

I understand that you're disappointed, but you've gone overboard, here. "Thousands of international competitors" means more than just the US, I'm assuming. Why expect personal coverage of your team from such a large event? Hell, I've been to much smaller tournaments where Gene is filming and he still says to me "sorry I didn't see your form." Can't be everywhere. Don't take it as a personal offense and certainly don't start a crusade against KFM/TCM over a perceived slight.

As for the accusation of racism... I've seen plenty of non-Chinese in the magazine.

[David Jamieson]

You mean the Canadian contingent wasn't represented?

I'm outraged!

well, ok, maybe im not.

I'm sure the belgians didn't get much coverage either. I gotta go with Ravenshaws sentiments on this. Tourneys that are this big are virtually impossible to document in every facet.

really, you should have probably filmed all your stuff yourself and offered it as a supplement? I mean, as opposed to expecting that someone else was going to focus all their attention on you for the simple mater of you being an american?

Not wanting to be facetious or anything, but really, blow your own horn, no one will do it for you.

[ngokfei]

Still me (will read the posts to mr. wheeler at one time, dam the phone is expensive;) )

Like I said previously its Gene's tape and he can include or not include anyone person/group he decides.

IMO this is one of the reasons why most martial arts styles remain unorganized. We have to admit that for any true world recognition, Wushu is the path and not Traditional. so we can talk all we want and still come to nothing.

But I will say that TKD is probably the only organization that gives credit to non-koreans for the growth of the style. Especially in the STATES. But again its already made it over the hurdle and is in the Olympics.

I don't thing Ron is pointing to any form of racism. Its probably most definetly true that the readers of the magazine are blinded by the Oriental Master syndrome. I was when I started out. and I think the magazine is geared more to the students and not the teachers/sifu's anyway.

But its true that your hardly ever see a Non-Asian on the cover of the magazine.:confused:

On another note. Is there anywhere I can see the competitors of the US Team? Perhaps the USAWKF has the material and can release it?

Peace in our day.

[B-Rad]

I understand that you're disappointed, but you've gone overboard, here. "Thousands of international competitors" means more than just the US, I'm assuming. Why expect personal coverage of your team from such a large event?
It is a U.S. magazine though. A U.S. magazine should offer some coverage of the U.S. team.

[Ravenshaw]

I don't thing Ron is pointing to any form of racism. Its probably most definetly true that the readers of the magazine are blinded by the Oriental Master syndrome. I was when I started out. and I think the magazine is geared more to the students and not the teachers/sifu's anyway.

It would have been fair to say that readers want to see Chinese in KFM. That may be true. But the OP claims that KFM/TCM has a policy against non-Chinese in the magazine, which is meant to imply that the company is racist and that is why the US team wasn't covered. If it were just about what people wanted, he wouldn't be blaming KFM/TCM for it.

It is a U.S. magazine though. A U.S. magazine should offer some coverage of the U.S. team.

It's coverage of the event, not the team. I don't think there was any obligation.

[Shaolinlueb]

ron

ok so many werent masters. but its gene, he has a good eye for things. it was also hastily put together if you ask him. so maybe that is another reason why. plus there was a lot of things to cover with 1 camera.

adam

[ngokfei]

Adam

that was me speaking (eric) not ron. - hope he gets his own computer:p

LIke I said before its gene's tape so he can include or exclude what ever he wants.

Too bad it wasn't done more professionally but then again Gene would probably had to pay compensation to the PRC:D

They charge money to even video tape inside shaolin now:rolleyes:

on another side note: remember those early Wushu instructionals of the beijing team. From what I've heard is that they were never compensated:mad: must of made them pretty mad.

[shuaichiao]

hey guys its the real me now speaking:D .

You guys know that he can set up his own account or log into an existing one even from your computer?

[GeneChing]

I took last week off so I'm sorry I didn't address this earlier.

The focus of my video, Shaolin Trips: The First World Traditional Wushu Festival (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-gc001.html), was on the event in general. We didn't go there with the intention to make a video at all. Making the video was an after thought. We had shot all this video because we were being typical tourists, enjoying the event, and documenting it. Our real intention was to find old traditional masters, just like always. Video is a robust recording media for us, since we can do a lot with screen grabs, interviews, all sorts of that kind of stuff. Plus it was a big fun event, so we shot a lot of video, like any tourist would. After we got home, I just couldn't see that video go to waste, especially since it had potential as another donation generator for the Tiger Claw Foundation (http://www.tigerclawfoundation.org).

Ron, I'll be honest with you. The reason you didn't see any footage of the U.S. Team in our video is because we didn't shoot any. Since we are an American magazine, we see the U.S. team people all the time. We were more interested in shooting people we didn't see all the time, so we shot more of foreign teams and such, particularly the senior division of the CWA. There was some guy shooting for the U.S. team - he said that was his job - so we figured the USAWKF had it covered. Keep in mind that the idea of the video didn't come about until after we returned from the trip.

As for the quality of the masters, I have a lot more footage, but unfortunately not all of it was clean enough to put on the video. I selected the footage based on having the complete uninterrupted form (more or less), uniqueness (that heavy monk spade guy was slow and he did fumble with his weapon a bit, but he was the only one to bust out a weapon of that magnitude, so I felt it was worth including), as well as skill.

We reported the event in our 2005 March/April issue. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=578) On the first page, there's a shot of the U.S. Team in our lead page. Gigi is standing right next to Anthony. I've also written up the 'making of' if you will, in my Shaolin Trips 4 article (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=576). We've always enjoyed a good relationship with the USAWKF, better than any other magazine, but that looks like it might end soon, given that they seem to have intentionally scheduled the team trials this year on the same day as our 15th Year Anniversary (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=696), after we expressly asked that they not do so. It's discouraging, since if you review the Tiger Claw Foundation site, we've been very generous with our support of the USAWKF with team sponsorships, as well as plenty of media coverage in the magazine. And now this from Ron Wheeler. Charming. I'm not sure where you're getting this "Oriental Masters/Exponents" thing, Ron. Is it the too many Chinese people on the cover thing again?

[Shaolin Wookie]

As for the quality of the masters, I have a lot more footage, but unfortunately not all of it was clean enough to put on the video. ?

Thanks, Gene.....

I've seen enough Iron Crotch to last a lifetime. It's just plain dirty.

For real....sometimes I get this picture of China as a billion people kicking each other in the crotch, and rolling up their dongs with sticks and stretching them out like taffy, or substituting for towing cables.............

Am I on target?:D

[GeneChing]

"And every single meeting with his so-called superior is a humiliating kick in the crotch" This is opposed to a 'flattering kick in the crotch'.

Actually, all the iron crotch stuff we've done has been in America. GM Tu is from Taiwan, not the mainland.

[Shaolin Wookie]

Freedom of speech....and congregation....

and apparently ***** stretching.....:D

[B-Rad]

We've always enjoyed a good relationship with the USAWKF, better than any other magazine, but that looks like it might end soon, given that they seem to have intentionally scheduled the team trials this year on the same day as our 15th Year Anniversary, after we expressly asked that they not do so. It's discouraging, since if you review the Tiger Claw Foundation site, we've been very generous with our support of the USAWKF with team sponsorships, as well as plenty of media coverage in the magazine. And now this from Ron Wheeler.
I don't know what's with the USAWKF... it seems like they enjoy just ****ing people off, and making life more inconvenient for enthusiastic martial artists. Every year, either team trials or nationals, is scheduled to conflict with another large event somewhere. The CMA community isn't so big and profit filled to justify that kind of competitive behavior. You can kind of understand why they might do it with the USWU tournament seeing the bad blood between the two, but kungfumagazine? It's just silly. You guys are pretty much the best media outlet the CMA community in the U.S. has right now, lol. You'd think they'd want positive media exposure... man, that org. is a mess.

[B-Rad]

Back to the DVD... though I think your reasoning is sound on why it was made the way it was, and I agree that most probably wouldn't be as interested in a pure U.S. team dvd, I still think a U.S. team highlights segment would be pretty cool :cool: When's the next one of these events, and do you think you guys would plan on taking a second camera to capture some U.S. team clips for a future DVD (if you even plan on making another one of this event)?

[Shaolin Wookie]

In defense of Gene's no-USA-vids....whenver I'm on vacation, and someone wants to stand in my picture, I'm like....hey, get out of the way. I see you every day....but I don't see that!

[B-Rad]

lol, true, but I think the main issue here is when you charge money for something, they think of it as being a professional (or at least semi professional) production, not just a conversion of some guys vacation vids :D Knowing the background on how the video came to be now though, the China only thing makes more sense. If I were shooting personal video, I'd be hunting for rare styles by old masters too :)

[GeneChing]

Well, like I said, there was some guy who told me it was his job to film the USAWKF team, so I figured they had it covered. I doubt we'll do a project like this again with this festival. We'll do a video project for the Emei Festival like we did for our 10 year anniversary (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=257), but it won't follow the U.S. team obviously, since they scheduled their team trials here in America on the same date. It's hard to endorse the U.S. team when they do that sort of stuff to us. We've already done more than anyone to support the U.S. teams, in print, in sponsorship, in reporting, and now this. How would you react?

[ngokfei]

just curious gene.

How does the Team Trials affect the event in China? or vice versa?

[GeneChing]

Many of our previous cover masters have students competing in team trials, so they cannot make it.