They’re in Canada this year, in case you didn’t know.
Tiger Claw sponsors U.S. team
Read U.S. Wushu Team 2009 by Sue Woo. Once again, our charitable branch, the Tiger Claw Foundation, is an official sponsor of our American athletes competing in the WWG.
attn, canuck wushu fans
big doin’s for wushu peeps this coming week.
check it:
the 10th WWG is this weekend
Does woo-hoo for wushu remind you of coo-coo for cocoa puffs?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Woo-hoo for Wushu
It’s an ancient Chinese secret – and a sport
By MIKE GANTER, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 21st October 2009, 1:49pm
It rolls off the tongue easier than hockey, football or baseball, yet the sport of wushu remains – in North America at least – very much a niche sport.
For those curious about sports other than the ones that dominate the nightly highlight reels, this presents an opportunity for a new experience that includes the best practitioners of this particular sport when the world wushu championships begin Saturday at the Ricoh Coliseum.
Toronto is hosting the 10th world championships, which run through Oct. 29. Over 1,500 athletes from more than 80 countries will compete in the six-day tournament.
AT THE MOVIES
A good number of Canadians probably have experienced wushu at some level, most likely at the theatre where the likes of Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee have exposed the rest of the world to this treasure of Chinese culture. But for most in these parts, the mention of wushu brings only blank stares.
Alan Tang would like to change that.
Wushu, which translated literally means martial arts, is a two-pronged sport. On the one side is the sparring and combative side known as sanshou. The other group of wushu is taolu, which contains more ritualistic elements performed in precise routines. Of the two, Canadians are far more advance in taolu where Canada is considered a top-10 nation. Sanshou is growing in popularity here but remains in its infant stages.
Tang, chairperson of the host organizing committee, is a lifelong practitioner, follower and lover of all things wushu, and being able to bring the world championships to his own backyard speaks to his passion and dedication to the sport.
Tang uses Canada’s two main winter sports to best describe the two forms of his choice of sport.
“Like figure skating, taolu is routine-based while sansho, which translates as ‘free fighting’ – is more like hockey.”
Kitchener’s Zack George is Canada’s top Sanshou practitioner. This will be his third world championships, but second as a competitor.
“This will really put a face to the sport,” George said of having the world’s right here in Canada. And while the odds are long for Canada to come away with any medal in the Sanshou side of the competition, George goes in with plenty of confidence.
“We hope the draw goes well – a ray of light comes down from heaven and you draw a country you match up well against,” he said. “But everybody has a puncher’s chance. If you can throw a kick and a punch, you do have a chance. Mentally, whoever is confident and prepared to stand in there in front of such intimidating fighters stands a chance.”
Realistically Canada’s best chance of a medal comes in taolu, where 18-year-old Margherita Cina of Mississauga already has succeeded on the world stage.
She’s a two-time world junior gold medallist in the sport and is the current Canadian champion.
“Marguerita is a perfect example that wushu is not about (where you’re from) but it’s about dedication and training, and she has excelled to the point where she is the top female athlete in our country,” says Chan, who has been coaching Cina for the past 15 years.
Tickets for this event are available at Ticketmaster.
The event finally comes back to this side of the planet, but by now, I really don’t care, that is sort of sad… well, not as sad as the “US San Shou Team” is going to do, but you know…
Max is on the sanshou team…
…but I heard Elaina dropped out.
Here’s the U.S. Team:
Taolu Team: Sarah Chang, Ashley Chung, Peter Dang, Max Ehrlich, Elaine Ho, Alfred Hsing, Stephanie Lim, Joana Pei, Colvin Wang, Alan Zhao
Sanshou Team: Gary Chandler, Maximillion Chen, Alex Cisne, Kasey Corless, Michael Lee, Elaina Maxwell, Sonia Mejia, J.R. Ridge, Josh Simpson
Max is the only one with international competition experience, in fact the only one with “real experience” (ie Max has like 60 fights by now)… as I am sure you know, the russian, Iranian, Chinese, Korean, etc teams those guys are all VERY EXPERIENCED, many are actually pro fighters. Putting guys with 2 to 3 fights against them is unethical (though last time they put guys with NO fights in there, which should have been criminal)
Some misc coverage
50,000 spectators? Really?
Major six-day martial event at Ricoh
10th annual World Wushu Championships opening ceremony Saturday night
And everybody was kung fu fighting, so the old '70s song goes, and that’s exactly what they’ll be doing over the next few days at Ricoh Coliseum as a major, international martial arts event is set to take place.
Well, actually, it won’t only be fighting, as there is also a non-fighting choreographed forms component that is part of the 10th Annual World Wushu Championships, which kicks off at the coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 24 with what organizers are promising to be a spectacular opening ceremonies from 7 to 10 p.m.
Competition then runs from Sunday to Thursday.
Organizers are expecting more than 50,000 spectators to take in the proceedings, which are expected to attract more than 1,500 athletes from more than 85 countries.
Saturday night’s opening ceremonies will feature select entertainment artists and martial arts masters with the highlight of the evening a showcase by China’s official Wushu performance troupe, a team of hand selected performers chosen from the elite medal winners of the 2009 All China Games.
Besides the competition, the adjacent Direct Energy Centre will be home to an audience friendly Wushu expo including a public display of training by the athletes as well as interactive booths with a special exhibit of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in addition to a Wushu museum and cultural exhibit from China.
For more info or tickets, visit www.wushucanada.com
Late MEA clearance ousts India from World Wushu Championship
STAFF WRITER 15:14 HRS IST
Bhopal, Oct 21 (PTI) A delayed tour clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs has prevented 17 Indian players from competing in the 10th World Wushu Championship starting October 24 in Toronto.
“The Indian contingent got the MEA clearance yesterday and the hard copy of it is expected to reach our office today,” Wushu Association of India (WAI) Secretary Manish Kakkad told PTI from Lucknow.
“We sought the MEA clearance two months back. Moreover, we can’t get visas and tickets in two days adding that at least 5-10 days are needed for this work,” he said.
“It was not so easy to complete these formalities in a short period, especially when trips are taken to US and Canada. We have missed a very important event because of the delay in the MEA clearance,” Kakkad added.
He said that 17 players, four coaches and two technical staff were scheduled to go to Canada.
Delay forces Wushu Team to miss tour
Submitted by Jatin Malhotra on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 14:04.
World Wushu ChampionshipIndia’s challenge in the 10th World Wushu Championship slated to be held in Toronto from October 24 ended even before it had begun. A delay in permission to the 14-member contingent to participate in the event, forced the team to miss the event.
The Wushu Association of India had sought clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs for the tour about a couple of months ago but approval came on Tuesday, just four days before the world championship. The delay has made it virtually impossible for the association to arrange for visa and book seats in flights to Toronto.
Manish Kakkad, secretary of the association, said that the travel agent expressed inability to arrange for visa in such a short time.
“Though the approval letter from MEA was received on Tuesday, other requirements for the journey to Toronto including visa and tickets could not be arranged. Which is why the tour for the World Championship has been cancelled,” he said.
The national squad for the championship included Gangapati Chanu, silver medallist of the last event held in Beijing in 2007 and Bimoljeet Singh, bronze medallist in Doha (2006) Asian Games.
The Union Sports Ministry had claimed to have accorded priority status to the sport following success of Bimoljeet Singh in Doha. The players had been camping at the Central Regional Centre of SAI here since September 5.
It’s a shame the jiayo forum is down now.
Is Tiffany Chen not competing anymore? I’m outta touch…
so “world games” stems from which time period?? the world has had many of games that were named not… 
[QUOTE=GeneChing;965959]50,000 spectators? Really?
[/QUOTE]
I am guessing, “no, NOT really”… in 1995 in Baltimore I think there was like 40 people in the entire stadium… wow was that a disaster
It depends on how they promote it.
As it is in downtown Toronto and is running over 5 days 50k is not much to expect to be cruising through there.
If the part of the venue with the expo is free,then they will get 50k people easy through there.
GTA has about 5.5 million people and there’s a few million more around that.
yet news media will not provide honest answers… more people are concerned with the next american idol, let alone who can dance like a fairy with mittens on. 
[QUOTE=uki;966037]yet news media will not provide honest answers… more people are concerned with the next american idol, let alone who can dance like a fairy with mittens on. :D[/QUOTE]
so what? who cares?
I am in support of any kind of events that are related to CMA.
no interests in politics.
may the best team win.
I really do not like the nan du things.
here are why:
- if you are promoting wushu for common people, you would make it easy so more people may learn and enjoy it.
such as Yang tai chi made easier without a lot of kicks, and stomping feet, so that 80 some years old may do it, too.
- they should have wushu events for different age brackets
such as kids wushu, teen wushu, college or young adult wushu, middle age wushu and senior wushu.
since wushu is a communist idea, then why not make it available to everyone.
and not just for the elite kids chosen since young, hours of rigorous training from 5 to 6 years old all the way to 16 in wushu schools for years, and then compete–
so wushu is for athletic elites and not for everyone?
[QUOTE=SPJ;966073]I am in support of any kind of events that are related to CMA.
no interests in politics.
may the best team win.
I really do not like the nan do things.
here are why:
- if you are promoting wushu for common people, you would make it easy so more people may learn and enjoy it.
such as Yang tai chi made easier without a lot of kicks, and stomping feet, so that 80 some years old may do it, too.
- they should have wushu events for different age brackets
such as kids wushu, teen wushu, college or young adult wushu, middle age wushu and senior wushu.
since wushu is a communist idea, then why not make it available to everyone.
and not just for the elite kids chosen since young, hours of rigorous training from 5 to 6 years old all the way to 16 in wushu schools for years, and then compete–
so wushu is for athletic elites and not for everyone?
[/QUOTE]
all athletic competition is for elites. Or should be.
everyone can do wushu, modified or otherwise.
would you pay to watch old men dotter about and pose? I wouldn’t. BUt I would pay to see hot chicks flying through the air and screaming with a spear whirling about their head.
because that has value and is marketable.
If i want to see old people and kids playing martial arts, I’ll go to the park. lol
no offense and I agree that it should be for everyone and I think it really is.
but for entertainment value that is worth paying for, I don’t want to see anyone who isn’t an elite in their sport.
While I have no real problem with the flash and elite aspect of IWuF Wushu competition, I do have two basic issues with how it is being done and the impact it all has on Wushu (as in martial arts) practice on the whole.
First, the IWuF keeps changing the judging rules in their attempt to make it “Better”. For example, currently, there is a requirement for TEN judges in a Taolu ring. The duties of the Head Judge were expanded to include actual scoring in addition to the other duties the Head Judge has. It has traditionally been hard enough to get the 5 scoring judges and 1 Head Judge required in the old way. Getting 10 in a competition such as Taiji Legacy or others is almost always going to be out of the question.
Second, they keep changing the scoring ideas in addition to adding things like’extra’ movements that have to be approved. Workable in China but not in the US or Canada.
Third, and most importantly, with the move towards harder and harder moves, the injury rate rises. It is not uncommon to see the ‘elite’ competitors walking around with knee, ankle, back, etc… braces and performing injured.
Personally, I would discourage my daughter from doing such things since : (1) there is no money in it long term and (2) the types of injuries possible are PERMANENT and mean pain for a lifetime.
As for the others, the late Wang Ziping maintained that Wushu should have Lien, Yong, Kan… as in serve for use (martial), have art to it, and promote the health and development of the body and mind.
This new approach throws martial out - and many will argue that Contemporary Wushu always did… but now it also throws the health and development aspect out as well. They simply keep Kan - the look…
yes. everyone wants to see what is the best among the bests.
everyone may play soccer on the streets, but only the best plays at world games for soccer.
I like to stress 2 points
- opera vs folk songs. opera for the singing talents, folk songs for common people. everyone may learn easily and start to hum.
I am for making wushu easy to learn and people may remember them for life and enjoy for life for health/fitness or some fighting skills.
wushu should take roots at grass level, or folk arts. if it is only staying among elites, then it will die soon.
shuai jiao has grass roots among mongolian and moslem people. not everyone is the best, but everyone may tumble a bit and enjoy it. any cultural events, or gathering, they will be shuai jiao event as folk activities. are all of them good? probably not, but all have fun.
the continuation of an art relies on the support of the common people.
- nan du issues
flying kicks, cartwheel, high jumps, tumbling, etc included, not that they do not have martial values. but people may see them in circus and acrobatic shows, too.
where you draw the lines?
the research and development for wushu programs should have 2 tiers
-
make them accessilbe to the general volks.
-
add more and more nan du to make them more and more difficult each year.
for estoric reasons or showiness all you want. b/c you get bonus credits for nan du. everyone has to do it to win.
olympics is going toward beyond human. using technology to make new records, there are limits of human anatomy, we are doing everything to make new records.
yes. we will see what new training regimes, or technology are used to make new records in London in 2012.
let us hope, wushu is not going the same direction of achieving beyond human.
:eek:
Go Bermuda!
I got to see my Bermudan friends at Legends of Kung Fu this year.
10/23/2009 12:33:00 PM
San shou fighters off to World Championships
Bermuda’s full-contact mixed martial arts fighters are in Canada this weekend to take on the world’s best.
Seven san shou fighters are competing in the World Wushu Championships at the impressively named Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, starting tomorrow.
It is the second time Bermuda has sent a team to the world championships and Garon Wilkinson, president of the san shou association and one of the fighters, admitted they were facing a gruelling challenge.
He said it would be an ‘extraordinary achievement’ for any of the seven fighters to come out with a podium finish in the championships which features 1,500 athletes from 85 different countries.
The team, five of whom had strong performances in the Legends of Kung Fu tournament in Texas recently, has gone through months of preparation to prepare themselves, physically and mentally, for the unique challenges posed by the brutal, full-contact fighting style.
“The world championships bring out the ‘who’s who’ in the sport of san shou. This is the absolute highest standard of competition in our sport and all of our training is geared towards performing well in this competition,” said Wilkinson.
He said the ‘luck of the draw’ would determine how far the Bermuda athletes went in the elimination competition.
But heavyweight Jermal Woolridge, who finished fifth at the last world championships in Beijing two years ago, the experienced Sentwali Woolridge and Wilkinson himself are expected to be the island’s strongest contenders.
Big things are also expected of Bermuda’s lone female fighter Talia Iris.
Wilkinson, who was part of the team in Beijing, said they had modified and improved their training methods since the last competition. "I feel that we are far better equipped than we were two years ago.
"I had the opportunity to train with one of the top U.S. san shou fighters in the 90’s earlier this year and I have had a chance to implement some of his training methods into our own training. “We also have had access to more sparring partners with some of the fighters from Skipper Ingham’s gym that are taking part in the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships in Austria taking part in a number of our sparring sessions.”
Rwanda is out. 
Rwanda: Cash Strapped Kung-Fu Team Shun World Hampionship
Ostine Arinaitwe
23 October 2009
Kigali — RWANDA will not be represented at the world wushu championship in Canada after the national Kungfu team failed to get the required funds to participate in the global showpiece.
The biannual event which starts today and ends next Friday has attracted over 1500 athletes from 121 countries.
The national team was banking on financial support from the Sports ministry but the national Kung-fu federation president Yassin Uramukiye Mubarak yesterday revealed that they had failed to raise the required amount.
“The Sports ministry could not raise the amount needed because they have been stretched a lot by funding Amavubi and the national women basketball team that recently traveled to Madagascar for the Afrobasket tournament.”
The team needed Rwf 18m to participate in the competition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM7ZaCPLSA8&feature=related
I picked this song for my son to learn. he is just starting to learn french.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSasU773tzo
my father picked this song for me to learn when I started to learn french in 1960s.
these are children folk songs, but easy enough that we may learn to sing and remember for the rest of our life.
wushu should be made simpler, punch, kick, throw etc
and not to add flashy stuff or too many difficulties nan du.
shuai jiao is the same for thousands of years on the great grass plains of China.
boxing is the same in ireland or celtics.
