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Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
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We’ll just skip from London, past Rio, to this.

Wushu faces IOC evaluation in Macau for 2020 Olympic bid
Monday, 17 September 2012
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By Tom Degun

September 17 - Wushu is facing its key inspection from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the 4th World Junior Wushu Championships, the sport’s evaluation event for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games, began today in Macau.

The Championships, which will feature both male and female athletes between 15 and 18 years of age, will run from today to September 25 and be the biggest to date as it takes place in the Tap Seac Multi-sports Pavilion in Macau, a special administrative region of China.

Wushu is a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts composed of two disciplines, which are taolu and sanda.

Governed by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), the sport was developed in China in 1949.

The IWUF has failed to get the sport included on the official Olympic sports programme at previous Games although the IOC allowed China to organise an unofficial international wushu exhibition event during Beijing 2008.

Many experts consider wushu to be outside contenders to make the 2020 Olympic programme and it has a hugely important figure fighting its corner in the form of IWUF President Yu Zaiqing of China.

Yu Zaiqing (pictured with IOC President Jacques Rogge) has held a number of significant positions within the Olympic Movement, including as vice-president of the IOC and Beijing 2008, as well as being a current vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee

The 61-year-old, who was vice-president of Beijing 2008, became an IOC member in 2000 and has since held numerous powerful positions in the organisation, including the role of IOC vice-president from 2008 to 2012.

“Wushu is a sport that embodies many of the Olympic values,” said Zaiqing.

"We believe that it can make a fantastic contribution to the Olympic Games and we are very honoured that the IOC has shortlisted wushu for inclusion for the 2020 Olympic Games.

“We are hopeful we can now prove that our sport deserves to be at the Games.”

Wushu is one of seven sports bidding to make the 2020 Olympic programme alongside climbing, karate, roller sport, squash, wakeboard, baseball and softball, with the latter two likely to make a joint bid.

All the sports will be assessed at a major championships before the end of the year before the IOC compiles a report on the merits of each discipline and its bid based largely on the evaluation event.

The IOC will then make a final decision on which sport, if any, to include on the 2020 Olympic programme at its Session in Buenos Aires in September next year.

Only a maximum of 28 sports are allowed at the Olympic Games and this will be reached at Rio 2016 with the inclusion of golf and rugby sevens.

However, it is highly likely that at least one of the seven bid sports will be included in the 2020 Olympic sports programme with the IOC set to remove a minimum of one discipline currently on the sports programme.

Contact the writer of this story at tom.degun@insidethegames.biz

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It will be a tough battle to go against baseball, but I hope wushu wins.

I think with the inclusion of Sanda into the olympics, you will see a heavy increase in interest of Chinese Martial Arts. Especially in terms of people wanting to compete and fight at an olympic level. The inclusion of Sanda will also let the world see what CMA has to offer the martial arts world in terms of full contact applicability.

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My uncle was VP of the World Taekwondo Federation and so did a lot of work getting TKD into the Olympics. He was always very proud of it but I was scandalized by the politics of it all. It was bad enough the arts were being “codified” by governmental intervention (sound familiar?) but with the inclusion into the olympics the rule system became a joke. What do you mean I don’t get any points for punching?

I fear that the rule-set will become popular and that CMA schools will start teaching their system to the rules and lose part of their identity. Though I am of the opinion that we train martial arts for both combat and artistic expression, so others may not care that the “flavors” all start to taste alike.

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Well, I have always supported CMA to be included in the Olympics. It is feasible that CMA and other all-round martial art systems compete against each other in an acceptable format and rule set. A recent local MMA tournament has demonstrated that. It had fights with CMA vs TKD, Muay Thai vs Kick Boxing, etc. I am looking forward to see CMA become part of the Olympics.

Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

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[QUOTE=SteveLau;1189313]Well, I have always supported CMA to be included in the Olympics. It is feasible that CMA and other all-round martial art systems compete against each other in an acceptable format and rule set. A recent local MMA tournament has demonstrated that. It had fights with CMA vs TKD, Muay Thai vs Kick Boxing, etc. I am looking forward to see CMA become part of the Olympics.

Regards,

KC
Hong Kong[/QUOTE]

I’ve been saying this for a long time. MMA gives practitioners from all disciplines equal footing on which to fight. Sanda can compete just like muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, judo, etc etc.

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I remember that not too long ago.

Everyone was gearing up to wushu 2008.

But it did not happen at Beijing Olympics 2008.

And yes, Chinese (PRC) will keep trying.

:cool:

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personally

I would drop tao lu altogether.

Tao lu are form practices.

Nothing to compete.

San Shou has been the core since the dawn of Chinese or any civilization.

Bo Ji was the old name.

:wink:

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Cool. I support this.

Question: I thought “wushu” was the flashy forms with the flexible weapons. That article says wushu is a full contact sport. Can someone please clarify?

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The article says “wushu” is composed of both taolu and sanda, so it’s referring to the sanda aspect. Personally, I think if the sanda makes it in, it would be great; much, MUCH better than the Olympic TKD. I don’t see much worth to including the flashy taolu aspect. IMO, the two aren’t related at all.

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Technically, there are two categories in modern wushu: taolu and sanda. Perhaps the article was referring to the sanda part.

In any case, PRC will keep trying but I don’t think it will succeed. Chinese practitioners are generally really insular in promoting their arts, and I think many would feel perturbed in competing directly with foreigners.

I’ve tried to express this to my Chinese classmates…If you go to a judo dojo in Japan with a bright happy face and say “I want to practice Judo!”, you will most likely be greeted with the same in return and invited to practice. In China, show up to a sanda gym, or a gongfu group, and half of them will see it as strange and a few would even take insult.

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Could the MMA guys we are familiar with compete successfully under the sanda rules?

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[QUOTE=IronFist;1189364]Cool. I support this.

Question: I thought “wushu” was the flashy forms with the flexible weapons. That article says wushu is a full contact sport. Can someone please clarify?[/QUOTE]

wu = martial

shu = art

wushu just means martial art, so its really all encompasing. in the west wushu is most commonly refering to the performance aspect. similarly kungfu doesnt mean martial arts at all, its just the modern popular term to mean chinese martial arts.

this character is Wu in chinese and Bu in japanese. both meaning martial, and or warrior spirit, and or military.

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[QUOTE=RickMatz;1189394]Could the MMA guys we are familiar with compete successfully under the sanda rules?[/QUOTE]

as long as they follow the rules yes. I think sanda would be a powerful competition circuit for mma guys that are heavy into striking with decent wrestling skills.

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Sanda could have been popular in the USA years ago were it not for the “I gots mine, f— you” attitude of a few traditional gongfu “masters” who stuck their heads into sanda.

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[QUOTE=pazman;1189415]Sanda could have been popular in the USA years ago were it not for the “I gots mine, f— you” attitude of a few traditional gongfu “masters” who stuck their heads into sanda.[/QUOTE]

I agree. A lot of times I find sanda fights to be more exciting than mma fights.

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Thanks for clarifying the definition of “wushu.”

If you google image “wushu” you get the flashy stuff, but I guess that’s just what’s popular here because it’s fun to watch.

Yeah, sanda in the Olympics would be cool.

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We still haven’t started a 2016 Rio Olympics thread.

Wushu fighting uphill battle
Updated: 2012-12-14 04:08
By Sun Xiaochen ( China Daily)

Chinese martial art faces strong competition to kick off in the Games

Don’t start planning those Olympic wushu-watching parties just yet.

The sport is a long way from becoming an official event at the Games, said the head of the umbrella organization for Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations.

“That’s a difficult question. They are very far (from getting in the Olympics) now,” SportAccord president Hein Verbruggen said on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Mind Games in Beijing.

Despite its growing international popularity, the combat sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts faces stiff competition in the reserve pool.

SportAccord represents 92 sports federations, providing a huge well for the International Olympic Committee to draw from.

“The IOC basically has its own recognition system, but they base themselves to a large extent upon us. If we recognize a federation, it will be a major step to getting recognized by the IOC. It’s getting much closer,” said Verbruggen, a former IOC member and the chairman of the coordination commission for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Recognized by the IOC in 2002, the International Wushu Federation has been promoting the sport internationally by hosting events like the 2010 World Combat Games.

It was left in the cold for the 2016 Games, with golf and rugby sevens earning inclusion instead.

The window will open again in September at the IOC session in Argentina, where members will meet to elect the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics and consider adding new sports.

Wushu fighting uphill battle

Even then, Verbruggen said wushu would face long odds.

“The first group is in the Olympics,” he said. “The second is recognized (by the IOC) but not in the Games. And wushu is one of them, among another 32 or 33 sports who all want to get in there. The IOC will make a decision on whether they are going to add a new sport or not. I know wushu is one of the candidates. But it’s very difficult.”

Climbing, baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, squash and wakeboarding are also leading candidates for 2020.

Squash is the likely front-runner because it is widely played and has been in the Commonwealth Games since 1996.

Wushu’s push for Games spot
From: The Australian
December 29, 2012 12:00AM

THE pure commercial potential of wushu puts the Chinese martial arts in serious contention for 2020 Olympic Games inclusion, according to the sole Australian on the sport’s bid committee.

Wushu is one of eight sports hoping for inclusion in the Olympic program alongside squash, karate, roller sport, climbing, wakeboarding and the joint bid from baseball and softball.

Despite being the national sport of China’s 1.34 billion people and having roots more than 4000 years old, wushu is a mystery to most Australians.

But partly due to terminology.

Wushu was originally known popularly by the Cantonese term kung fu, which was made famous by Bruce Lee in a series of Hollywood films – including The Way of the Dragon – in the early 1970s.

In Mandarin, the term wushu literally translates as “wu” meaning military and “shu” meaning art.

Wushu has since been distinguished as an aesthetic performance and competitive sport – which resembles rhythmic gymnastics – while kung fu remains the traditional fighting practice.

Routines are performed solo, paired or in groups, either bare-handed or armed with traditional Chinese weaponry.

Male and female competitors are judged and given points according to the speed, difficulty and presentation of their stances, kicks, punches, balances and jumps.

While it will take time to educate Australians about the intricacies of the sport, Wushu Australia honorary president Walt Missingham believes the IOC won’t be able to deny the pull of the dollar when it comes to considering the sport’s Olympic inclusion.

“The Olympic movement is driven very much by television audience,” said Missingham, who produced the documentary The Intercepting Fist about Bruce Lee’s life.

"Wushu would bring multiple hundreds of millions of people in China and the greater Asia region into TV. And with that it brings in new sponsors. It opens up avenues for companies to do business in China.

“And you can’t ignore China’s political and economic clout on the global stage and the Olympic Games is very light on in terms of Asian sports.”

When pressed on whether the commercial aspect was a motivating factor for the IOC, wushu’s Olympic bid committee member Missingham was matter of fact.

“Do we deal with the reality or the public perception?” he said.

"If there’s anyone out there that truly doesn’t think the Olympic Games is highly motivated by the commercial imperative, I’m sorry, but they’re on the wrong planet.

"It’s a multi-billion-dollar exercise. In fact, without money, the Olympics simply cannot function.

“In tandem with that, you’ve got to take on board the reach of wushu not just into China and greater Asia, but into the African nations too where wushu is very popular. So you have two significant continents that are desiring that wushu be included.”
Africa is definitely a factor here, as wushu is surprisingly popular by many accounts there, but I’m not sure that it’ll be that much of a factor. Then again, who knows what the world will look like in 2020?

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[QUOTE=Lucas;1188327]It will be a tough battle to go against baseball, but I hope wushu wins.

I think with the inclusion of Sanda into the olympics, you will see a heavy increase in interest of Chinese Martial Arts. Especially in terms of people wanting to compete and fight at an olympic level. The inclusion of Sanda will also let the world see what CMA has to offer the martial arts world in terms of full contact applicability.[/QUOTE]

I’m all for MA’s in the olympics, but not at the expense of other well established sprts. The whole baseball thing annoys me. It should be a staple. So should cricket! That’s my N American perspective and I’m sticking to it. :smiley:

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Wrestling? Really?

I figured this would be an appropriate spot for this although most of the conversation surrounds Wushu, but looks like the IOC is dropping wrestling from the Olympics in 2020. It caught me by surprise as i thought if they dropped anything it wouldn’t be wrestling, which is one of the things i think of when talking Olympics. Of course, it opens the door to add a new sport, wonder if this would lead to Wushu;)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/ioc-drops-wrestling-from-2020-olympics/article8481020/

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It boggles the mind…