Which wushu group is "official"?

[freedom76]

Which wushu group is "official"? Is it usawkf.com, usawkf.org, the amateur athletes group or somebody else? Who's going to be resposible for producing the US team for the Olympics? (assuming that it will be there) Are there any neutral sources with information about these organizations? I understand that there is some legal action going on to maybe clear this up. Can anybody inform me or direct me to some info please? I wish KungfuQigong Magazine would do an article on this to inform all of us.

[GLW]

"Which wushu group is "official"? Is it usawkf.com, usawkf.org, the amateur athletes group or somebody else? Who's going to be resposible for producing the US team for the Olympics? (assuming that it will be there) Are there any neutral sources with information about these organizations? I understand that there is some legal action going on to maybe clear this up. Can anybody inform me or direct me to some info please? I wish KungfuQigong Magazine would do an article on this to inform all of us."

OK..history...

The original group WAS USAWKF.ORG.

Anthony Goh ran roughshod over many of the Board members, many supporters, the competitors, etc...

In 1999, Goh, after having done things like taking $40,000 from one person and then giving them a Board seat, trying to oust Pat Rice from the IWuF Technical committee and also trying to kick her off the board, went one step too far...He did two things...

(1) He submitted a letter on behalf of the Board to the IWuF (The International Wushu Federation) calling for a vote of no confidence on the head, Li Jie. This was WITHOUT Board knowledge or approval. The president does NOT have this power according to USAWKF Bylaws.

(2) He submitted Lu Xiaolin's name for the Technical committee of the IWuF knowing :

(a) the Board was supposed to vote on this and HAD been discussing it - including nominations and a vote...Goh did not allow this to happen - Lu Xiaolin would NOT have won.
(b) Lu Xiaolin's citizenship at the time was NOT US. She was NOT eligible for the position. Her citizenship process did not finalize (if it ever did) until several months later. The IWuF rules require a representative from the country to actually be a citizen of the country they represent...imagine that.

The Board voted No Confidence on Goh and asked for him to resign. Two board members resigned in disgust over the situation...but rescinded their resignation a week or so later...however, Goh maintained that he was still president and that they were no longer on the board. Funny...they both voted against him.

Three other board members waffled back and forth on recounts of the vote against Goh (Shawn Liu, James Yu, and Mike Barry). Barry later resigned...but after he sided against Goh with the board. James Yu wanted his $40K back...rescinded his vote and then abstained from every other vote. Shawn Liu rescinded his vote and then abstained.

The board continued to work on this but Goh refused to discuss things. He called a meeting in 2001 - the board showed up...Goh called the police on them. The board, in the meantime, voted to change procedure which required a 51% majority...revoted on the ousting and in their eyes, removed Goh from the board and from the USAWKF. The USAWKF.COM was their site...it is now US WUSHU UNION...

The IWuF has failed to do anything. First, they said to solve it internally. Then they deal with Goh...because the internal solution requires a lawsuit which runs into 30 to 40 thousand dollars.

For the IOC....they will NOT recognize ANY organization that has a governing body in dispute.

Goh was a Traditional only person for years...hosting competitions. In his events, if you did MODERN Wushu, you were disqualified. NOW....he is chumming up to the IWuF and hobnobbing with Modern folks and doing a complete 360.

Goh has never disclosed the financial statements which required by law...he has not served the members...but asks for a lot of money all the time.

His leadership has been questionable at best and full of pitting person one against another.

He has been unresponsive to competitors and members as well as slow to do things that needed doing...like standards for ethics, judging, training for judges, rules being set, and the list goes on.

You can support who you will...but if you support Goh and you want to be on the US Team, you had best study under Lu Xiaolin.... she pretty much hand picks the team by the way Goh lets her set up the rules.

There is also a decidedly Non-Chinese (as in if you are not Chinese you are ignored) bent in Goh's approach.

From what I heard recently, Shawn Liu has parted company with Goh and is back in the other camp. The Sanshou community is pretty angry with Goh and open to new things too.

It is a complete mess calling for a new start...and that is what the US Wushu Union is trying to do. There is also a grassroots approach where the athletes are banding together in their own organization....strength in numbers.

BUT...this only really affects the Modern Taolu folks. The Sanshou folks have their own thing...and are likely NOT going to be included in the 2008 Olympics. ( I can't recall what the take on that is currently). So....

There are 5 years to correct this...but then again, the rules proposed by the IWuF for the Olympics on who will be eligible for teams pretty much excludes everyone except a certain number of Asian countries.

The IWuF can't get its act together any better....

and the beat goes on......

[norther practitioner]

GLW, are you going to taiji Legacy? Did you go to San Diego? I agree with much of what you said, it sounds about right albeit a bit US Wushu association biased, which is fine, because I lean that way as well, Goh has seemed to be a fairly shady character, even some things someone was saying about what happend at the world championships.

[GeneChing]

Which is why we aren't covering it overtly. We did cover both nationals after the initial split (and for those who understood what was going on, there was some points made between the lines in those articles.) Frankly, we have friends on both sides. Certainly we have our personal opinions on the matter, but we felt that our most important role was to emphasize the postive and help work towards a viable NGB for the IOC. IKF stepping in the trap and took a side and see where it got them.

For what it's worth, there's a new group in town - the Wushu Union - www.uswushuunion.com.

[GLW]

Gene,

I am planning on going to Jimmy's event - but my wife and I are doing an adoption through China...if they tell us to be there to get our daughter...we go at the drop of a hat... right now, it looks like that will probably impact the Florida competition in September instead of Taiji Legacy... The Legacy is a fun thing anyway ...and in easy driving distance for me...as long as we don't have floods (1999 - driving in the rain - bad flat tire and weather ---2000 - flash flood half of South Texas didn't make it up).

2001 - great weather - good times.

There MAY be just a bit of bias in my reporting of the goings on...however, I saw all of the things going on up to and including the vote against Goh.

It began with wondering WHY Goh wanted to have an organization that was barely formed sign up to HOST the IWuF World Competition in 1995. There was NO Corporate funding and nobody had a clue how to get it.

Goh formed a side entity to handle this. When he lost money, he claimed the USAWKF organization was responsible for the debt. I have looked and asked and can find no one who ever voted on the board to allow the USAWKF to sign up for such a financial burden.

I programmed the first software for competition management. It was used at Jeff Bolt's event in Florida and then and the USAWKF nationals that Lilli Lau hosted. It was a prototype (I develop software for a living)...we determined what was needed. I offered to work on it for FREE and asked who would help.

Goh appointed one of his folks...and the guy never asked a question, did not really know much about martial arts or the competitions...and then chose the wrong architecture.... Big surprise when the software was a single largest cause of competition delay that year. The next year, said person was gone and the software he wrote was still being used....to the dismay of all.

I read all of the correspondence against Pat Rice, spoke with Goh about it, then with Jeff...and others...Goh's version did not hold water.

I was aware of the time that James Yu wa placed on the board...the $40K 'loan' and the fact that the approval vote was conducted before all of the board members who were KNOWN to be coming could arrive at the meeting location in San Francisco.

The litany of irregularities is quite long....and I have forgotten a number of them.

On ethics alone, I do NOT support Goh. In fact, before his problem in 1999, I was considering discontinuing support for the org...and stayed helping out of friendship and respect for a number of people involved.

But...to more fun things....anything special for the magazine on Taiji Legacy?

[GeneChing]

Best of luck with the adoption. I ran into an adoption group in Beijing once, what a special energy!

I certainly understand your opinions on the USAWKF. As I'm sure you can imagine, I don't have the same luxury to be as frank in print. And for what it's worth, James Yu is my dentist, so I have a bias there I suppose. One should always be friends with anyone that you let stick sharps in your mouth.

I am planning to be at Taiji Legacy. I may also be at the AAU/CMA nationals in TX, but that is just before our 10 Year Anniversary party, so maybe not. Either way, hope to see you, but hope even more that you get your daughter home safely.

[GLW]

Gene,

I totally understand your position. It is good to see that you do as well.

Previous persons did not take that approach and there were definite problems with at least the appearance of conflicts of interest and misuse of the magazine as a political forum.

Personally, if you or the magazine take any PUBLIC stance, it should be preceeded by a full examination - in print - of all of the issues and BOTH sides...then an analysis - also in print - of what the conclusion of the magazine is and why...AND it should be fully noted as an Editorial or Opinion.

This is simply responsible journalism. You have been pretty uch doing this with but a few minor lapses.... Others...well not so much..but it is NOT just your magazine. Other magazines have done MORE than their fair share of stirring up the pot so to speak.

Now, privately, you can and should be able to say what you please....and have your own opinion.... AND, I will vehemently defend your right to do so regardless of whether or not I might happen to agree with whatever that opinion may be. ...That is what the US is supposed to be about.

We are definitely looking forward to the trip...we requested a child from Shanghai area...(we do, after all, know people there)...but it is all up to China....The Chinese name for her was easy...the English name....now that one is proving to be harder.

Thanks for the best wishes...and we will see you in Dallas...

[norther practitioner]

GLW, I agree with you 100 %. Good luck with the adoption, and I'll hopefully see you in Dallas. Good post Gene, hopefully this will all clear up in the next few months, but in the mean time, I will try to make it to as many Wushu Union events as I can.