Songshan Shaolin Champion
We're launching a new showcase division at TCKFMCIII - the Songshan Shaolin Champion.
The details are still in development, but here's what we have so far:
The Songshan Shaolin Champion title is open to anyone competing with a classic form currently practiced at the original Shaolin Temple in Songshan. This includes (but is not limited to) empty-hand forms such as Xiaohongquan, Dahongquan, Luohanquan, Qixingquan and Taizu Changquan, as well weapon forms such as Yinshougun, Meihuadao, Tamojian, and so on. Competitors will be judged by a panel of Songshan Shaolin experts from different schools. In the event of a tie, competitors will face off with different Songshan Shaolin forms until a winner is determined.
All Songshan Shaolin Champion entries will receive a special Shaolin-oriented gift bag. The winner will receive a Shaolin-oriented prize which includes being featured in a showcase article in the next Shaolin Special issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi.
Online registration now open
2011 Songshan Shaolin Champion
The 1st Songshan Shaolin Champion (2011)
The 1st Songshan Shaolin Champion is Yang Chengjun.
2nd place runner up: Yang Bing.
3rd place: Patricia Kusaba.
The Songshan Shaolin Champion 2011 is Yang Chengjun
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2nd place: Yang Bing
3rd place: Patricia Kusaba
Judging were five leading Shaolin disciples: Chen Fei (Shi Yanfei), Shi Yanran, Shi Yantuo (Wang Lu), Yan Fei (Shi Yanfei), Ye Xinglie (Shi Xinglie).
Coordinating the event was Sal Redner.
Songshan Shaolin Champion at TCKFMCIII
Finally recovered from my jetlag and all the impressions during this trip to the USA. I am now able say something about the tournament. It was the biggest Kungfu tournament I have ever been to, in every aspect: distance, costs number of participants. I registered for the female 40+ category but ended up in a mixed:(
Happens all the time and somehow I thought this time it was going to be different.
Loved the idea of the Songshan Shaolin Division and I hope next time this division will be expanded and divided in categories so Shaolin practitioners wont have to compete in the "northern fist" division and suffer the disadvantage of being judged by non-shaolin judges. Not saying they are no good, but still it is different....
So I was thinking, a songshan division by gender and age and categories, short weapons, long weapons and empty hand.It is not fair for kids to compete against adults and the other way around...
The idea is great and I hope in the future it will be THE division for Shaolin.
Overall great experience, nice meeting all those people you read about in Kungfu Taichi Magazine and if all goes well see you all next year!
Omituofo!
That sounds right, shaolinpowered, thanks!
And thanks for coming out! I'm glad we got to meet you face-to-face.
As for expanding the divisions, I'm actually of the philosophy that CMA should go the other way, just like the Olympics. Reduce the number of divisions. The diversity of CMA is a two-edged sword at tournaments. If there's a division for every different style, it just gets so noisy and chaotic. Back in the day, things weren't as separated. A century ago, everyone competed against each other. There were no divisions. Even a decade and a half ago, when I was competing, there were less divisions.
The Songshan Shaolin Champion will probably remain a lone title, so there will be no separation of gender, age or empty-hand vs. weapon. There will only be one champion, just like the WildAid Tiger Claw Champion, each year.
Songshan Shaolin Champion at KFTC 20 YEARS
With all the promotion of KFTC 20 YEARS, this event wasn't promoted that heavily this year so it's a pretty small division this time around. That's too bad because we have a monster monk panel of judges this year, but oh well.
To update this thread, the article on Songshan Shaolin Champion 2011, Yang Chengjun, was published in the May/June 2012 Shaolin Special: The 7 Star General of the Celestial Realm
That's always a problem, ShaolinDan
That's what makes this division special. I cherry-pick the judges from the attending Shaolin wuseng. :cool:
We do have an additional stipulation
If you look at our rules, we've limited the Songshan Shaolin forms to those presented within Shaolin Gong Fu: A Course in Traditional Forms.
Quote:
For the sake of this event, Classical Songshan Shaolin forms are defined as forms listed in Shaolin Gong Fu: A Course in Traditional Forms, published by the Taguo Institute. Competitors are not required to execute the form exactly as represented in these books, however the form must be listed.
This special division is still growing. So far, no one has attempted anything overly exotic and claimed it falls within our guidelines. The Shaolin community here has been very supportive of it.
The Songshan Shaolin Champion 2012 is Yang Chengjun
Two years in a row. He won with Taizuquan.
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2nd Place: Yu Zhenlong
3rd Place: Chris Shephard
More to come.
The article is published.
The Long Fist of the Emperor - Shaolin Special 2013
The next Songshan Shaolin Champion will be determined at the Tiger Claw Elite Championship on June 1, 2013 in San Jose, CA.
Congratulaions to Shaolin Rasta!
In the biggest upset of the weekend, Chris Shepherd won the title of Songshan Shaolin Champion for 2013.
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Eric, come on now...what IS your issue?
You think I'm racist? I have mixed blood and married outside my 'race'. You gotta watch yo mouth, byoy. Chris is a good friend of mine. The notion that I'd be racist against him is absolutely absurd.
Chris went up against Yu Zhenlong, who won our WildAid Tiger Claw Championship this year. Sure, Yu is Chinese, but he also is a top-notch competitor and a master who owns his own brick-and-mortar school. Yu was born in Henan, trained from childhood at Taguo, a youth champion of Henan Province who captured the all-around in the 1999 nationals in Beijing. He was a member of the Henan professional team and toured professionally around the world. He is 24 and still in his prime.
Chris is a devout student who learned the form off our DVD, which he won last year. He doesn't have a direct Shaolin teacher because there are none in his area. He's a grandfather. And his grip slipped with his first pass at the beginning of the form.
When you see the videos, maybe you'll understand what happened.