Question about the Zhenzhou/Shaolin Tourny in Oct this year

[sean_stonehart]

Gene... with the big tournament this October at Shaolin in Henan, do you know how much, if any attention will be directed at the temples in Fujian?

[GeneChing]

None probably. Last I heard, the Fujian temples have not been recognized by the Abbot. My guess is that he's waiting until they get their act together. It's a bit of a problem that there are three competing temples in Fujian, all vying for the same title.

[Eddie]

I hear that this tournament also have a traditional division? Judging is based on Modern Wushu principles?

You know more Gene??

[norther practitioner]

I think it is in association with the first world traditional championships. I think US Wushu Kung Fu has some info on there site.

[GeneChing]

...but I have no idea how it will be judged. I doubt it will be judged using modern wushu principles because of the new difficulty factors introduced to modern wushu. I can't see that working. But it might have the same judging system where each judge looks at a separate factor. That was how traditional was judged when I competed in Jinan in '91.

BTW, did you know that modern wushu requires 10 judges for each conpetitor in mainland China now?

[Eddie]

I was told by our local wushu federation people that there will not be any san da. Also, the forms will be judged exactly like the contemporary forms. This caused quite a stir in our local MA community as many traditional masters complained about this. One simple example is this, in Bajiquan you have the raking fist. The Wushu Fed rules said that a fist must be completely clenched, and arm must be extended. If your fist is not completely clenched, you will loose .2 points. There are other examples with spear, broadsword and a few other things.

The question is, is this then still a traditional tournament?

I do understand their idea behind the whole thing, but there is often a difference between theory and practice.

Any one with more info?

[GeneChing]

...we'll just have to go and see.

There was an initial situation where they were posturing this like the World Wushu Games, where teams would have to qualify from any given country, which lead to a bit of controversy here in the USA because of the politics around our NGB. USAWKF claimed to be the only ones who could officially send a team, but now many other federations are claiming to have received invitations, so we're still not sure what is going to happen. What's the word in other countries?

Since this is a new thing, we'r eboind to run into obstacles. Such is the nature of uncharted territory. It brings up the time old question of how you compare the different styles. But on the whole, it sounds like a step in the right direction.

A traditional wushu festival at Shaolin with forms and san da divisions. Wow...that’s just a veritable plethora of oxymorons.

Is it? Shaolin has been holding traditional tournaments with platform san da for years. But this isn't actually at Shaolin, it's in Zhengzhou, which is an hour or so away...

[Eddie]

I was told there isnt going to be san da. u know anything gene?

[GeneChing]

I'm afriad I don't know about san da or lei tai. Actually, I know very little about this tournament. I suspect this is because it's still in development.

[Golden Arms]

I have been planning on going there if they have fighting divisions. Was just debating getting my tickets last week in fact. Cool to see other KFO people might as well.

[GeneChing]

I'm going. I didn't think I was going last week, but my boss has already booked my ticket. Oct 16, 2005 - the FIRST World Traditional Kung Fu Championships to be held in Zhengzhou, Henan, China.

[norther practitioner]

I thought you said Gigi was going....

I'm sure you'll supply a good report.. I haven't heard anything about Sans Shou, however, I think that if you are planning on going, you need to be affiliated with USWKF...

[GeneChing]

We're both going. How often does that happen?

As for our affliation, as international press, we don't really need to go through the USAWKF. We have our own connections with the IWuF and Shaolin Temple.

[spaz_dragon]

hey gene! this is vara. i'm not 100% sure yet, but i believe that i'm going! i'm waaaay too excited. words cannot describe. i just hope i can get back in shape in time, lol. ankle is still out for now .

[Pk_StyLeZ]

lucky people
i wanna go to!!!!!!