Kungfu dreams in world's "Olympics of martial arts"
English.news.cn 2010-10-22 08:33:17 FeedbackPrintRSS
WUHAN, China, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- "I love Chinese Kungfu. It's extensive and profound. My dream is to open my own school and teach Kungfu in Peru," said Bejiamin, a Peru athlete at the World Traditional Wushu Championships (WTWC).
Hosted by China, the biggest-ever WTWC, crowned as the "Olympics of martial arts", concluded on Thursday, providing a platform for the world's Wushu players to get closer and spread their "Kungfu dreams".
"OLYMPICS OF MARTIAL ARTS"
With more than 2,000 year's history, Chinese martical arts, also known as Wushu, is a precious traditional cultural heritage of China.
To better spread Wushu in the world, the biennial WTWC, sponsored by the International Wushu Federation(IWF), started from 2004 and has become one of the largest traditional Wushu events in the world.
The six-day championships this year attracted more than 2,000 contestants from 83 countries and regions to compete in 300 events at central China's Shiyan city, near the Wudang Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the cradle of a main sect of Chinese martial arts as important as the Shaolin style.
"I'm very proud to see people from all over the world come to learn Wushu in China," Hollywood star and martial artist Jackie Chan said at the championships, "I hope Wushu will become a formal event at the Olympic Games, thus Chinese culture will be better understood this way."
Peru Wushu coach Bejiamin is the only one who got a the first class certificate for Chinese martial arts in his country. After two years of hard learning, he grabbed the gold medal of Baji Boxing in the championship, a type of Wudang Kungfu.
"Many foreigners, like me, know Chinese culture and love this country through practising martial arts. I believe as long as I keep learning Kungfu, my dream will come true," he said.
DREAMS OF KUNGFU LOVERS
As effective fitness exercises with rich traditional culture, Chinese martial arts has attracted more and more foreigners with "Kungfu dreams" to come to China and learn it in recent years.
Every year, more than 5,000 world's Wushu lovers swarmed to Wudang for learning Wushu, according to the Wudang Boxing Study Association.
"We have received a lot of Wushu lovers from nearly 30 countries during these years, many of them coming in groups and staying at Wudang for several months and years," said Yue Wu, deputy chairman of Shiyan Wushu Association, also a master of Wudang Wushu.
As a coach of Italian Wushu Federation, the 60-year-old Manca Giancarlo has practised martial arts for 40 years. Twenty years ago, he, nicknamed as "Boxing Champion of Mediterranean", gave up boxing and became a Kungfu fan after touching Wushu occasionally.
From then on, he stepped on the Wudang Mountain each year to learn Wudang Wushu. Now, he has opened more than ten Wushu schools in Rome, Milan, Florence and Sicily, with more than 2,000 students scattering over the Europe.
"Compared with some fighting sports like boxing, martial arts pay more attention to the body building, and the harmony between the inner part and the outside world," Manca Giancarlo said.
"Wushu is not only the treasure of China, but the heritage of the world. I teach Wushu to spread the Chinese civilization and help more people live a healthy life," he added.
The 26-year-old JeffReid, an American young man, came to China alone to learn Kungfu in 2007. He planned to spend eight years mastering Wushu in China.
"The martial arts give me a healthy body and great joy. I dream of showing Americans the real Kungfu," he said.
PERSISITING EFFORTS
Although Wushu has so many foreign fans, compared with judo of Japan and taekwondo of Korea, it's still facing the challenge of low popularizing rate. Besides, its diverse schools also hinder it becoming a sport event of Olympic Games.
How to generalize a set of specified standards for Wushu and help it spread more widely in an easier way around the world, has been a long-cherished dream for Chinese government and many Chinese Wushu practisers.
To make this dream come true, the International Wushu Federation (IWF) has made great progress in spreading Wushu since it was established in 1990. Until now, 139 countries and regions have joined the federation.
A series of world championships and world cups have also been carried out in China, including the Sportaccord Combat Games 2010 Beijing, attracting 105 countries and districts.
At the foot of the Wudang Mountain, several thousands people are now learning Wudang Wushu.
"The local government and several Wushu study associations have made efforts to push forward Kungfu enter the schools, communities and companies," said Yue Wu, "people can also learn Wushu by watching videos on the website."
The International Association of Wudang Wushu, organized by many Wushu masters, also planned to establish a hundred of Wushu schools around the globe.
"Wushu originated in China but belongs to the world,"said Wang Xiaolin, general secretary of the International Wushu Federation.
"We have been trying to push Wushu to become an event at the future Summer Olympic Games. Although there is a long way to go, we are mulling simplifying the sport, hoping it can be accepted by Pan-American Games and All-Africa Games first."
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