By Gene Ching

Tiger Claw is very disappointed to have to end its longstanding support with the United States of America Wushu Kungfu Federation (USAWKF). The USAWKF's recently staged elections were blatantly manipulative. Members were asked to vote on a group of candidates to be added to the Board of Directors. No option was given to approve or deny individual members; this was an all-or-nothing vote. Tiger Claw works with federations and organizations from all styles of the martial arts. We have never heard of any national governing body staging such an undemocratic election in America. With this flagrant disregard for fairness, it is now in the best interest of Tiger Claw to disassociate from the USAWKF.

Tiger Claw has been the most generous supporter of the USAWKF since its inception, not only through its charitable branch, the Tiger Claw Foundation, but also through donations prior to the establishment of the Foundation, as well as ample coverage in Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine. In our Winter 1994 issue, our cover story was The Birth of WKF by Annabelle A. Udo, which detailed beginning of the federation. Kung Fu Tai Chi has been the only to consistently cover USAWKF activities, from national qualifying tournaments to each of the World Wushu Championships from the 3rd one in 1995 to the most recent 11th one last November.

Tiger Claw has a long history of grassroots support of the martial arts community. This was formalized in 2002 with the establishment of our non-profit charitable organization, the Tiger Claw Foundation. The Tiger Claw Foundation has sponsored U.S. Wushu Teams since its inception. Our first major project was the 10th Anniversary of Kung Fu Magazine Gala Benefit on August 24, 2002 in Foster City, California. This raised $20,000 for the 2008 U.S. Wushu Team headed to the Beijing Olympics. In 2002, there was great optimism for wushu as a new Olympic event, but it fell way short of the mark. Wushu was only permitted to stage the Wushu Tournament Beijing adjacent to the Olympics. For the record, all donations by the Tiger Claw Foundation have always been issued directly to the athletes, and never to the USAWKF directorship.

Since the 10th Anniversary of Kung Fu Magazine Gala Benefit, the Tiger Claw Foundation supported the USAWKF selected team members on many occasions through donations of cash, team uniforms, gear, information pamphlets and publicity. No individual, group or martial arts supply company has ever contributed as much to support American wushu athletes as the Tiger Claw Foundation. Through the Tiger Claw Foundation, Tiger Claw is able to donate support to numerous martial artists through promotion and assistance. The intention of the Tiger Claw Foundation is to give as much support as possible to the athletes and arts. In addition, Tiger Claw designed team uniforms and developed USAWKF gear for the athletes as well as the general membership.

Tiger Claw has always maintained a strict policy of non-partiality with its support of martial arts of all styles. In order to avoid conflict-of-interest issues, Tiger Claw senior staff does not hold positions in national martial arts organizations of any style. Tiger Claw, the Tiger Claw Foundation and Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine works with hundreds of different martial arts federations and organizations. It's disheartening that the USAWKF is no longer one of them.

We sincerely hope that the USAWKF can reestablish America as a significant force in international wushu. America is now home to many of the world's top coaches, and yet the top of the podium has eluded American teams since the early World Wushu Championships. We look forward to the day when the USAWKF can rectify its leadership and will be open to future cooperative efforts at that time.

Tiger Claw Foundation Official Sponsorships with the USAWKF*

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 7th World Wushu Championships held on November 3-7, 2003 in Macao, China.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for 8th World Wushu Championships held on December 9-12, 2005 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 6th Pan American Wushu Championships on July 21-23, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

U.S.A. Junior Wushu Team for the 1st World Junior Wushu Championships on August 19-26, 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Official Sponsor of both the Men's and Women's U.S. Wushu National Team and the Official Martial Arts Supplier for the United States of America Wushu Kungfu Federation (USAWKF) for 2008.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 7th Pan American Wushu Championship on July 16 - 20, 2008 in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for 9th World Wushu Championships held on November 11-17, 2007 in Beijing, China.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the Wushu Tournament Beijing on August 21 - 25 at the XXIX Olympics Games in Beijing, China.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 4th Busan TAFISA World Sport For All Games on September 26 - October 2, 2008 in Busan, Korea.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 2nd World Junior Wushu Championships on December 7-14, 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 10th World Wushu Games held on October 24-29, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 8th Pan American Wushu Championships on October 7-10, 2010 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 4th World Traditional Wushu Championships held on October 17-20, 2010 in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 3rd World Junior Wushu Championships on December 2-9, 2010 held in Singapore.

U.S.A. Wushu Team for the 11th World Wushu Championships held on October 6-15, 2011 in Ankara, Turkey.

*Prior to the establishment of the Tiger Claw Foundation, Tiger Claw sponsored the U.S.A. Wushu Team for both the 4th World Wushu Championships held on November 3-8, 1997 in Rome, Italy and the 5th World Wushu Championships held on November 2-7, 1999 held in Hong Kong, China.

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About Gene Ching :
For more information on Tiger Claw, visit TigerClaw.com. For more on the Tiger Claw Foundation, visit TigerClawFoundation.org.