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"I've never
seen so many people practicing martial arts at the same
time!" said Su Rule, marveling at the numerous
Kung-fu practitioners around her.
Australian Su is
one of the 2,008 coaches and athletes from 66 countries
and regions across the world, who have come to Zhengzhou,
the capital of central China's Henan Province, for the
second World Traditional Wushu (martial arts)
Championships (WTWUC) from October 16 to 19.
On Tuesday
morning, all participants were greeted by a grand
welcome ceremony, named "Pilgrimage to Shaolin",
at Henan's Shaolin Temple, the birth place of Chinese
martial arts.
On both sides of
the 1,500-meter-long road leading to the gate of Shaolin
Temple, 15,000 local martial arts practitioners were
showing their Kung-fu skills - practicing boxing,
playing somersaults, or wielding weapons like swords and
clubs.
Most performers
were students of Dengfeng, the city where Shaolin Temple
is located. Dengfeng boasts 83 martial arts schools and
nearly 50,000 Kung-fu major students. Shaolin Kung-fu
has also become a compulsory course of local primary and
high school students.
Su Rule, an
Australian athlete, won a gold medal for Wudang sword in
Monday's matches. She also came to Zhengzhou for the
first WTWUC two years ago and gained two gold medals.
"I have been
practicing Wudang sword and Taichi for eight years. I
started to practice Kung-fu for fitness and relaxation,
and got to love it soon!" Su said.
James Leung, an
athlete from Vancouver, Canada, started his Kung-fu
journey at six and specializes in Luohan boxing.
The 23-year-old
young man told Xinhua "You simply get a special
feeling when you practice Kung-fu in China. When you see
so many people showing their martial arts skills around
you, you just want to join them at once!"
Shi Yongxin, the
abbot of Shaolin Temple, thinks China is more and more
actively engaged in the world affairs now, and WTWUC
provides a good opportunity to let more people know the
Chinese culture better.
Su said "I
learned discipline, respect and patience from martial
arts. I think these must be the virtu.es in the Chinese
culture."
ARTICLE 02 :
source:
http://www.jiayo.com
In this photo
released by China’s Xinhua news agency, Shaolin
martial arts practitioners perform during a grand
ceremony to greet guests from home and abroad to the
second World Traditional Wushu (martial arts)
Championships near the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng
City, central China, on Tuesday October 17, 2006.
Xinhua said on both sides of the 1,500-meter-long road
leading to the gate of Shaolin Temple, the birth place
of Chinese martial arts, 15,000 local martial arts
practitioners showed their Kung-fu skills during the
ceremony on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang
Song)
Participants
perform during the second World Traditional Wushu
Festival in Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan
province October 17, 2006. 1913 contenders from 66
countries and regions were to compete in four
traditional Wushu events during the five-day festival
starting on Octorber 14, local media reported.
REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA)
ARTICLE
03
- Updated : October 17, 2006
At
Shaolin, the world takes on wushu
When the
bastion of wushu holds an international
competition, Chinese are expected to dominate in
numbers and performance.
But at
the Second World Traditional Wushu Championships,
which opened yesterday in Zhengzhou of Henan
Province, roughly half of the 2,000 contestants
are from overseas and they are not in it for a
token appearance.
Like
Brown Jamel of the United States, who has
been doing squats lifting a 160-kilogram barbell
for the past six months to make him jump even
higher.
"My
dream has come true now that I am here in China
as a wushu contestant," said the
21-year-old from New York.
The
four-day event, claimed to be the biggest
gathering of its kind in the world, has drawn
about 2,000 competitors from 66 countries and
regions.
Henan is
the home of the world-renowned Shaolin Temple,
long a custodian of Chinese martial arts. Since
1991, seven Shaolin wushu festivals have been
held here, greatly raising the global profile of
wushu.
Chen
Guorong, vice-chairman of the Chinese Wushu
Association, said: "Traditional martial
arts have developed over thousands of years in
China and evolved into 129 types of boxing, of
which 11 have been selected for athletic martial
arts events."
A series
of cultural events will also be held during the
festival, including a grand ceremony at Shaolin
Temple where about 15,000 local kungfu
practitioners will show off their skills.
And
certain to be watching in rapt attention will be
Jamel. "I am simply overwhelmed to be here
at the motherland of wushu," he said.
Jamel, a
member of the New York Shaolin Wushu Team, had
his first encounter with the martial art two
years ago when he accompanied one of his
basketball teammates to a Taiji lecture and was
soon hooked.
He has
also developed great interest in Chinese culture,
such as the language, calligraphy and painting.
"Back
in my community, many, just like me, have
discovered the benefits of practising wushu not
only physically, but also for mental and
spiritual health as well," he said.
An
eminent monk at Shaolin Temple said more than
300 foreign disciples had been admitted in the
past years.
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World
Kung-fu athletes on pilgrimage to Shaolin