Trip
Report of the 2004 US Traditional Wushu Team Delegation
First World Traditional Wushu Festival in Zhengzhou, China
By: Randy Li, USAWKF Vice President and Chairman of Traditional Wushu
Committee
The
2004 U.S. Traditional Wushu Team organized by the USAWKF captured 33 gold,
48 silvers and 26 bronze medals in the 1st World Traditional Wushu Festival!
The event is sponsored by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) and
Chinese Wushu Association, organized by the Henan Sport Department and
the Zhengzhou City, from October 16th - 20th 2004. This historical event
was a huge success with 1,282 athletes from 62 countries/regions participated.
There was a total of 395 athletes from 39 countries/regions winning gold
medals. 54 athletes from U.S. competed in this event.
The Zhengzhou Organizing Committee began the event with a magnificent Opening Ceremony on the evening of October 16th at the Henan Sports Cneter. Welcome speeches were delivered by the IWUF President, Mr. Yu Caiqing, and Mayor of Zhengzhou City, Mr. Wang Wanchao. After the marching in of the 62 countries/regions there was a concert with famous singers and movie stars from China, Hong Kong & Taiwan who put on an excellent show. The concert also included various martial arts performances including a Chen Taiji group performance led by Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei, a familiar name in the U.S.
On
the morning of October 17, all the participants, officials of the festival
traveled in over 100 buses to the Shaolin Temple, a 30 minute ride from
Zhengzhou City with the newly built highway for this event. The Shaolin
Temple was only opened to the participants of the festival. We were all
entertained with over 40,000 young Kung-Fu artists from 83 Wushu schools,
with various performances in empty-hand forms, weapon forms, two-men sets,
sparrings, sanda, taiji quan, qigong, hardening training, drums, dragon
and lion dances on a stretch of 18 kilometers before the Shaolin Temple.
For all of us, this was a first time we have viewed a kung fu performance
on this scale! This was truly a historical event in the kung fu world.
The
three-day competition began on the 18th at the Zhengzhou City Gymnasium
and the University Gymnasium, which were approximately 20 minutes apart
by taxi ride. Some athletes had to compete in both locations, and, according
to many athletes, the standards for grading were very strict, so many
top artists didn't get high scores. Each athlete could only participate
in two individual events. We want to congratulate our outstanding athletes
who won two gold medals, and they are: Alex Whitlow, Ka-Yan Wong, Tiffany
Reyes, Brandon Sugiyama, Philip Dang, Ronald Wheeler, Virginia Mullin,
Jamel Brown, and Zhang Yang!
The U.S. Delegation consisted of 83 members, whick consist of 11 team leaderers, 56 of them athletes (54 actually competed), and 16 observers including athletes' family members and school mates. Delegation leader and USAWKF President, Anthony Goh who is also the Vice President of the IWUF was working closely with the Organizing Committee in managing and executing the event. Deputy Delegation Leaders Randy Li, Xiaolin Lu, Malee Khow, and Tat Mau Wong were helping the athletes on a daily basis. Team Leaders present including Jincai Cheng, Calvin Chin, Kyle Cummings, Siu-Fong Evans, Shudong Li, Anguang Sun, Richard Wan, Hong Chao Zhang. Malee Khow served as an official judge at the competition. U.S. Team Coaches including Gao Mei Jian, C.P.Ong, and Gini Lau.
The
U.S. Delegation also spent a total of 3 days in Beijing and visited the
Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and the Wong Fu-Jing Market.
Some members visited Tien Tan and the Pan-Jia-Yuan Market by themselves.
The cultural experience for most our team members who were visiting Beijing
and China for the first time was remarkable.
With an event of this magnitude, some of our members also experienced the usual confusions of a tournament. The USAWKF would like to thank the following members who stepped up to be of assistance of the team: Shudong Li, Brandon Sugiyama and Liu Guojing Evans. We also want to congratulate Malee Khow, Siu-Fong Evans and Liu Guojing Evans for their interview on Henan T.V. The show was repeated many times nationally and all of you looked really good.
The
Zhengzhou City invested tens of million of yuans in sponsoring this event.
The IWUF has received many complimentary letters from participants, and
the U.S. members has given us very positive feedback as well. Many of
us think this was an experience of a lifetime and truly enjoyed it! USAWKF
is proud to be the organizer of the U.S. Team, and we want to thank all
of you for your support and participation.
The
Baltimore team left from Baltimore Washington International airport en
route to Beijing via Chicago, Illinois and Tokyo, Japan. We arrived in
Beijing after 22 hours of travel. The delegation was received at the airport
and taken by bus to the Beijing International Hotel. (9, Jiannei Dajie,
East District, Beijing, China 100005)
The
opening ceremony started with the entrance of the Athletes and referees.
More than 1,200 athletes from 62 countries and regions entered the stadium
in order. Mr. Wang Wenchao, mayor of Zhengzhou, made the welcoming address.
Mr. Yu Zaiqing, Chairman of the International Wushu Federation gave an
opening speech. State Councillor Chen Zhili announced the opening of the
First World Traditional Wushu Festival. The presentation used Wushu as
the main content with integrated theme music playing through the whole
evening. The stage was dramatically designed in the form of the surrounding
mountains. The performance was accented with fireworks and thousands of
Wushu performers demonstrating a wide variety of techniques and weapons.
The
U.S. delegation was taken by police escort to visit the world famous Shaolin
Temple located in the foothills of Song Shan. According to a 1,000-year-old
tradition, it was at Shaolin that the founder of Zen Buddhism, the 6th-century
monk Boddhidharma, preached and meditated until his death.
