China, the birthplace of Wushu or Chinese Martial Arts, showed its superiority in the game when it collected 18 gold at the eighth Wushu world championships in Hanoi, Vietnam held from 8th – 15th December 2005.
Vietnam was second with 5 gold, Malaysia third with 4 gold and the Philippines fourth, with 3 gold in the competition.
China's Macao and Hong Kong, Russia and Iran won 2 gold medals each, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Italy and the Netherlands took one gold each.
In the Shanshou competition four Chinese woman shanshou athletes sailed into the finals, with all of them winning in their categories respectively.
Four Chinese male shanshou athletes also won gold in the 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, respectively.
Although New Zealand sent only a small team to this event, a female Sanshou competitor, Raana-Ellen Mareikura, gained a bronze medal in the 70kg category. This qualifies her to compete in the World Sanshou Cup later in 2006. The date and place for this event are yet to be advised.
In the Taolu competition, Ho Robin from Malaysia and Peng Weiqun of Chinese Taipei jointly won the gold in man's Nandao (South knives) with a score of 9.60 points. The bronze medal went to Malaysian Pui Fookchien who scored 9.55. His compatriot Lin Yenfai got the gold in the man's Nanjian(south sword).
Macao's Han Jing and Huang Yanhui won the gold of women's Dual events, followed by Chinese Hong Kong's Law Sumyin, Wong Wunyee and Ho Pak Keipeggie. The gold of man's Dual events went to host Vietnam.
Altogether 520 athletes from 57 countries and regions, the most in its history, competed for medals in the six-day tournament. In the championships, the Taolu event increased to 22 categories and the Sanshou event to 18.
Beijing will host the 9th World Wushu Championships in 2007. It is my hope that the New Zealand Federation will prepare the NZ athletes for this event and also for the event that China is holding to run parallel to the Olympics in 2008.
On a personal note I would like to wish everyone at the Fight Times and all their readers a very happy and prosperous 2006. The Wushu Culture Association resumes classes on February 1st 2006 and anyone wishing to enquire about group or private classes can do so either by phoning 021-560 200, emailing [email protected] or by visiting our website https://wushu.nz.
This year the Wushu Culture Association will be offering seminars in all aspects of Wushu, both Taolu and Sanshou and including judging workshops. In conjunction with this, within the first quarter of 2006 we will be selling reference DVD’s for standardised forms in Chang Chuan, Nan Chuan and Tai Chi. Any clubs interested in organising a seminar are most welcome to contact us.
