Legends of Kung-Fu #26 Olympic Kung-Fu A lot of athletes have the dream to become Olympians. And for those who practice Taekwondo and Judo that dream is a definite possibility. Practitioners of those two arts enjoy the notoriety that comes with their sport's acceptance as a full medal sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). For a while, it looked like the No-Holds-Barred fans were going to see a version of their sport go Olympic too in 2004, but there is no mention of Pankration on the Athenian Olympic site, aside from a brief paragraph in the history section. And now, Kung-Fu has its turn too. Since Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, wushu has almost been guaranteed inclusion as a demonstration sport. Now for those of you who aren't familiar with modern wushu, here's the long and short of it. When Mao Zedong became ruling Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, he issued a decree that comrades should not be fighting each other. Included in that decree were a few other ideas that made a lot of political sense at the time. Mao's knew that throughout Chinese history, martial arts groups presented a major problem to contend with in any uprising, especially so with the Boxer Rebellion that occurred at the turn of the century. He was also using a platform of "revolution", so anything that emphasized "traditional" values or skills was vehemently attacked, especially during the years of his Cultural Revolution. As a result, modern wushu was born, fusing the flashiest movements of traditional Chinese martial arts with gymnastics floor routine skills that made for an incredible visual spectacle, transforming combative skills into a demonstration sport. While modern wushu hasn't enjoyed the greatest welcome from most traditional kung-fu practitioners, including myself, there are a few more progressive minded individuals who are traditional wushu authorities, like Baltimore, Maryland based Anthony Goh. Goh was among the first to explain to me a decade ago that for Chinese martial arts to become popular, there had to be standardization. By definition, the traditional styles were so numerous that there was almost no possibility of having acceptable levels of standardization in forms competition, even among practitioners of the same style, such as Hung Gar kung-fu. That led to numerous problems in tournament forms competition. Modern wushu was mainland China's answer to all of that confusion. By creating standardized competition forms, judges and athletes alike had a fixed measurement of skill by which to rate competitors. Initially, these forms were just hand forms based on northern long fist, but as time went on, China's panel of wushu authorities and coaches created standardized forms for almost every weapon in the Chinese arsenal, as well as many of the major martial art styles from southern fist (nan quan) to tong bei quan to each of the five major Tai-Chi styles (Yang, Chen, Wu, Wu Yuxiang, and Sun style taiji quan) to the other internal styles like ba gua zhang and Hsing-Yi (xing yi quan). With every passing day around the world, wushu is growing in popularity thanks to cinema superstar Jet Li. Sparring even took on a more standardized approach with the advent of modern Sanshou sparring. Safety gear and rules were introduced to make full-contact matches that included the widest range of combat technique available to the fighters while minimizing the likelihood of serious injury. Fighters were allowed to kick, punch, and throw with maximum force, striking any target other than a joint or vital area such as the throat or back of the head. As dazzling as the forms competitions were to behold, the Sanshou arena brought a new level of raw excitement to international stages, and America's Cung Le was leading the pack with moves that came straight out of a videogame. In the US, no one has made more sacrifice for the advancement of modern wushu than Anthony Goh. Himself an instructor of northern Shaolin kung-fu and Tai-Chi, Goh runs a successful school in Baltimore, Maryland, yet has singularly sacrificed an inordinate amount of time, money, and rigorous effort to advancing American wushu and seeing the sport's inclusion in the Olympic Games. Goh heads the USA Wushu-Kungfu Federation (USAWKF), which is the acting National Governing Body for the sport of Wushu-Kungfu, and is an active decision maker for the International Wushu Federation (IWUF). According to Goh, "After the demonstration and meetings with the IOC President Dr. Rogge, the present Executive Committee and Technical Committee members have made the following proposals: The 8 events to be held in the Olympics Games should Wushu be selected are as follows: 1. Men's Changquan (long fist) 2. Men's Nanquan (southern fist) 3. Men's Daoshu (broadsword) 4. Men's Gunshu (staff) 5. Women's Changquan (longfist) 6. Women's Taijiquan (Tai-Chi) 7. Women's Jianshu (straight sword) 8. Women's Qiangshu (spear)" When asked about the noticeable absence of Sanshou as an event, Goh replied, "In the future, there is a possibility that other Wushu events can be added, but not in 2008 according to the application filed." It is important to note that these eight divisions were proposed by the IWUF and not solely by Goh himself. "This is something we have to do one step at a time," explained Goh. "Even though we want to see the full gamut of wushu events in the Olympics, it's important to get the IOC's approval, or else nothing will happen. We have to follow the proper procedures and move forward diligently to realize this dream of Chinese martial arts in the Olympics. We're going to make it happen." ___________________________ For more information on Olympic wushu and how you can get involved, please visit http://www.usawkf.org
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