Singapore National Wushu Competition looks set to ignite the martial art sport. (Photo:SSC)
A haul of 19 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games medals over the last ten years, which included a gold medal in each of those five games; add another two Asian Games bronze medals from 2002 and 2006 and you have quite a good return for one of Singapore’s non-elite sports over the past decade.
Yet Wushu still falls short in terms of following as compared to the glamour sports in Singapore like Football, Swimming and Table Tennis. Maybe it is because Wushu is still not recognised as a full-fledged official Olympic sport, despite Beijing hosting a Wushu competition parallel to the 2008 Olympic Games. Or maybe they are just not selling the fact that Hollywood action star Jet Li originally gained fame as part of the wushu team that took the National Wushu Champion of China title five times.
Wushu, which when directly translated means martial art, deserves much more attention seeing how there are legions of kungfu movie followers in Singapore. And between the 24 to 29 May, these fans will get the chance to watch the best Wushu exponents in the country display their moves when the Singapore National Wushu Competition returns after a two year break. The event will be held at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
“The competition gives us a chance to expose ourselves to competition in front of a large crowd,” said defending Team Singapore SEA Games gold medallist Tao Yi Jun. “It will allow us to get more used to the competition feel before the 2011 Sea Games.”
Team Singapore selectors will also be on the watch for any new medal hopefuls that might show up at the national competition.
“We will be scouting for new talents,” said Eric Ng, who is the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation Wushu sub-committee chairman. “We’ll hold selection trials in June for new potential athletes for the SEA Games and then send the selected ones overseas for a month’s training to prepare.”
If that already gets you excited about catching the event, we have compiled a little summary of the aspects of competitive Wushu, which many branches can appear a little complex to the rookie fan.
First, there is the Sanshou, the sparring aspect to the sport which bears similarities to other combat sports like Taekwondo and Karate, where exponents fight within weight classes. Simple enough, but then there is the Taolu portion, which involves martial art patterns and manoeuvres.
Taolu events are further split into three distinct styles, the slow and relaxed movements of the Taijiquan, the vigorous and yet intricate hand movements of the Nanquan, whose name is derived from its origins in southern China and the Changquan, the long-range extended fighting styles which is a real test of one’s flexibility and athleticism.
“I think Changquan is more difficult with all jumps and is more expeditious in execution,” said Fung Jin Jie of his particular discipline. “It is also more graceful in its movements and certainly requires more flexibility.”
The first year Victoria Junior College student was only sixteen when he won the silver in 2009 Vientiane Games in Laos in the Men’s Duilian - Barehand event with Samuel Seah and Jaryl Tay. He will be aiming to do one better this time around at the Palembang Games in November, while Yi Jun will be looking to once again claim gold for herself.
“(Koh) Poh Chin, (Tay) Yu Juan and myself are still together in the team and we are hoping to defend this title,” said the diminutive Yi Jun, whose forte in the individual events is in Taijiquan.
“It’s very beautiful and is the only Taolu to be prerformed to music, so I guess it makes it better for girls,” she further explains. “It’s more calm and handsome in its movements because of the contrast of its slow and fast movements.”
Both Yi Jun and Jin Jie won Singapore’s two medals at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos in the team event or Duilian, which is usually a dual event displaying spectacularly choreographed actions using bare-hands or sometimes even weapons, depending on the category.
The sport is not short of new practitioners, with many already showing much promise. In April 2011, Singapore’s national Wushu squad saw four of its young exponents, Young Yi Xiang, Fung Hui Xin, Etienne Lee and Ho Lin Ying, awarded the Singapore Sports Awards 2011 Sportsboy/Sportsgirl Meritorious Award for Individuals.
“My sister Hui Xin is among the winners,” said Jin Jie. “They thoroughly deserved it because they won gold at a world competition when the World Junior Wushu Championships was held here in Singapore last December.”
“Our younger generation have a bright future and I hope they will carry on in our footsteps to do Singapore proud,” Jin Jie added.