Seychelles-China cooperation-Wushu performances wow crowds, capture imagination |17 August 2010

Members of the Chinese wushu troupe captured the imagination and wowed the local crowds in two performances on Friday and Saturday at the Palais des Sports.

Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton described the performance as a vivid representation of the energy and goodwill which characterise the nature of cooperation between Seychelles and the People’s Republic of China in the field of culture and sports.

Ministers, high government officials, and members of the diplomatic corps, who included the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Seychelles, Wang Weiguo, were thrilled by the fast-paced and energetic movements involved in wushu.

Full of oriental philosophy and ethical standards, wushu is a form of fighting martial arts. Formerly called ‘martial arts’, ‘guoshu’ and ‘gongfu’, wushu originated in China and is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It does not claim killing, but the ideal of harmony with nature.

Of the 31 members on the troupe who performed here, 24 are karatekas who practise the wushu style.

Among the 33 performances on show over the weekend were the iron fan from southern sects, tumbling fist/boxing, shaolinquan (Cha fist/boxing), wudan sword, drunken sword, piguaquan (chop-hitch fist/boxing), dual broadsword v/s spear, nine section whip, staff combat by three, pudao (long-handed broadsword), and fanziquan (tumbling first/boxing).

                            
 
Competitive wushu is composed of two disciplines: taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring).
The World Wushu Championship is organised every two years. The first was held in Beijing in 1991 and was won by Yuan Wen Qing. Ten more championships have been organised since then, the most recent in 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

Before performing here, the Chinese wushu troupe gave demonstrations in South Africa (August 5-8) and in Angola (August 9-11).

Local karatekas from three schools – Tang Soo Do, Ashihara and Kimura Shukokai – opened the show on both days with high-level demonstrations like board breaking, group kata, individual kata, sparring with swords, kata using dagger and bunkai for ninjushiho.

The visit of the Chinese wushu troupe forms part of the ongoing exchanges between Seychelles and China, and local sport expects to benefit more from its Chinese counterpart in the future.

According to a reliable source, the Chinese government is ready to send coaches here if Seychellois are willing to learn wushu.

It is also reported that the Chinese government is keen on giving two scholarships to Seychellois who wish to learn Chinese wushu.

G. G.