Wushu Notes
So everybody get the word out! I want all you college students to be there! Registration Forms will be available from the official web page as soon as I get back to Berkeley (I'm in D.C. visiting the family right now).
Also, things are still rollin' for the Intercollegiate Wushu Games, keep checkin' for info as it comes!
Also I want to certify that Cung Le didn't hit the Iranian's fighter on the nuts, because he didn't have any!!! I was there, front row, and Cung delivered a front kick to the lower abdomen and the iranian fell into the floor, screaming... Then he stood up and started to fight again. Then Cung gave him a good lowkick to the upper internal thigh and once again the iranian went to the floor screaming, but this time it was for good! You have to know that when you actually get hit there, there's no way you can scream or yelled like that guy did!!Also, Emilio was kind enough to forward us the SanShou results. The country names are in Spanish, but hey, I think we can all figure it out (hey, gimme a break, I'm a busy guy!)
Country-Gold-Silver-BronzeYes, you read correctly, that's Azerbaijian with a silver. I didn't totally erase them because I don't want to censor the facts, but let it be known that no Azerbaijiani SanShou athlete will get anything but scorn on this web page!
Rusia 3 0 1
China 2 2 0
Iran 2 1 1
Kazakhstan 2 0 1
Egipto 1 1 1
Vietnam 1 0 0
Rumania 0 2 1
Filipinas 0 1 2
Espaņa 0 1 1
Taiwan 0 1 1
Tadzikistan 0 1 0
Azerbayan 0 1 0
Italia 0 0 2
Corea 0 0 2
Portugal 0 0 2
Israel 0 0 1
Malasia 0 0 1
Inglaterra 0 0 1
Brasil 0 0 1
Holanda 0 0 1
Estados Unidos 0 0 1
India 0 0 1
OK, aside from finals, I've been also working on the next Intercollegiate Wushu competition. I can't say that its 100% approved yet (our Martial Arts program here at UC Berkeley can be quite picky!) But since the date is coming up, I've started working on things such as reg forms and rules and stuff. The 'official' web site for the collegiate competition is located here. Check it out. More info will be announced as soon as it becomes available.
Hi Raffi and friends!!!!
And just in case you want things easy: click here to go to Luciano's
page, or click
here to go to the World Wushu Championships page.
Here Luciano from Argentina.
I finally put my World Wushu Championships page, with results and some
b&w great photos! Take it a loock if you want, you can go from my home
page at: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/4267
or just go straight: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/6631
it is still under construction, remain a lot of pictures and comments.
Well, I'm think the seal of dissaprobal for the wushu pages in the links
section are quite right!!!
Ok, merry christmas to all of ya, bye.
Luc.
As you may know, last weekend was WKF Nationals. I haven't gotten the news about the results, but I did get a severe chewing out by my dear friend Mae. Apparently certain people interpreted my news report about the US Team's performance in a different way than I meant it. This is would mostly be due to the way I wrote it of course. So don't be thinking Mae was like bad-mouthing people, OK?
For instance the quote 'Luis Diaz "didn't do too bad" in Nan Quan' wasn't meant to sound like "hey, he wasn't completely horrible," it was from me asking Mae on a transcontintental phone line "hey, how did Luis do in Nan Quan?", to which she replied something like , "I don't know, I didn't watch Nan Quan, I think he didn't do too bad" (as in he did pretty decently). OK? you guys see the difference? Its my fault for not correctly quoting Mae. I don't want all kinds of wushu people hating me because of this kind of stuff! (although I think Luis probably hates me already because of that crack I made about his glasses on the Pay-Per-View thing...)
Things are still in the works for collegiates, nothing is set in stone yet, but I am going to be setting up the homepage for it pretty soon. Check this space for more info soon.
Something I did get from Mae since she's been back, was an official world wushu games T-shirt. First let me thank Mae (and Anne and Nathan if they were involved in its procurement too), but I do want to express my aesthetic repulsion to it the logo... quite freaky looking! (its on their website, click here if you want to see it). Still, since it is the WWGames T-shirt, I will wear it, no matter how freaky and big that guy's legs are.
Also Mae informed me that they did break the ties for the top places. So it wasn't an all out medal fest like Baltimore. Opps, but since this isn't like a real newspaper or anything, I can't be expected to be THAT correct all the time.
Also, Nathan was giving us some impressions of the competition, at least on the Men's side. Apparently for broadsword and changchuan, there were upwards of 70 competitors in one division! How the funk do you judge that many people in one division? [according to my instructor, Zhang Hong Mei, they should have divided people into groups depending on skill (say like top 20 people, middle 20, 20 who ain't all that... etc). I guess this is how they do it in China, except I guess that means you have to have two rounds, a prelim and a 'final'] But apparently there was only about 30 guys in straight sword (so if you're planning on competing at the next world championships, you can increase your chances significantly by doing straightsword).
Here's some more info that John Z. Wang put up in the guest book:
Rome results! I saw in a HK paper (in Chinese dated
8 Nov 97) some prelim
results:
In response to John's last comments:
Country (# of gold
medals/silvers/bronzes)
PR China (6/0/0)
Hong Kong (3/4/2)
S Korea (2/1/2)
Vietnam (1/3/4)
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) (1/2/1)
Philippines (1/0/1)
Macau (0/2/0)
Japan (0/1/2)
Singapore (0/1/0)
Malaysia (0/1/1)
Holland (0/0/1)
Vietnam really suprised me with their # of medals - wow. And HK's
so small - where'd they all come from?
Vietnam: That's the word on the street, they're pretty damn good. Nathan
and Tri Nguyen took them shopping in Rome, and apparently
they're pretty nice people too (of course, everyone in wushu is a pretty
nice person, right?)
Hong Kong: Word is that all their people are wushu athletes from the mainland who got to Hong Kong one way or another. Back in the day, it was called 'defecting', nowadays, I don't know what its called. Just as an example, one real famous Nan Quan champ from Guangzhou apparently swam to Hong Kong and was never seen again (because he is hiding or because he drown? -- You decide!)
And the question you've been dying to know the answer to: Lucciano, how
good is he? This is the crux of wushu web pages -- as the creator of this
page, I pretty much could say anything I wanted to about my wushu
ability, and there would be no way of knowing if I was full of it short of
seeing me in person or knowing someone who knows me. Well, I'll dispell
all the myths surround me, and say straight up: I'm not very good :(
BUT, for someone like Lucciano, our wushu web friend from Argentina, we
had no way of knowing (I don't know many Argentinians, do you?) well,
finally, we have verification! Nathan reports: He's pretty good, pretty
clean. -- Did he get a gold in chang chuan? no, I think his idol Yen Wen
Qing probably beat him out for that one, but thats OK, finally we have
answered the Lucciano question. (note: Lucciano doesn't proport himself to
be any kind of super wushu person on his page, we were just dying to know
anyhow).
Firstly, let me say that according to Mae, the whole organization of the whole thing REALLY blows! The events are disorganized, the accomodations suck, etc etc. Mae was telling me that they had three people in one tiny hotel room, and that they needed to take a 1/2 bus ride just to get to the gymnasium. Beyond that, the food sucks, the meals are apparently served like 8 hours apart... not good for an athlete participating in a big time sports event. But apparently the accomodations for the judges are even worse than the athletes'. Mae mentioned something about the judges going on strike because they were upset, but I don't know the details, so I won't comment further at the moment.
But I'm sure you're much more interested in the results. Apparently the results are similar to last World Wushu Games', ie: LOTS of ties. Mae related to me the fact that there were like 2 and 3-way ties for each of the top five places in some categories. Furhtermore, the judges appear as biased as ever, rating certian people WAY higher than they should be. But I suppose thats to be expected?
Mae was hesistant to go into to too much detail about the results. Apparently no one on the US Team had done that great (all the forms competition is over now). Clara Shen managed to get 7th place in woman's straightsword and Tri Nguyen placed fifth in men's straightsword (tied with two other people, and behind about 10 people tied for 1-4). Apparently both Anita Lopez and Clara Shen have been sick, so there performances have been effected by this. But despite that fact, Clara also managed to secure 7th in staff after the top contenders from Japan and Hong Kong fell or made other major errors.
The US Team was not without its mishaps either. Nathan Tong broke his staff, and Mae caught her spear butt on her sash as she was completing her spear routine, but she still managed to place 12th despite this. Luis Diaz "didn't do too bad" in Nan Quan, and apparently Sherng Lee Huang did somewhat decently in Broadsword (although I don't know the places on these).
So did anyone do well? Well apparently our good friend Chan Dae Park of the S. Korean Team scored first place in men's broadsword. The shining star for the US Team appears to be none other than Cung Le! He has easily advanced through his first two matches with quick victories (throwing the guy out the ring three times to end the match, etc). And he has also apparently gotten the opportunity to demonstrate his infamous suplex! The final rounds aren't til tomorrow, so lets all keep our fingers crossed for Cung Le.
Mae wanted me to know that despite the lack of medal success, and all the problems the tournament has been facing, they were all having a really good time, and the level of the competition was really high. She particularly mentioned the Vietnamese, as well as the Macao team and of course the China team.
Thats all the news for now. The next update will be coming home with Nathan on Monday, hopefully I can get more complete scores and what not from him. There also apparently is a video tape, so hopefully we can see first hand what went down.
But while we're waiting, I thought I'd list some results of the very
important 8th All-China games that just went down in Shanghai. Actually,
these aren't complete results, rather just the Beijing Teams' results (but
does anyone else matter?) Anyhow, here it is, as reported by my Amigo and
BJ Team confidant, Patrick Lee:
Han Jing placed 3rd for combined spear/straight sword
Li Jing placed 5th for combined spear/straight sword
Zhou Zher placed 1st for combined broadsword/staff
Yes, Jiang Bang Jun placed 2nd in Chang Chuan to Ren Wen Qing. :(
Li Jing and Li Ying placed 7th for their sparring set.
Kong Xiang Dong placed 2nd in Tai Qi Quan.
Shang Yu placed 4th in Nan Quan.
He Jing De placed 6th in Broadsword/Staff.
Qui Dong Xing placed 8th in Broadsword/Staff.
Ka Li (and ??)'s sparring set placed 8th for their sparring set.
Also, they are also going to Hong Kong sometime in the near
future. And, even better, they *MIGHT* be coming to the US again.
Last night we presented Anne, Mae and Nathan with the money we've
collected so far in our wushu fundraiser. I am proud to say that we gave
them a total of $813! (And mind you, there's about another ~450 that we
haven't even collected yet) It think its a great achievement that we
collected this money, and it really says something about the generousity
of the wushu community! Even though some of are starving students (like
me), newly graduated wushu people, we all dug deep and turned a small
scale fund raiser into a big time success!
Despite the fact that the team members are leavin' tomorrow morn, we
haven't quite shut down the fundraiser just yet! We've been promised
approximately $1200, but that just makes a dent in the estimated $3000
costs of the three athletes! Therefore I'm still accepting contributions,
which will be given to the athletes upon their return, to try and refresh
their dwindelled bank accounts.
Don't fret though, After the fundraising is complete, I will put up a
donor list to thank all of those who chipped in (any amount is
appreciated, even Sherpa's $3).
Anyhow, we're still collecting
money to fund the US Wushu Team for said World Games. We had a potluck
after our practice at the Pacific Wushu Academy last night for our three
classmates Anne, Mae and Nathan. It was quite fun, and I'm proud to have
these 3 guys representing our country in Wushu... too bad they're paying
so much of their own money! (hey, you can still chip in, check out the Wushu Fundraiser Page).
While you're at it. Feel free to call the WKF headquarters, ask to speak
to Anthony Goh himself, and complain about how the WKF is stiffing their
own athletes! (don't you wonder where that $25 every two years goes?) I
am urging everyone to call (410)444-6666 to complain to the boss
himself! (Mr. Goh, if you're reading this, feel free to email me your side
of the story, since I'm a fair minded guy).
The second annual collegiate wushu championships are still in the planning
stages, we'll be putting out the info as soon as it concrete.
Despite my excoriating article, it seems like the people at TC media are
doing something right, they are donating uniforms and shoes to the US
Wushu Team for the World championships. I wanted to bring this fact to
everyone's attention, wish more companies were this responsible (if only
their magazines were better).
And lastly, if you're as fumed about the WKF's bad handling of the US
Team, I encourage you to write to them at their email address: WKF. EXCEPT this email address
apparently is just the email address of some dude at Towson U, not really
at WKF headquarters or anything, AND it doesn't apparently work... so in
otherwords, they don't really want you to email them... But you can at
least check out their partially completed Web Page.
Secondly, on a more positive note, the World Wushu Games are coming up,
I just found out that our friends at the IWuF - The International Wushu
Federation (why is that 'U' in there anyway?), have a nice little intro in
their
IWUF News webpage, click to check it out.
Thirdly, this past weekend, almost my entire wushu class at the Pacific
Wushu Academy went to Great America, an amusement park in San Jose,
and guess who else happened to be there? None other than the elusive Ace
Wong, who managed to kick all of our butts at Laser Tag! Pictures
are forthcoming, so stay tuned.
Also in wushu news, the latest issue of Wushu-Kung Fu, the TC Media
DTP nightmare (please assasinate the guy who does the graphics for this
MAG!) There was an article about women wushu athletes, featured in it were
my good friend Anne Hsu and my dear friend Mae Hsu, both of whom are on
the US Team competing at the World Wushu Games in Italy in Nov. Anyway,
from what I understand, this article has numerous factual errors that can
only be blamed on bad journalism. As I have not personally seen the
article yet, I will not comment further. I plan on buying it and
reading it in detail, then coming here to the wushu notes page and
throughly trashing it. So check back here soon!
"But wait a second Raffi, didn't the WKF put up like $3 million bucks
for the last World Wushu Games? Can't they afford 8 or 9 measily plane
tickets to Italy?"
Well, one would think that they could, but apparently they are too lame
to...
"Isn't it kind of unfair to expect the athlete to pay their own way in
order to represent the illustrious USAWKF at the world
championships?"
Why yes, yes it is unfair. You would think with the two years between
world championships, they'd have saved up a little bit of cash. (unless
they spent it all on the Pan American Wushu Games. But I sincerely
hope not.
"Hey, speaking of fundraising, didn't the WKF region 8 have a totally
expensive banquet last week? I thought it was like full, where'd all the
money go?"
My sources tell me that despite the fact that they charged $25 a head, and
despite the fact that they had a full room (at least 100-200 people),
somehow they managed to lose money! (something about a table full
of flag wavers that may or may not have paid, as well as perhaps general
monetary incompetance).
"Is there anything WE as concerned wushu people can do to help?"
I'm sure Mae, Anne and Nathan would be willing to accept charitable
donations. If anyone wants to donate money on their behalf, feel free to
email me and we can arrange
something.
Liu Qing Hua cleaned house, getting 1st in Chuang Chuan an 1st for
combined spear/straight sword.
(New Beijing Team member)
(Li Jing got 4th for straight sword, 5th for spear)
(New Beijing Team member, also going to World's in Italy)
10/31/97
- Happy Halloween Everybody
We'll, they're packin' off tomorrow morning to go to Rome, are you as
excited as I am? Last nights' practice was pretty awesome, my local three
US Team members were kickin' some ASS! They're going to tear through the
rest of the world's wushu athletes in Rome! Competition starts on
Tuesday, and you know Raffi's Wushu Page is getting the
exclusive scoop on this! I plan on being the first web person to
put up the results, so check back OFTEN! (email me if you want me to
email you when I get the results up!). Lets all wish all of the US Team
good luck!
I especially want to thank our friend Ho Young Pak, of the National
Martial Arts Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico for his help. He was an
old friend of Anne and Mae's from back in the day, and when he found out
that we were running this fundraiser, he didn't hesitate to contribute.
I'd put up his logo and web page, but I don't think he has a web page, and
therefore I can't steal his logo.gif from there. I'll see what I can do
and try to add it in right here:(if you see a picture right here, its
because I went back and stuck one in after I typed this).
10/29/97
Its only 3 more days til our US Team members leave us for Rome, but our
fundraising efforts are just kicking into high gear! We've collected in
excess of $600 as of today, with several hundred more still coming! Who
would have thought that a little ol' fundraiser amongst wushu pals could
be this successful! (To think, that originally I was thinking that like
$200 would be a good goal!) A large part of thanks goes to our one and
only business sponsor (to date),
!
Since they are a company, I feel they are entitled to a little bit of
'free' advertising for their help. The rest of us individuals did it just
out of kindness ;)
10/24/97 Anticipation is running high for the upcoming
world wushu games in Rome. I was surfin' around and I came across what I
think is the 'official' web site of the games. It is not very impressive,
except for their cool logo.
You can check
out the page at Artimarziali.it.
But it seems to be all in Italian. :(
10/20/97
Its less than two weeks til the world Wushu games start, but we're still
running our fundraiser, its not too late to pledge money to help offset
our US team's travel expenses.
10/15/97
If you did't notice, check out the fundraiser
we're running to help raise money to send 3 of the west coast members of
the US wushu team to the world championships in Rome. Also, don't forget
to check out my newly updated Beijing Wushu Team
Picture Page, its awesome!
10/3/97
Firstly, the moment you have all been waiting for, my cover-to-cover
review of the nightmare that is the Oct/Nov Issue of Wushu Kung Fu
9/27/97
I got some feedback about my previous entry (the one right below this!)
One of my sources (who will remain namless), wanted me to point out the
fact that not only is the WKF not paying for the plane ticket, the
athletes also have to pay their own way all the other expenses on this
entire endevour (hotel, food, local transportation, etc etc). So in
reality its going to be costing each of our athletes like at least $1000
each for this trip (the aforementioned honor of representing the WKF in
world competition).
9/24/97
As you may or may not know, it has recently been revealed that the WKF,
the governing body of wushu in America (who's name should be changed to
"We Kan't
Fundraise")
will not be able to provide transportation or even subsidize
transportation for the US Wushu Team to travel to the upcoming world
championships!
Click here to view more past installments
of Raffi's Wushu News.
Send feedback to
raffi@beijingwushuteam.com
