A conversation with Master Wang

During the Wu Tao Kuan Celebration I had a chance to speak with Professor Wang Pei Kun from Shanghai.  Professor Wang is the former Chair of the Martial Arts Department at the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education and is ranked 8th Dan in Wushu.  I am always interested in what China is thinking about where Wushu is going.  Professor Wang said he believed that after the Olympics China will need to revise Wushu.  He said there was a lot of resistance from the rest of the world to the direction China is currently trying to steer Wushu.....nandu or difficulties, have reduced modern wushu to gymnastics and acrobatics.  Nanquan he said had become Chang Quan.........and Taiji no longer has any style......it's all is just a mixed bag.  Professor Wang said he had no problems with some of the difficulties in Taiji, but he objected strongly to the fact that you mix yang, chen and wu styles......chen difficulties should remain within the style.  The biggest problem he felt was that we are loosing the connection between contemporary wushu and it's past......it has become excercise and not martial arts...and we are loosing part of our  history and culture. In the past, he said leaders of Wushu were men like Xu Chai.......who was the secretary of China's Wushu Association..........he also awarded me my Wushu Coach's Certificate.......they were Martial Artist and tried very hard to promote contemporary wushu but not separate it from it's traditional roots.  Whereas, the leaders in wushu now are not martial artist, many are bureaucracts or from other sports like gymnastics, ping pong,etc.  So many of the nandu movements have been grafted from other sports like rhythmic gymnastcis and ice skating.  Professor Wang said that Wushu to become an international sport needs to be a sport that everyone can do and not just China.  He said that the biggest problem with wushu is that many of the competitors at the world level have poor basics......they can jump and do the acrobatic moves....but their stances and techniques need a lot of work. 

Professor Wang Pei Kuan in the center with Coach Han Ming Nam, he was Jet Li's Coach in i976 when the China's  National Wushu Team visited the United States during President Nixon's administration.  Professor Wang is one of China's highest ranked Wushu Masters.

For Wushu to become a world sport much more needs to be done.......organization and promotion are very important but also how the sport is organized is so important.......you can look at how Basketball has grown so that now the US has to fight hard to even place in world competition........it is a sport that has penetrated every corner of the world..........not an extreme elite sport enjoyed only by a few.

Finally, wanted to welcome back Ely..............back from the freeways of Southern California....cya in practice!