First Wushu Event of the Year

Disney and Tiger Claw have announced their schedule of tournaments for 2008 that will be part of their search for the best of the best, resulting in the Disney's Martial Arts Festival in Orlando on Oct 24.  The very first leg of the competition will start on Feb 15 at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.  Keep in mind my interest of course is wushu, but Disney is searching for the best in a variety of martial arts.....TKD, Karate, Kajukenbo, Taijiquan, Traditional Kung-fu, and Wushu.  This is a greatt opportunity to get recognition for your art and to get publicity for yourself.  7 of the winners from the first year of the Disney Tiger Claw Elite Events received contracts to be in a Disney production........that's pretty good!!  For Wushu to gain popularity and sponsorship...it has to get out into the mainstream for people to identify it.  One of the main reasons it was not able to be entered into the Olympics this year is precisely that Wushu has very little visibility and publicity. China has done a good job in Asia...but in America  it has very little impact still......most of American Wushu Athletes are completely unknown.  So if you want to help promote wushu and get it that recognition you need to support the event and get people to compete.  And this is important to keep in mind as the sport grows it needs to have everyone support it's events and help grow them.  My role in these events is to help Disney and Tiger Claw run the events and to help get qualified judges.  That is another aspect that needs working on...to have any kind of national sport we need to train more judges....not just get someone in the stands to help out......wushu still does not have a core of professional judges.  Can you imagine having an NFL football game and just getting the referees from the stadium on the day of the game?  With Disney's support I hope at some point in the future this can happen......they can help pay for judges and their training........but one step at a time.  So those of you interested in the promotion of Wushu please join me in Disneyland!! 

Finally, I am hoping also in the future that Disney will take this event to the next level.....international competition, since they already have the venues.........so one year we could have the finals in HK, Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai when it gets built.........To get Disney to consider this we have to put together a great product with high level competitors and lots of support from the wushu community.  I know that there are many in the wushu community that are skeptical...but the truth is if wushu remains a poorly funded and disorganized sport ...it will go nowhere.  You cannot find a bigger supporter than Disney...........they control the media and have a multinational reach.........that reaches into every corner of the globe.  Ok,so please check it out!!