US kungfu federation wants to spread the gospel of wushu

For the first time in more than 30 years, the United States of America Wushu Kungfu Federation is turning its eyes toward the public's participation in Chinese martial arts.

From August 22-24, the federation is hosting its inaugural International Kungfu and Taiji Festival in Houston, offering an extraordinary lineup of world-renowned masters from various disciplines for the public to learn and participate.

"We have been traditionally focusing on the competitive aspect of wushu since the federation was established in 1992. We always try to be faster and stronger, to get on the international stage and to try to enter the Olympics," Anthony Goh, president of the federation, said in an interview with China Daily in early July.

"In doing so, we have ignored the cultural aspect of traditional wushu, and we want to change that," said Goh, who was in Houston to check out the preparation of the festival.

Chinese martial arts, kungfu, wushu — the names have been interchangeably used in the past century to include more than 100 types of such practice. Each has a focus on different element including internal and external kungfu, animal style, weapon specification and more.

The federation has focused on training professional members and helping them to compete at the World Wushu Championship every two years as well as other regional competition events in America, Europe and Asia. It also helps organize local wushu competitions within the United States.

There are many branches in wushu, and many of them are not suitable for competition, Goh said.

"The true essence of wushu is not for competition but for personal cultivation, health and fitness. It's a public sport, and we want to bring that aspect of wushu back at the federation," Goh said.

While wushu has enjoyed a long history in the US, the explosive growth began from 2000 onward when many talented professional Chinese wushu masters, athletes and coaches immigrated to the US.

Many of them continued their profession and opened wushu schools across the US. The cities with more Chinese population attracted more such talent. "We have the largest number of Chinese wushu athletes and coaches in the world outside of China," Goh said.

According to Poidata, an online data platform, there are more than 1,400 Kungfu schools dedicated specifically to Chinese martial arts. They are present in all 50 states, but are more concentrated in California, New York, Texas and Florida.

That's not a big number considering that there are over 35,000 martial arts schools across different styles.

"Chinese martial arts is the crystallization of wisdom of generations. It's a cultural treasure practiced by the masses in China. We want it to be more available in the US," Goh said.

With the Kungfu and Taiji Festival, Goh said that the federation hopes to provide a platform for all the Chinese martial arts schools to come together to share their experiences and to have a place called "home".

"So that all the school coaches won't feel that they are doing this alone by themselves, we will provide programs to help the masters and coaches to better develop their business and realize their dreams, to give them recognition and encouragement," Goh said.

He said the federation is also developing a rank system similar to the belt system for students to develop their skills and make progress. A certificate program for coaches is also underway.

There are numerous well-known martial arts masters in the US, Goh said, and more than 30 of them will converge on Houston in August, offering a wide array of classes.

Healthy lifestyles and acupuncture will also be incorporated into the festival, according to Goh. "Chinese martial arts, health, acupuncture, they are interconnected in Chinese culture. Many Americans are interested in those traditions and we hope to make it more popular than it is."

"This will be a public event, and anyone is welcome," Goh said.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com