According to incomplete statistics, there are nearly 200 million people around the world practicing Wushu. Founded in 1990 the International Wushu Federation has members spreading across five continents, nearly 120 countries and regions and it was officially recognized by the International Olympic committee in 2002. The international Wushu tournament has been held six times biennially by the IWF since 1991.
If a sport wants to be the Olympic event it must apply to the International Olympic Committee 7 years ahead. To meet the standards of application the sport should have associations in at least 75 countries or regions, offering fair rules for competition and judgment and without sexual discrimination, which just coincide with Wushu’s characteristics. But the standards also set requirements for the coverage area of TV live broadcast, the ticket revenue and the sponsors. Further, the International Olympic Committee is simplifying the Olympic events; the London Olympic events have been reduced from 28 to 26.
Actually, Wushu is just a general name for 130 schools of boxing and other styles of martial art. Since different school has different competitive rules it is hard to judge in terms of quantized standards.
Also at present, Wushu isn’t very popular in most countries and regions. More specifically Wushu is an indefinite notion in China, which not only includes competitive ideas but also the traditional elements such as Confucianism, philosophy and health preservation. Most foreigners have no idea about Wushu; they just unconsciously relate it with the Kungfu stars Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan, but actually Wushu is not just fighting. Due to the rarity of books about Wushu, it is usually taught by word and deed and costs a couple of years to train the basic movements, which easily make the students give up halfway.
All of these make Wushu a tough task for application.
Email to Friends
Print
Save