What is Wushu?
Wushu is a generic term that refers to all the different kinds of Chinese martial arts. Wushu is an integral part of Chinese cultural heritage, a product of several millennia of development that combines martial arts, health preserving exercises, performance and sportive activities, and many more elements. Upon the establishment ...
Instructor
Emilio Alpanseque （恩米） is a 5th Degree Wushu Master by the Chinese Wushu Association, with over 25 years of training, he has pursued his Wushu career with passionate determination and exceptional commitment. His extensive experience as a successful international competitor, former Spanish National Team athlete, qualified judge and dedicated writer ...
Classes
General Information There are no hidden costs, registration fees or expensive uniforms. Just show up 5 minutes before the start of the class wearing loose comfortable clothing and light weight indoor tennis shoes. I. Class Title: Wushu Foundation Wushu Foundation classes are excellent for beginners and new students, but also mandatory for intermediate ...
Galleries
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Considered one of the best in the world, the prestigious Beijing Wushu Team just toured the San Francisco Bay Area this month presented by Pacific Wushu, the Stanford Martial Arts Program and the Tiger Claw Foundation.
The team’s history is legendary. It has consistently dominated national and world championship events for many years, also producing a number of famous action movie stars such as Jet Li, who trained on the team from an early age.
Watching their performances, as well as having the opportunity to practice with some of them, was a great way to kick off our ‘Year of the Dragon’ here at East Bay Wushu.
East Bay Wushu students practicing with members of the team.
Wang Zhenwei, who had a supporting role in Jackie Chan’s The Karate Kid (2010), is a current member of the team.
Beijing Wushu Team member Jia Yi teaching Nanquan.
School News by .
Jan 12
1
Happy 2012!!!
New Year, New Schedule, Same Price!
We now hold Wushu and Taijiquan classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays!
To learn more about our new schedule visit our Classes page.
Sep 11
25
How to do a Butterfly Twist
As you run forward, execute a counter-clockwise body turn and quick hop backwards on your right leg.
Begin to swing your arms in front of your body. Assume a right bow stance and swing both arms and your upper body downward, to the left and forward while switching your right bow stance into a horse stance first and later into a left bow stance right before takeoff.
As your head comes up again and all your weight goes to your left leg, swing the right leg upward forcefully while the left leg straightens and pushes off from the ground.
Swing up your right straightened leg over horizontal level, toes pointed back, and immediately follow with your left leg, assuming a straight body position in midair.
Bring your arms to the chest and begin a counter-clockwise twisting motion with the upper body. The twisting action must be quick with the body aligned horizontally, the legs straight and toes always pointed.
Watch U.S. Wushu Team Member Brenda Hatley as she goes through the motions:
Special Tips: Keep the chest out and the head up. Make use of the inertia of the initial body turn and hopping step to increase the height of your jump. The landing can be done on the left foot, the right foot or both feet depending on the rotation desired and the technique that follows the jump.
And last but not least, let’s enjoy a video of Beijing Wushu team athlete Wang Xi demonstrating all the steps explained before. (Video courtesy of www.wushuzilla.com)
Wushu 101 by .
(Text: EastBayWushu.com Photo: Lesley Chan)
Geng Xiaoling of HKG during Women’s Changquan at the 16th Asian Games in 2010.
Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board meeting at the 123rd IOC session in Durban, South Africa, announced the eight sports shortlisted for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. From all of the candidates – Climbing, Baseball, Karate, Roller Sports, Softball, Squash, Wakeboard and Wushu – only one will be included in the Games. The IOC Program Commission will be studying intensively each sport and the battle for the single spot is going to be fierce without a doubt.
While Climbing and Wakeboard are newcomers to the Olympic movement, the other sports have already attempted and have been denied a spot in program before, Wushu since the Beijing Games in 2008; Squash, Karate, and Roller Sports since the London Games in 2012. The early front-runners appear to be Baseball and Softball as both were already Olympic disciplines before and enjoy the backing of huge sponsor firms.
Whether or not Wushu will make the cut remains to be seen. We could start by identifying some of the leading factors that the IOC will use to decide which sport and see how Wushu stands respectively. According to the IOC bylaws, these are the five main requirements:
1) To have an international federation that governs the sport, sets and enforces rules, organizes tournaments and other duties. The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) is that organization, founded in Beijing in 1990.
2) To be practiced in at least 40 countries in three continents in case of female sports or in at least 75 countries in four continents in case of male sports. Wushu is equally practiced by male and female. Currently, the IWUF has a total of 144 countries and regions in the five continents as follows: Africa [33], America [22], Asia [38], Europe [46] and Oceania [5].
3) To demonstrate the ability to successfully organize large scale continental and world competitions. The list of international large scale competitions organized by the IWUF since 1991 includes: World Wushu Championships, World Junior Wushu Championships, World Traditional Wushu Championships and the Sanshou World Cup.
4) To be a sport recognized by the IOC. The IWUF received provisional recognition at the 109th IOC Session in 1999 and gained official recognition at the 113th IOC Session in 2002. Apart from that, Wushu has been an official sport in many important IOC related events such as: the Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games, the East Asian Games, the SportAccord Combat Games, the World Games, the World Children’s Games, and most recently it has been added to the South American Games program.
5) To comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) anti-doping code. The IWUF signed the Drug Testing Service Agreement with WADA in December of 2001.
As we can see, the competition routines of Wushu, apart from being an exciting event with tremendous cross-over appeal, clearly meet all the IOC requirements and therefore should be also considered as one of the strong candidates to be accepted into the sports program for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. For this to happen, Wushu would need to be voted by a 2/3 majority of IOC members at the 125th IOC Session in 2013, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Certainly, IWUF and its members worldwide will double their efforts towards common goals of development and promotion, and hence the Olympic dream may become a reality one day. After all, with such a rich content and growing popularity, there is no reason why Wushu shouldn’t become one of the better recognized martial art based sport disciplines in the world and a proud member of the Olympic family.
Here is a copy of the official letter received by IWUF
