Tai Chi: The 9th Hong Kong Wushu International Championships 2011
Wow...What a Journey!
Below is a personal report of competitors from the Golden Lion tai chi kung fu academy in Berwick, Rowville, Murrumbeena Australia who won a total of 21 medals in the recent 9th Hong Kong Wu Shu International Championships 2011.
It was in late October 2010 that I saw the tai chi entry form for the 1st time, thinking to myself “are you mad… you have retired from competitions”, but in the back of my mind the voices were telling me that I knew I would love the training in the lead up and that Hong Kong was a place I wanted to see! So, it was time to organise the flights, entry forms, accommodation and tai chi wu shu uniforms, etc and begin the hard training straight away with not much of a break over Christmas. Most of us had entered into 3 events which we had not done before, usually we only enter into 2 events, so we had an extra challenge ahead of us just to keep us on our toes. So with the hard training underway, the massages & osteopath appointments booked, I was trying to relax the muscles and put everything back into place in order to get ready for the challenge ahead. Training 5 days a week, trying to get fit, working full time and keeping hubby happy was going to be a stretch. We had heard that there were 55 countries with 3,000 athletes attending the competition....WOW ! Thursday 10th March SuSu was the taxi to the airport; with her Son Tom, Si Jie Anja, myself and 4 large suitcases, backpacks and neck pillows, not sure how they all fitted into the trusty Jeep but the door seem to close ok, thanks to my hubby Wayne’s Tetris style packing. After a quick drive to the airport, we all gathered at the check in counter ready for our flight with Cathay which left at 12.45am (Friday morning). Friday 11th March It was a very long night… about 7.5 hrs to Kula Lumpar then a 4 hour stop over (as our flight was delayed for 2 hrs.) before we went on to Hong Kong…. another 4 hrs flying. We finally got to the hotel Panda around 5.00pm, and thanks to Michael, our keys had been sorted and each member of the Team was given a welcome souvenir pack. We were all so very tired, but had enough energy and excitement left to look through the competition schedule (599 pages) to find out when our events were on, and if we had been entered under the correct events. That night we had been invited by the other Australian Team to join them for dinner which was fantastic after which we crashed.....except for Gemma who could not sleep. Saturday 12th March I had organised everyone to meet at reception at 9.00am to travel in order to the wu shu stadium where we were to compete in tai chi the next day, and to get a look and feel at where we were competing. It was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel, and somehow, somewhere, we picked up an extra person… Olga from Russia who didn’t speak much English but I think she wanted to go to the same place and didn’t know where to go, so we adopted her and she walked with us to the stadium. On arrival we saw that it was kid’s competition day they were all competing and were great to watch. Seeing 8 year old boys doing the 42 sword….AMAZING!! I remember it being very warm in the stadium and thinking that it was going to be a very long day of competing for us tomorrow, there was no food, no drink, no change rooms and nowhere to hang your silks. On the way back to the hotel we managed to find a pastry shop for a quick snack which had the best egg tarts, (good training food of course) they went down a treat! After we got back to the hotel we went straight up to the roof top by the pool to get in some last minute training for an hour or so. It was so hot on the roof and the tiles were quiet slippery which was not ideal however, we had to make do. Then off to Yum Cha for Lunch in the hotel….yummy! After lunch we ventured out and found ourselves in a couple of martial art stores in Hong Kong where we found some good bargains to be had. Then on to dinner at a restaurant within our hotel complex which soon became our favourite eatery. After a quick trip to a supermarket to buy some supplies for the next day, we headed back to our room for the traditional ironing of the silks ceremony which always seems to take place in my room ...with myself and Si Jie SuSu doing most of the ironing! Then off to bed.....not much sleep to be had that night ...and again no sleep for poor Gemma!!! Sunday 13th March – “COMPETITION DAY” Alarm went off at 6.00am...SO TIRED...breakfast at 6.30am...didn’t feel like eating, left at 7.00am as there were too many people waiting for the bus and we needed to register by 8.00am for a 9.00am start, we decided to walk to the stadium again (in our silks) as there were no change rooms at the stadium- only toilets. We arrived at the stadium and, to my horror, in all my competition experience I had never seen a competition in so much KAOS! People were yelling (in Chinese) at one and other, pushing in, there didn’t seem to be one registration point but many, UNBELIEVABLE! So we registered at every point we could just to be sure we had all events covered, remember, everyone was tired, anxious, didn’t speak the language and didn’t need the stress. But for some strange reason we found ourselves laughing at the pandemonium...go figure? Because we got there nice and early we managed to secure some seating, (there wasn’t many) and there weren’t any lockers or places to store our gear, so we had to take turns in watching our belonging’s all day (one more hassle we didn’t need). There were 4 competition mats in total which we couldn’t get on to in the morning in order to get a feel for the pile which is really challenging to balance on, so we had to take our chances with it. We all competed in the morning session with all of us receiving medals… WOW!!! After lunch we headed back out on the floor for the afternoon tai chi session, really starting to feel it now, lack of sleep and it was hot, but we all received more medals. The consensus was to go for a walk to get some fresh air and to find some real food for dinner, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a coke… this is China after all. Then back to the stadium for some more fighting to register resulting in more medals!!!! A big congratulations must go to Jason for his wu shu kung fu performance of the day with his Pudao....WOW! Not sure how we got through our tai chi routines as well as we did, but I think our focus and training were the key. It was now 10.30pm and we had won 21 medals for 21 events...we couldn’t believe it! The sound of them all clinking around our necks was deafening as we made time for some Golden Lion happy snaps with all our medals and some of our new friends. We then packed up and walked to the bus, as by this time it was 11.00pm we were all numb and completely exhausted…we had been at the stadium for about 15 hours! We then went straight to our new favourite restaurant, had something to eat and then back to our room’s, don’t really remember my head hitting the pillow, lot’s of zzzzzzzzz’s happening straight away...except for Gemma still not much sleep! Our competition tally:Si Jie Anja Weise
Fan:Gold, 42 Sword: Silver, 42 Bare hands: Bronze Si Jie Darlene Beauchamp
Wudang Sword: Gold, 42 Sword: Bronze, Yang 40: Gold Kheng Lau
Sabre: Gold, 32 Sword:Gold, Sun Style: Gold Gemma Walsh
42 Bare hands: Bronze, 24 Barehands: Bronze, Sabre: Gold Jason Keane
Nan Quan: Silver, Pudao: Silver Michael Dobrunz
Sun 73: Gold, Yang 40: Gold, 42 Sword: Gold Monday 14th March We slept into about 8.00am and met for breakfast around 9.00am as we had another big day of ahead of us. We walked to the L’Hotel Nina where the tournament was still on, and got the free bus to the other stadium to experience more events. After lunch we caught the train into Monkok to the ladies market (amazing railway system, and great market) by this time we were all so exhausted we got the train home and had some dinner as we needed to get ready for the bus which took us to the closing ceremony. They put on a fantastic show of competitors from all walks of life, ranging from 3 year olds to a 93 year old who was amazing! Then back to our hotel, where we all met in our room for a last get together before we started departing for home or further travels. We partied hard that night with cups of tea, chocolate & biscuits to celebrate our successes. Then off to sleep and yes, you guessed it… everyone except for Gemma, still not much sleep. Tuesday 15th March It was really sad to see Jason & Michael depart for home as we still wanted to celebrate, but it was time for the rest of us to do some more sightseeing, so off to the Big Budda we went taking in the amazing views until the weather turned on us and we couldn’t see the person standing next to us… it was quiet scary. We had enough left in us to then go to Kowloon to see the laser show over the harbour followed by dinner and then on to the night market. I remember looking at everyone during that night and we all had the biggest black rings under our eyes, Gemma obviously won the award for the biggest & darkest. I would also like to give a special mention to Kheng for having soooooo much slept, as every time we sat down somewhere Kheng was asleep! We finally hit the pillows at 1.00am. Wednesday 16th March Tai Chi Si Jie Anja, Kheng & Gemma were finishing packing before they had to leave, not sure how my room buddy Si Jie Anja actually closed her case! It was so sad to see the girls leave, we all had such a good time and soooo many laughs together. The taxi driver couldn’t close the boot with the cases and weapons...so he had to strap the boot lid down, very funny. SuSu, Tom & I stayed for another couple of days sightseeing ….and shopping of course. In summary The Golden Lion’s (tai chi, wu shu, kung fu) standard was right up there with the best of the schools that competed from around the world. On behalf of the Golden Lion Team I would like to thank all the Masters who gave their time and patience to the Team, and I would also like to say a big thank you to the students and instructors for their encouragement along the way, this means so much. A special thank you to Tom Rule our team photographer and bag watcher, and lastly I would like to thank the members of our team, whom I was so proud to be part of such a wonderful group of people, it was a pleasure to be the team manager. Everyone did the very best they could, and not one person came off the floor unhappy with their performance. Not only did they show a high level of performance on the floor, but they showed so much professionalism off the floor as well. Considering we were all so tired, I think most of us ticked the "8 Golden Lion qualities" in Hong Kong. For those students who are thinking of competing in tai chi or kung fu (wu shu), talk to your masters and to those who have experienced competitions. It is not a path for everyone, but it can be an amazing journey. Si Jie Darlene Beauchamp
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