Longfei Taijiquan Association of Great Britain

The Wushu Championships
Longfei News Letters - Volume 5, Issue 3

The Wushu Championshiops by Andrew Austin

The 7th World Wushu Championships were held in Macao, China in November of 2003 and were host to 56 countries. Becky Sargent and myself were representing Great Britain in the Taiji categories. We were both to perform the 42-step Combined Taijiquan Form and the 42-step Straight Sword Routine.

Once at the Emperor's Hotel (rather fitting I think), we had 20 minutes' rest before walking to the nearby stadium. There we could get accustomed to the thick Wushu rugs we would later be performing on.

The short walk to the stadium created a buzz of excitement as we absorbed our new surroundings, where we would live for the next week. The streets had a certain stench and the air was heavily polluted, but it all seemed to add to the experience.

Once inside both nerves and excitement set in as we saw the other teams. We stopped in disbelief for a moment as we witnessed clouds of pollution drifting across the stadium ceiling. But, no time to waste! After a quick warm up and several practice runs we settled into competition mode. All focus is now on competing - and of course . . . food!

The opening ceremonies began with the longest speeches ever! After the dragon dance, 200 children from a nearby school put on a spectacular display of Shaolin and Wushu arts. As they charged onto the arena in their yellow silks you could almost feel the adrenaline of the 2,000 strong audience. Taiji followed comprising 150 men and women, followed by push hands and then Taiji fans, all of which were beautifully choreographed.

Our long, hard preparations came to a head when they called our names over the speakers . . . "Andrew Austin, Great Britain." Time seemed to stand still as I waited for the commencing whistle. Then, 6 minutes later, it was all over. "Great Britain, final score . . ." All attention was then diverted to the sword event the following day. The final results were issued shortly after the competition and were as follows:

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