Martial Arts Kung Fu Wu Shu China 2010 Competition: Golden Lion students selected and Sifu Steeve Kiat National Assistant Coach

A few of our members are about to leave for China to represent our club so it is an opportunity to wish these students triumphant success.

Photo Left to right: Trace O’Rourke (Southern Broadsword), Julius Ting (Three Ancestors Bare hands), Jason Keane (Pu Dao).

This year, the 4th World Traditional Wushu Chinese Martial Arts Championships will be held at the famous Taoist Mountain-Wu Dang in Shiyan City, China from the 16th to the 20th of October 2010. Selection to such a prestigious martial arts competition doesn’t come easily and competitors need to provide a DVD of their forms to the Australian Team selectors who decide whether they are up to the standard required to compete on the world stage and worthy for Australian Team selection. We celebrate in this accomplishment that they have indeed been selected and that three committed students who have trained consistently and regularly for many years will represent our club. Julius Ting, Jason Keane and Trace O’Rourke epitomize our elite members; those students who are unfailing and determined in their training regimes, thus achieving consistent grading success and personal improvement.

Our arrival to the Golden Lion martial arts academy differs for each of us. Some arrive as a child and stay through their teenage years. Others begin once they are in the workforce or look for a new sport in their thirties, often tired of their old regime. Some, even in their forties, fifties and sixties, are looking for a change or might have been away from a regular fitness routine for some time and want that new pursuit to reinvigorate themselves.

Julius Ting has been training in the martial arts of kung fu for sixteen years. Like a few of our members, he left for a while to pursue other interests but was lured back as he found it such a great way to build fitness. He has now been a part of this club for around 16 years and continually finds the challenge of learning something new and complicated still so rewarding. At Rowville, we’re lucky enough that he instructs some of the classes because not only does he enjoy and take pleasure in seeing people extend themselves, he sees students reach goals beyond their own original perception of their limits as well as achieving their potential.

Jason Keane arrived in his early twenties after a recommendation from another student. He thought he’d just ‘give it a shot’ and was looking for a way to combine fun with fitness. But liking it as much as so many of us do, he stayed. Last year in June 2009, after several years of continuous training, he completed his black belt. He began Wushu classes in 2005 and clearly remembers being the student at the back but is now a part of a group of proficient athletes who can do that elusive butterfly kick and those intricate routines. Within months he was competing and has continued to compete yearly. Martial arts competition provides a way to “better himself” and helps him improve in both Kung Fu and Wushu classes in general, particularly he says, in the area of technique, forms and endurance. Trace agrees.

For Trace O’Rourke, martial arts was something she had always wanted to learn since she was younger, but it wasn’t until she was much older that the opportunity came up and the timing was right for her. She joined Golden Lion in 2006 participating first in Tai Chi classes but soon afterwards, Kung Fu caught her eye and she started to attend both classes. Her first Chinese martial arts competition was in 2007 and she has been competing yearly ever since. She is very much looking forward to competing in Shiyan, which she expects to be a completely different experience to the competitions held at home. Her aim is to make sure she has fun and to do the best she possibly can when she is on the floor.

So what exactly is Wushu? Wushu is Chinese for “Martial Arts”. From a Chinese perspective, anything involving martial arts from China is called ‘Wushu’. In China, “traditional Wushu” as we call it, where schools teach the different types of styles dating back hundreds of years is actually called “Kung Fu” which translates to “skill over time”. “Competitive Wushu”, also known as “modern Wushu” where athletes compete in Wushu events in forms (talou) is simply known as ‘Wushu’ in the west. The traditional Wushu comp, like the one about to take place in China, is designed to bring all the traditional Wushu practitioners together in order to preserve the traditional style that has flourished over the past 1500 years.

In addition to normal classes, a special wu shu class is held each Tuesday from 8:00pm-9:30pm at Rowville Golden Lion. It is a requirement to have at least two stripes to attend as well as speaking to one of the masters before you begin. The class is intended for those who wish to compete and it is an intensive lesson. Julius adds that Wushu is “a great physical and psychological challenge. It’s 90 minutes of constant pressure from within to perform at the highest level. There is no let up but it’s a great way to accelerate your Kung Fu knowledge and learning”.

Generally the class is instructed with the amazing guidance of Sifu Steeve Kiat (see photo). For anyone who has attended the Rowville Saturday Kung Fu class, they will know his incredible abilities, both in martial arts and the ability to teach. His attention to detail is meticulous and he is a successful past competitor, which is an incredible bonus for anyone with the inclination to compete. Sifu Steeve Kiat has been appointed National Assistant Coach.

Trace enjoys Wushu because of its focus on Chinese martial arts forms and competition element. It is that high level of detailed guidance from Sifu Steeve that Julius, Jason and Trace will need to utilize if they are to be serious contenders to the many competitors from around that globe that will be competing at the 4th World Traditional Wushu Championships. This competition is only held every two years and although the three students have proficiencies in numerous forms, they have each chosen routines that they know best and enjoy. They intend to compete in:

- Julius: Three Ancestors Bare Hands, Southern Broadsword
- Jason: Three Ancestors Bare Hands, Pu Dao
- Trace: Southern Fist Bare Hands, Southern Broadsword
(see first photo above)

This will be Julius’s second Traditional Festival, having gone to the last one in 2008. He’s looking forward to see where he’s progressed as a martial artist in the last two years as well as also looking forward to reconnecting with the many friends he made whilst he competed two years ago.

The three ancestors bare hands is one of the club’s older forms and it’ll be the second time Julius will showcase it overseas. It is not often seen as only a few practitioners can perform it well. In recent years SiHing Steven Orloff has been the master of it. Currently it’s on the curriculum for black belts and is a very good example of a true “Traditional” form. The Nandao (Southern Broadsword) form that Julius is taking to China is the old international Wushu competition form.

Jason is trying to master the Pu Dao, a weapon that hasn’t been used by this club in martial arts competition for a long time. Pu Dao translates to ‘simple saber’ and the weapon was also known as the ‘horse cutter’ because is was used to cut the legs off horses in the ancient times of Chinese warfare. Whilst he won’t be doing that (one presumes!), it is a weapon that provides Jason with a change of pace from some of the other traditional weapons and forms he has been learning over the years.

When I asked Jason what he still loved about Kung Fu and wushu, his reply was that “it’s hard” and that he enjoyed the variety, in weapons, forms and classes; the fact that no two classes are ever the same. That’s something I’m sure we can all relate to and whilst we may not all be at competition level, nor wish to be, we can use these kinds of examples as motivation in our own training. We can each compete against ourselves, find continual ways to improve and be the best we can be. Whether that be class goals such as lowering our stances, increased flexibility or gaining more spirit to more macro goals such as increased metabolism, more energy and less stress.

All three students have continued to train regularly and often stay back to practice and finesse their forms. They help each other and refine each other’s techniques. This practice alongside increasing their core strength and overall level of fitness will see them training for longer and harder as the impending competition draws closer. This will be Jason and Tracey’s first competition overseas. As this could be Trace’s only opportunity to compete overseas and combined with her recent 5th level Kung Fu grading, she has dedicated much of the year to this and making the Australian selection. This is not always mentally easy when you are up against younger competitors with fewer injuries. But in true martial arts spirit, she continues to endeavor to keep her fitness levels high and know that there is always room for improvement, even when you’ve been practicing the same form for years.

Of course we want Julius, Jason and Tracey to come home with medals but the fact they are hopping on that plane to compete already makes them a success in my mind. They have set goals to challenge themselves and are achieving those goals. Julius says, “there really isn’t much that you can’t do if you put your mind to it”. We too should remind ourselves what our own original goals were when we first came to Kung Fu and maybe to even set some specific goals if you never did this. Specific, measurable goals set the direction of our mental focus. To continually improve in Kung Fu and in anything no doubt, it’s worth revisiting those goals to assess whether you are on the road to success. I’m all for some goals being attainable and realistic but why shouldn’t everyone aim for the stars and believe that they can be the best in the world. That’s exactly what Julius, Jason and Tracey aspire to be in Wushu and I for one, wish them all the success in the world.

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow”. Ronald E. Osborn

Thanks to Rosemary Hermans, Rowville Kung Fu, for this contribution.

PS: Here is the link for the Tournament Results and Details: 4th World Traditional Wushu Championships Shi Yan China 2010, Golden Lion wins three medals at World Championships

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Golden Lion Kung Fu Dim Mak Pressure Points. Phone: 9796 1066
BERWICK: 29 Intrepid Street, Berwick 3806.
ROWVILLE: 2 Laser Drive, Rowville 3178
MURRUMBEENA: 98 Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena 3163.
Melbourne, Australia.