The second day of the 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships started with the first international competitors taking to the three mats of the Zhengzhou No. 47 High School Gymnasium shortly after 8:30am (Chinese competitors except for the Beijing team were all competing separately at the Zhengzhou Gymnasium). Chen style Taiji, Taiji Apparatuses, and male weapons groups took up most of the schedule today for the international competitors.

As competitions came to a close in the morning, one last competitor, a young Myanmar child showstopped with an incredibly skilful monkey staff routine which had just about every person in the arena cheering. The judges didn’t agree with the audience entirely though, which was seen again several times, pointing out that this was a Traditional Wushu competition, and that often quick, clean, precise, and technical motions got higher marks than gymnastic manoeuvres with no martial application. As shown by some teams who...

As the first day of the Second World Traditional Wushu Championships neared, Zhengzhou was busy in preparation. Displays in Dengfeng, Shaolin, and in the city itself were being prepared, as were the competition venues.

Finally, October 15th 2006 arrived, the first day of the event. With a morning warm-up session for the athletes and an introduction meeting for all the coaches and judges, everyone was provided a first look at the Zhengzhou No. 47 High School, the primary competition menu for the foreigners. Looking more like a modern university campus, the school covers an impressive area and boasts truly world-class facilities.

The highlight of the first day for most came in the evening, where a kilometres-long convoy of busses carried all the attendees off to Dengfeng County (the town closest to the Shaolin Temple). During this trip, the scale of the preparations of the event became obvious—all over town there were banners and billboards proudly...

On October 6th, Qi Jinli, assistant directors of Preparation Committee of the 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championship and Deputy of the Municipal Party Committee, and Yang Liping, assistant director of preparation committee and Minister of Propaganda Department of Municipal Party Committee, went to the Provincial Sport Center to inspect the related preparatory work, and held a conference to coordinate the details of the opening ceremony and the artistic performance, the activities in Dengfeng to welcome guests, and the real-life scenery arts performance. Concerned leaders of the Preparation Committee also attended the conference.

The conference requested that the opening ceremony arts performance must be to the appropriate scale, and cannot lose any of the artistry; The Competition Department must pay great attention to the image of the admissions process, as in the international large-scale sports championship, we must demonstrate the elegant demeanor of Henan; The Arts...

Below is the latest schedule of events for the 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships, from October 14th – 19th, 2006.

Saturday, October 14th
(All Day) – Teams' Arrival & Registration – Designated Hotels
(All Day) – Judges' Arrival – Designated Hotels

Sunday, October 15th
(All Day) – Arrival of Thesis Seminar Delegates – Henan Hotel
(Morning) – IWUF Technical Committee Meeting – Xingya Jianguo Hotel
(Morning) – IWUF Traditional Wushu Committee Meeting – Xingya Jianguo Hotel
(Morning) – Coaches, Team Leaders, & Judges Meeting – Xingya Jianguo Hotel

Monday, October 16th
(All Day) – Wushu Competition – City Stadium
(08:30) – Opening Ceremony of Thesis Seminar – Zhengzhou University
(09:30) – IWUF Executive Committee Meeting – Yu Da Hotel
(17:30) – Welcome Reception – Sports Center
(19:30) – Opening Ceremony & Gala Night – Sports Center

Tuesday, October 17th
(Whole Day) – Welcome Ceremony at Dengfeng – _Dengfeng...

Below are the details about the 2006 Zhengzhou International Traditional Wushu Fair and the details of the competition.

Date and Place
The 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships will be held from October 14 to 19, 2006 in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China.

Host Organizations
International Wushu Federation and the Chinese Wushu Association

Organizers
Sports Administration of Henan Province and the People’s Municipal Government of Zhengzhou City

Participants
Member federations of the International Wushu Federation (IWUF),
those wushu groups which have been recognized by the member associations of IWUF, and those wushu groups located in the countries or regions not affiliated to IWUF.

Competition Events
Bare-handed Routine, Apparatus (weapons), Dual event and Group event.
Bare-handed routines and apparatus of the same kind are put into the same group. All the bare-handed routines and apparatus groups, whose participants are below 5 persons,...

Shaolin monks should study English and information technology to adapt to the modern society and spread Buddhism and Shaolin culture around the world, according to the abbot of the Shaolin temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu.

"Shaolin culture should develop as society progresses. It must not stick to the outdated thoughts and practices. Rather we should open up to the outside world," Shi Yongxin said in a interview published on China News Website.

Shi Yongxin was appointed abbot of the Shaolin temple in 1987 at the age of 22, becoming the youngest abbot in China. Since then, he has caused people to reevaluate their traditional notions about Buddhist monks with his business-oriented transformation of the temple and its arts.

He has taken Shaolin monk delegations abroad to perform Shaolin martial arts shows. In 1994, "Shaolin" and "Shaolin Temple" were established as registered trademarks.

"To protect Shaolin culture is to protect the legacy of traditional...

Sponsored by the International Wushu Federation and the Chinese Wushu Association, the 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships will be held from October 15 to 19 in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Central China’s Henan Province.

Being called the “World Wushu Olympics”, the World Traditional Wushu Championships is the grand ceremony in the international field of traditional Wushu. The conference is playing a significant role in expanding the influence of Chinese traditional martial arts throughout the world, enhancing the exchange of international Wushu and increasing the friendship among the people all over the world.

Zhengzhou is the cradle of Wushu and it will become the permanent city for holding the World Traditional Wushu Championships, after the 1st World Traditional Wushu Championships was successfully held there in 2004. According to the organizing committee of the conference, there will be 2000 athletes from more than 60 countries and areas...

Visas are required for all visitors to China.

There are several types of visa issued by the Chinese Embassy or the Exit & Entry Administrative Office of the Public Security Bureau (often referred to as the PSB). The most important thing to note about Chinese Visas is that you MUST have a valid visa BEFORE coming to China—you cannot simply show up and get one when you arrive.

Applying for a Visa
To apply for a visa, you must go to the Chinese Embassy closest to you and hand in a completed visa application form, along with a passport-sized photograph and your valid passport (your passport must be valid until at least your expected return date). If you do not live near an embassy, you can manage the process via mail, but be sure to leave lots of time for this process.

If you apply for a tourist ("L") visa in person, in most cases you can pick up your visa within a week, or may pay a rush fee and get it same-day, or in 1 to 2 days. Other types of visas may take much...

So then, what exactly do we have in store for this site, and what can you look forward to? Well, the flow of new information, articles, and translations will remain a constant. However, beyond simply adding new information, there are many functionality enhancements yet to come.

One of the first improvements will be the ability to view summary information about schools, and the ability to compare schools that you are interested in side-by-side. You will even be able to input some of your requirements for a school and the best matches will be shown to you.

One of the primary goals of the site is to build a strong user community-- currently those interested in the Chinese martial arts typically visit message boards or websites that are dedicated to ALL martial arts, which makes it difficult to find information that is of interest to them. To build this community, functions such as user-uploaded photos, comments, reviews, articles, and a message board are a...

It is September 2006, and ChinaWushu.org is officially unveiled, but things are only just getting started.

In these early days of the site, you may find content a bit lacking, but be assured that we are working very hard to bring you a large amount of information. We have several translators working to bring you never-before-seen translations of publications, book excerpts, and interviews from the heart of China.

It is my hope that those of you who are reading this not long after I post it will continue to become interested in this site. One of our main goals is to establish an active online community of people who are all passionate about the Chinese Martial Arts.

For those of you who are reading this entry some months or years in the future, I hope the site is as great and useful for you as we hope it will be.

Invited by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the Abbot of China’s ancient Shaolin Temple will fly to Berlin, Germany to watch the World Cup final and attend the closing Ceremony according to Dahe daily.

As the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kungfu as well as one of the orthodox schools of Chinese martial arts since ancient times, Shaolin Kungfu seems drawing more attention from the world now. It is gaining more popularity and increasing influence in Germany since the Shaolin Temple built a Shaolin Culture Center there in 2001.

Especially after Russian President Putin paid a visit to Shaolin temple and introduced Shaolin Kungfu to Blatter, that aroused the FIFA president’s interest, according to Xinhua Daily.

Abbot Shi Yongxin said Shaolin Kungfu, like soccer is the essential of western culture, represents the Chinese traditional ancient culture. Although he rarely watch soccer play on TV and doesn’t play soccer, he thinks Shaolin Kungfu...

Closely following the visit of the 87 World Miss Tourism finalists to Shaolin Temple the day before, five hundred martial arts students from the United States arrived at Shaolin Temple in Henan Province of Central China on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Buddhism and Chinese Kungfu on July 4, 2006.

Standing in 4 dragon lines in the rain, 500 American disciples, whose ages ranged from 5 to 62, put their palms together to pay respects to the Shaolin Temple and Abbot Shi Yongxin. It is the first time Shaolin Temple has recieved so many disciples to pilgrimage at one time and it is also the biggest foreign delegation to pay a visit to Shaolin Temple in history.

Headed by Yangdeng and Yandi, the two masters of U.S. kungfu who received their monastic names when they converted to Buddhism in 2002, the delegation is made up of the students and members of the United Studios of Self Defense, a franchised kungfu Center with 200,000 registered members through 46 U.S. States. It...

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese Kungfu in Central China's Henan Province during his two-day state visit to China for a taste of Buddhism and martial arts on March 22, 2006.

As the first head of state to visit Shaolin temple, Putin received a grand welcome by Shaolin temple, and Abbot Shi Yongxin greeted him at the temple gate. The bell and drum were struck simultaneously to show the Temple’s highest respect to President Putin.

Established about 1500 years ago, Shaolin Temple is regarded as "the Number One Temple Under Heaven" not only because of its long history and its role in Chinese Buddhism, but also because of his martial arts. During the visit, Abbot Shi Yongxin showed President Putin the main halls of the temple, the place where monks have practiced Kungfu for thousands of years, and the showing rooms for Various Boxing, where 216 boxing statues in 14 groups are vividly displayed with historical...