28/01/2014 … The Multipurpose Indoor Stadium at Peddem transformed itself into Chinese Martial Arts arena as the Lusofonia Games 2014 Wushu competition kicked off today. The form of Chinese Martial Arts which is making its debut at Lusofonia Games this year, saw martial artists from several Luso nations that put in their best.
The preliminary rounds for the two competitive disciplines of Wushu – Taolu and Sanshou were held today.
In Taolu, the athletes were judged on their routines, quality of movements, degree of difficulty and all over performance. Rounds such as Chang Quan, Nan Quan, Taiji Quan, Dao Shu, Nan Gun, Qian Shu, Gun Shu, Dao Shu, Jian Shu, Nan Dao, Taiji Jian were conducted and the participants did their best to impress the judges.
Anjul Namdeo of India left the audience in awe with his airborne techniques which also earned him gold medal in Chang Quan and Jian Shu. India’s other medal prospect, Chirag Sharma also gave an impressive performance and had to be contented with a silver medal in Chang Quan. Another Indian Wushu athlete Shalish won a bronze in Nan Quan. In Mens Dao Shu category, Goa (India)’s Chirag Sharma won a silver medal.
While the Indian Men were busy raking in accolades for their performance in Wushu, the Women engaged themselves in replicating the feat that the Men had achieved. Yumlembam Sapana and Ayapana Ngangom of Goa (India) won Gold and Silver medals respectively in Womens category of Chang Quan and followed it up with a Silver and a Bronze in Womens Gun Shu category.
Goa’ s Valerie Britto impresses the judges with her swift moves in Taiji Quan and took the silver medal home.
While Taolu involves martial art patterns which comprises of basic movements (stances, kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps and throws), Sanshou is a combination of kick, punch and throw where the athlete gets scores in a 2-minute fight. In Sanshou, the first day saw four matches being conducted from the first round. India’s Mayangalam Bimolji defeated his opponent from Macau, Cai Aolong in the Mens Under 65 kg category. Similarly, Pradeep Kumar from India triumphed over his Portuguese opponent, Vitor Hugo Sousa in the Mens Under 70 kg Category.
The term Wushu is Chinese for martial arts. Wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional martial arts techniques. It was developed in China after 1949, in an effort to standardise the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.
In contemporary times, Wushu has evolved as a sport through the efforts of the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), which holds the World Wushu Championships every two years. The first World Championships were held in 1991 in Beijing.
Wushu is one of the nine disciplines included in the Lusofonia Games 2014 presently being held in Goa. Unknown to many, Wushu is practiced by a fair number of athletes. The state is home to six training centres some of which are in Nachinola, Moira, Calangute, Dona Paula and Mapusa. The Goa (India) team includes Wushu competitors from the states of Manipur, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Goa.Wushu competitions will be held at the Peddem stadium starting 27th January 2014.
