KEVII Wushu Camp – December 2008

Writer: Sharon Lynn Chu
Editor: Angel
Photographs: Sharon Lynn Chu

If you were to walk by the KE7 Comm Hall last week, you would have been greeted by gleeful shouts of children, as young as seven years old – a rare occurrence in our hall. From Monday the 11th to Friday the 15th of December, the comm hall served as the training grounds for the 2nd Wushu camp organized this year by the coach of the KEVII Wushu team, Zhuang lao shi (老师 or teacher). The 1st camp was held in July 2008 to prepare our athletes for the then upcoming National Wushu Competitions in August.

The camp gathered not only Wushu athletes from the KEVII team but also Wushu practitioners from other clubs outside, all children much younger than us and also students of our coach.

For those who attended the camp, last week was a tiring but tremendously enjoyable and fruitful week. Starting at 8.45am, training lasted until around 12pm when we would break for lunch before taking off again at 2pm till around 5pm. Throughout the five days, the more experienced of us underwent a revision of our Wushu basics while the uninitiated ones were introduced to this wonderful martial art. All of us also went through physical fitness and stamina exercises, and we each learned a new routine, either fist or weapon.

The Wushu camp has certainly been a great experience for all those who joined in. Frog jumping all the way up the newly-built slope near G block after having run six times up and down it first is no easy feat, but the satisfaction afterwards was enormous. The camp has also enabled us to forge new friendships and to strengthen the bonds between us.

To sum it all, KEVII December Wushu camp 2008 encapsulated everything that is the essence and spirit of WUSHU: perseverance, determination, passion, benevolence, patience, courage… On behalf of KEVII Wushu team, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our coach, Zhuang lao shi. If you would like to join our big KEVII Wushu family, it is not too late. Come and join our trainings next semester, starting the first week of school in January!

Wushu Inter-Varsity Games 2008

Author: Ashish Rudola
Edited by: Chan Yu Kit

The Wushu Inter Varsity Games 2008 was held on the 18^th of October, just two days after our Hall’s Inter- cultural Night (ICN). The competition was a chance for participants to showcase their martial arts skills. It was held in the Macpherson Campus of the ITE College Central. Among the various institutions which participated were Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, NTU, ITE College and Republic Polytechnic, to name a few.

The NUS Wushu team comprised of 6 members, all females and all from KE!! These elite Wushu artistes are Ng Huey Shin, Ye Dan, Sharon Lynn Chu, Shan Yu, Zeng WanLing and Irene Wong Mei Jin. These girls have had to undergo rigorous and incessant trainings since September this year. They had to tirelessly perfect their choreographed moves while keeping it in sync with the music. The music they used was “Ba Wang Bie Ji” – translated as “Farewell My Concubine”. It was chosen by their coach who thought the lyrics were very motivating. And he was right! The team put up a magnificent performance!

There were many categories for teams to compete in. Some of them were chang quan (long fist), nan quan (Southern fist), short weapon, long weapon et cetera. All these formed part of the “Traditional category”. Our team, however, took part in the “Open category”. This was the first time our team was taking part in this category because previously we always took part in the traditional category.

The event started at 10am. First up were all the traditional categories. Our team had to wait patiently for the very last event of the day, the “Open category- Group Routine”, to showcase their talents. All attired in red, the team started with utmost focus. Each team member did justice to her place in the team by skillfully and gracefully executing each and every move. Choreographed to perfection, each move dazzled the audience. With perfect coordination, the team completed a series of jumps, flips, kicks and punches to finish their act which earned a huge round of applause from the audience.

The team secured 4^th place in the group routine- open category. The champion was the host institution, ITE College. Though the KE Wushu team did not win first place, it was still a mighty effort to finish just outside the top three in a category where the team had never taken part in before. Credit must be given to all the team members for having worked so hard throughout this semester. By experiencing this event, the team would surely have learnt a lot and by next year, they would be in a position to grab the gold! They have the entire Hall’s support. Go Wushu!

All Photos Can Be Found Here: KE Vision

Wushu InterVarsity Games – The Video

Video courtesy of KE Motion (also known as KE VideoComm).
Videography by: Wen Qing & Qian Yue

Good Job KE Wushu Team!

And Thank You KE Motion!
The KE Press article will be up soon