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