Semester 1

End of Semester 1

 

Thank you to all our members for making a truly memorable semester 1

 

We hope everyone has enjoyed Wushu and Taichi classes this semester.

This semester everyone was really please to find a multitude of new faces interested in learning Wushu and Taichi.  As the semester progressed we were elated that many of these new faces became new members. 

We had our O-Week stalls-at which I distinctly recall talking to a few of our now new members.

We held our first welcome dinner of the semester, which was a brilliant event as we filled two tables at Yunnan restaurant.  This certainly set the tone for our regular Friday, after-training dinners.

Thanks to Chris Leow, our Night Market food stall was a smashing success!  Sadly though our performance for Night Market was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. But we still need to thank all those who put so much effort into the performance, especially our performance co-ordinator Sonny.

WTF Taekwondo and MUTW held their first ever cross-trainings in which we were fortunate enough to be given a taste of a different martial art, and make some new friends.

Now over the winter holidays we are able look forward to...

MUTW's annual camp

MUTW's Winter Training Initiative, every Friday in July with Master Lily!  *NEW*

 

 

 

Kai, our Secretary, designed the T-shirts and membership cards which are now in use!

 

[A membership card for a student of both Wushu and Taichi]

[Some members in our new T-shirts]

 

Everyone has progressed really well this semester and we look forward to Winter Training and the Commencement of Semester 2!

 

 

[Kai, our Secretary, almost a Super Sayan.]

 

 

 

Shantastic!

Hi guys! Today's post is something that I have been holding on to but never really got round to posting, so I may as well share this today. This is about one of our members that we all know as Shan. Just some extra information on him, he received a diploma for Nanquan, Nan Gun, Nan Dao styles from Shanghai Qing Pu Wushu College in Shanghai. He was also a Wushu instructor from 2003 to 2011 and was a judge in a couple of tournaments.

Last year, we attended the 14th WTPA Wushu & Taiji Competition and the turnout was pretty good. A large number of us took part in it and some managed to do exceptionally well, one of those guys is Shan. Having won quite a few medals, his story was picked up by a number of Sri Lankan newspapers.

In addition to the awesome exposure, he also wrote a good article on Shaolin Kung Fu and is of course well worth a read.

There isn't much else to be said in today's blog, so I'll just leave it at that. I wasn't there to watch the latter half of the competition, but from seeing how he trained in the months leading up to the competition, I'm sure the medals and recognition was well deserved. Good Job, Shan.

All of the images were provided by Shan.

PS: New Club Tshirts, Wooooo!

Fun at Cross-Training

The Melbourne University Taichi and Wushu Club and WTF Taekwondo Club had their first ever Cross-Training on the 23rd and 24th of April!

23rd April 2013:        WTF TKD tries out Taichi and Wushu!

Led by our instructor Master Lily Sun, some tkd students tried out wushu and/or taichi. We began with a few stretches and then went straight into lines (image below is of lines).  For those who don't know, lines involve almost all of our wushu basics, from front kick to butterfly! These basics grow in difficulty as the lines progress. We practise these lines because, among other things, they are the foundation of the many forms we practise. Our tkd friends who were thrown into our training responded amazingly to all of the movements in lines.


Alicia, Marketing Manager:
"It was really fun to check out tai chi and wushu. It made for a good break from just doing tkd. It was interesting to see that some of the kicks were similar to tkd though the application was different. For example the outward kick, which master lily sun said is used as block in wushu, is used as an attack kick in tkd. There was some really cool stuff too! the butterfly kicks, cartwheels, and the leg sweep! Taichi was a nice change of pace as well though it definitely took more energy then expected!"

Lei, The Treasurer:
"The cross training was definitely a great experience.  It was very interesting to try a different martial art and there was a lot to be learnt. It allows us to see the combative arts from a different perspective, and teaches us to understand more about our own style. It also helps to form good relationships between our clubs and our respective members and we look forward to more events like this in the future!"

24th April 2013:        Taichi and Wushu try out WTF TKD!

Led by Sabumnim Tuan Truong, thirteen of our members tried out tkd.  Personally speaking, this was painful...who would have thought that there would be forceful contact in martial arts?  But honestly everyone in tkd was welcoming and we really enjoyed the exposure to a new way of striking and kicking. By the end of class it was evident that no one really wanted to stop training tkd. We were fortunate enough to be allowed to follow the white and yellow belts who were learning their first form and the three step sparring sequence.  After this we got to try out kicks with chest pads, this is something that is not done in our form-based wushu training and was greatly enjoyed by our visiting students.


Paul, The Treasurer:
"It was great to learn about some techniques from them that we don't learn in wushu, like roundhouse kicks."

Jia Hui, Junior Member:
"It was interesting and fun! The form we learnt focuses more on hand blocks from possible attack directions which is practical in sparring."

Ben, Taichi Instructor:
"It was good to experience being hit - we don't get that much at wushu"

 

 

Thank you so much to WTF tkd, we really enjoyed training with you guys and hopefully we will be able to do so again soon!!!

[Some more images] 

 

[Some of our members being led in the first tkd form]

 

[Some tkd members learning taichi with our taichi instructor (on the left)]

 

[Lines at wushu: Sweeps]