Our Desk | Who goes to the Wushu Masters Challenge?

Julie Zhu

The second edition of the Wushu Masters Challenge will take place from August 10 to 13. The four-day challenge will include a wide range of activities, such as lion and dragon dances, competitions of several styles of martial arts, combat challenges, and parades featuring traditional Chinese martial arts.

In a press conference at end of last month, the Sports Bureau (ID) claimed that all equipment used in the second Wushu Masters Challenge has been upgraded. Moreover, ID revealed that last year it conducted a survey while the event was still ongoing. The bureau’s leader informed that the survey showed that the public, including both residents and visitors, in general gave positive feedback about the events. The sports authority’s official expressed ID’s confidence for this year’s event, as ID itself believes that “it will be better.”

According to the ID survey conducted last year, a total of 15,000 visitors attended the events during the four days. The bureau collected 1,002 questionnaires, 600 from local residents and 402 from tourists. Surprisingly, 78.3 percent of the interviewed tourists claimed that they would be willing to visit again Macau just for Wushu-related events…

Now, wait a minute! Does the Macau government really believe in the answers of 78.3 percent of the visitors or does it have to act like it believes, even if it does not?

Personally, I would overlook these 78.3 percent who claimed they would be willing to return to Macau to attend a Wushu-related event.

Since I assiduously focus on Macau’s mainland market, I am going to present my reasons why I do not believe what these interviewees claimed.

During the past many years, more and more parents have sent their children to learn Taekwondo, Karate, and other types of martial arts that were not established in China. Believe it or not, this is similar to many other trends, as more and more Chinese parents are sending their children to study piano, violin, among other western instruments, as well as performing arts.

There is a feeling that the faith in many traditional Chinese things is fading away, and while in some cases it might be positive, in others it is negative. But I digress. You are in your right to argue.

However, when talking about Wushu, why is it that mainland communities are putting their trust in it less and less?

The more the martial arts became popular in mainland China, the more people would talk about the practical factors of traditional Chinese martial arts.

People nowadays strongly argue that traditional Chinese martial arts can only be used for exercising purposes, not for self-defense. Why does the practical factor matter so much to Macau’s Wushu Masters Challenges?

In my opinion, I would like to start by saying that it is because of the definition given to the Chinese traditional martial art. In many movies, Chinese martial arts have been depicted as a skill that can tear down the tree and can blow the sea. Having been shaped this way, people’s judgmental criteria are also shaped in a way they might argue whether Chinese martial arts are useful for combat or not. They will not talk about these arts as a kind of skill that helps you exercise.

Consequently, having been shaped by such judgment, audiences lost their interest in seeing a Chinese martial arts show because these shows will be far from the excitement that can be offered, for instance, during a boxing match.

This is probably the main reason why Chinese martial arts shows are enjoyed more by the non-Chinese rather than by residents of mainland China.