Wushu battles for place at Olympics

Source: China Daily | 08-23-2008 08:18

You've seen it in the Matrix. Bruce Lee was its most famous proponent. An animated panda tickled audiences this year. Now practitioners hope that wushu, more commonly known as kungfu, will be contested at the Olympics.

Wushu's backers are trying to cram the millennia-old art on to a packed Olympics calendar, arguing a growing following. They claim a victory for a sport that for the first time held an unofficial competition on the sidelines of the Games in Beijing.

Zhao Qingjian of China performs during men's Daoshu (broadsword  play) of the Beijing 2008 Wushu Competition in Beijing, China,  Aug. 21, 2008. Zhao Qingjian ranked first in men's Daoshu  competition with a score of 9.85. [Xinhua]

China's growing clout, hit films such as Kung Fu Panda and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and international stars Jet Li and Jackie Chan have helped the martial art lure devotees from Vietnam to Sweden.

"They have boxing at the Olympics. They have taekwondo. This is all that in one package," Sarah Ponce, 32, said after a sparring match. She took three months off her job to train and paid her own way from the United States to China.