Wushu: An Official Sport in Youth Olympic Games

Today the IOC announced that wushu will be included as an official sport in the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). This is a tremendous milestone in the development of wushu, and the positive outcome is the result of the hard work, longtime efforts and substantial global promotions of the IWUF and its 155 members over the past 30 years.

After serious consideration by the IOC Executive Board, wushu was included in the Dakar 2022 YOG for several key reasons. Wushu is a sport greatly enjoyed and popularized by youth. The IWUF adheres to the principles, vision and mission of the YOG and the IOC that promote youth athletes learning about Olympic values, exploring other cultures, developing the skills to become true ambassadors of their sport, and improving their training methods and performance.

The IWUF believes the inclusion of wushu in the Dakar 2022 YOG offers enormous encouragement for all athletes, coaches and officials in the sport today. This milestone will greatly encourage more young people to explore wushu and join the sport, training towards both an elite level and for enjoyment and health. The IWUF continues to emphasize that wushu helps youth build a strong body, mind and spirit, while promoting friendship and understanding among various cultures and nations.

Looking to the future, the successful inclusion of wushu in the Dakar 2022 YOG reminds the IWUF that we need to consistently evolve to keep our sport attuned to the needs of its stakeholders, by continuing to refine rules and regulations, and adhering to the IOC motto of “faster, higher, stronger.” The Federation will strive to develop more wushu federations around the world especially in underserved regions, and promote more vigorously the wushu lifestyle that offers athletes the benefits of sport for health and happiness.

The IWUF offers a heartfelt and profound thanks to all its members and partners who have supported the Federation’s work for the past 30 years, helping build the sport of wushu to its current high level.

Covid Safe School Certification Being Rolled Out in Canada

MAIA President Walt Missingham has today announced that the COVID SAFE MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOLS CERTIFICATION PROGRAM is being rolled out in Canada.

“I congratulate the Canadians in their professional and pro active response”

I can also reveal we are we are working with groups in USA, UK, Oceania, Malaysia and Greece who are also aligning with the initiative, it is gratifying that the good we are doing for our Industry in Australia is now being shared with our international colleagues”

www.covidsafemartialartsschools.com

MAIA Members Insurance – 3 Month Cover at No Charge

Many members have been enquiring about Insurance Renewals as Insurance is now, more than ever, important. The following Statement issued by MAIA President, Walt Missingham.

“I have reviewed the insurance situation and it is, for many of our members, an additional cost that they can do without at this very challenging time.

Accordingly I am today announcing that the MAIA will underwrite your insurance for this period and defer any payments to the next quarter at which point your insurance will need to be renewed for the 1 October 2020 ­ 1 July 2021”.

It means all MAIA members who hold insurance under the MAIA policy will be issued with insurance coverage from 1 July to 1 October without any payment at this time.

Covid Safe Schools Certification Tops 20,000 Instructors

MAIA President Walt Missingham has today congratulated the Martial Arts industry in collectively rising to the occasion in dealing with the Covid 19 Crisis and its impact on our industry.

“In less than 3 weeks we have had over 20,000 instructors successfully complete the certification process, it is a credit not just to the MAIA team who developed and released the program but to the thousands of instructors who have been able to respond in a non political way to the benefit of our industry – well done to all involved!”

Walt revealed that the Covid Safe Certification Program is only the first part of what the MAIA will be doing over the next 6 months. We have a comprehensive awareness campaign that centres around the single ‘Covid Safe School brand’.”

“Many instructors are focused on the date that they can return to teaching and this is, of course both reasonable and understandable, but this is not the only challenge we face. The far greater challenge is to deal with the very effective fear campaigns waged by both our governments  and our media.

The Covid Safe Martial Arts Schools initiative is designed not just to effectively educate instructors but also to give the general public confidence in returning to training with ‘Covid Safe’ Instructors.”

COVID SAFE MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION MAIA President, Walt Missingham, has today announced the rollout of the ‘Covid Safe Martial Arts Instructor Certification Program’

The program can be accessed here:

https://www.openlearning.com/courses/covid-safe-martial-arts-school/

It provides online training for any martial arts instructor.

It has been developed by the MAIA as a free service to our industry and provides a pathway via which any martial arts instructor can obtain the training needed for a safe a legal resumption of their classes.

Walt acknowledged the input of the certification development team:

“An essential and vital job for our industry completed in record time – well done to the team Sam Sujatna, Fred Ong, Kevin Blundell, Fari Salievski, John Bedwany and Joel Rheinberger.”

KWA Accreditation Intakes Suspended

KWA President, Walt Missingham, has today ordered the suspension of all KWA Accreditation Intakes until the 1 June 2020 at which time the Covid 19 situation will be reassessed.

KWA will reschedule accreditation intakes that were to have occurred in the first half of this year once it is safe to do so.

Special arrangements have been made to extend the period in which reaccreditation can occur so that no one is disadvantaged.

 

KWA Events Suspended

KWA President, Walt Missingham, has today ordered the suspension of all KWA competition events until the 1 June 2020 at which time the Covid 19 situation will be reassessed. Our competition partner, the TCAA, has been consulted with regards to deferral of events and supports the cautious approach.

KWA will reschedule events that were to have occurred in the first half of this year once it is safe to do so.

World Wing Chun Day – Saturday March 21st 2020

Wing Chun Day is held around the world each year on the third Saturday in March. In cities all over the world, practitioners will celebrate the art of Wing Chun by promoting it for their local commumity.

Wing Chun is a very popular martial art recently made popular through the ‘Ip Man’ movie franchise starring Donnie Yen.

Perth Wing Chun Academy will be hosting this FREE event at Hyde Park beginning at 9am.

For more information, go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/187685162611875/

 

Historic Breakthrough! Wushu an Official Event at the Youth Olympics

Wushu, widely known as Chinese Kungfu, will make its debut as an official sport at the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympic Games.

LAUSANNE, Jan. 8: After appearing as special exhibition events at both the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Wushu, widely known as Chinese Kungfu, will make its debut as an official sport at the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee confirmed at Wednesday’s executive board meeting.

It is the first time that Wushu will be officially included in Olympic competition.

With a long history and deep roots in the country’s cultural and spiritual traditions, Chinese traditional wushu elegantly unites the body and spirit. China wishes to share these qualities with the world.

Following the promotional efforts of the International Wushu Federation and Chinese Wushu Association, Wushu has gained a wide-ranging popularity across the world, especially among young participants. Statistics show that, today, about 120 million people are engaged in Wushu around the globe.