Wushu Association, a student association of China Renmin University (hereinafter referred to as the National People's Congress), cancelled the traditional Wushu teaching for students last year, because practice showed that traditional Wushu was not attractive enough for college students. The Wushu Association of the National People's Congress originally offered our students three after-school classes of traditional Wushu, Sanda and Taekwondo, and each class enrolled about 30 students normally. Last year, only 10 people signed up for traditional martial arts, and both Sanda and Taekwondo classes were full or even overstaffed to 50 people. At that time, in order to encourage students to learn traditional Wushu, Wushu Association specially introduced preferential measures for free learning of traditional Wushu classes, but the effect was not obvious.

There are only 10 students in traditional Wushu classes, and only six or seven students can persist in learning for a whole semester. The Wushu Association of the National People's Congress then conducted a questionnaire survey on the whole school. The results show that the activities that most students want to participate in Wushu Association are Sanda and Taekwondo.

In the 2004-2005 school year, the Wushu Association of the National People's Congress cancelled the traditional Wushu training class. Yi Xin, the president of the Association and a fourth-grade student of the Environment Department of the National People's Congress, was saddened by the Wushu Association's abandonment of choosing Wushu classes during his term of office, but he was also quite helpless: "As a mass organization, Wushu Association must have enough popularity to survive. We know very well that carrying forward traditional Wushu is our original intention of establishing Wushu Association, but we also see realistically that Wushu Association will ultimately be maintained by Sanda and Taekwondo. But what saddens me most is that in fact Taekwondo does not belong to China's traditional martial arts, and Sanda also contains more elements of Western sports such as boxing and wrestling. "

Xiao Wang, a sophomore at the National People's Congress, once studied martial arts when physical education class took an elective course. At that time, he learned a 24-style Tai Ji Chuan. "I'm so disappointed in the martial arts class." Xiao Wang said that he had some regrets about taking martial arts classes. "It's like a set of radio exercises. He learned 24 movements. Is this martial arts? How can such martial arts have self-defense function? No wonder all I see are old people boxing. "

Practical function is the primary reason for most college students to learn Wushu, but a set of traditional Wushu, which is more like gymnastics, has lost its original essential attributes. According to Yixin's understanding, college students' understanding of Wushu has become such a concept-"strong performance and weak practicality;" Strong illusion (referring to the martial arts seen in movies and TV) and weak sense of reality. "

Therefore, among martial arts, taekwondo, karate and other exotic products, college students choose the latter without hesitation.

At present, there are three Taekwondo classes in the new and old gymnasiums of China Renmin University, which are open to school or society. In other universities, learning Taekwondo is also the most popular martial arts sport for students. In most cases, traditional martial arts in China can only exist by hard-set courses in schools. Many students choose martial arts not out of interest in martial arts, but to get credits. In some colleges and universities, Wushu classes have to be merged with Sanda and wrestling, because students will be treated differently immediately after adding the name of self-defense. As Professor Xu, vice president of Wushu students in Beijing Sport University, said, "Traditional Wushu is dying out in China University. The transformation of the performance nature of martial arts in order to enter the Olympic Games has made martial arts more and more like gymnastics and diving, but it has lost its identity as martial arts and martial arts. The whole martial arts teaching has fallen into a strange circle of emphasizing drills and neglecting practicality. "

Learning Taekwondo has become a fashion symbol for young people.

In fashion and practicality, Wushu is dwarfed by Taekwondo and Karate. Taekwondo was introduced to ordinary people in China in the mid-1990s, and now it has become popular in many places in China. The pursuers are basically young people aged 15 ~ 35.

Dongzhimen-Chaoyangmen area on the East Second Ring Road in Beijing is one of the most expensive areas in Beijing. The total length is less than two kilometers, but there are more than four Taekwondo gymnasiums in high-end office buildings. Although the price of taekwondo gym here is more than twice as expensive as that of colleges and universities, no matter the size of the gym, every one has no worries for customers.

At 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, more than 20 high school students were attending classes in a Taekwondo gym in Chaoyangmen. Many of these students came in company. A female student told reporters: "Among our classmates, learning Taekwondo has become one of the signs that it is not cool enough."

In the eyes of these middle school students, the service, ribbon ceremony and etiquette of Taekwondo are very distinctive and fresh. The basic movements of Taekwondo are simple and easy to learn, and the pleasure of upgrading can be realized after long-term study. And these are not provided by martial arts.

According to the coach of Daoguan, the proportion of middle school students who can learn Taekwondo for a long time is not high, and most of them will not study for more than half a year, showing obvious characteristics of "early adopters". But because there are many beginners, the flow of students is always great.

From Monday to Friday, the main customers of Taekwondo Hall are urban white-collar workers, most of whom are women.

Miss Yuan from the public relations company comes to Taoist temple twice a week to study. "I am purely for fitness. Compared with other fitness methods, I prefer the clean environment here, and its etiquette form also makes people feel a spiritual connotation. Of course, I can also let myself vent and relax in confrontation practice. "

Miss Yuan said that there is another idea to learn Taekwondo, that is, "it may come in handy in case of danger."

Danfu Liu, Ph.D., Beijing Sport University, was the first athlete to contact Taekwondo in China. He has compiled a large number of books on the teaching and promotion of Taekwondo. Danfu Liu believes that the popularity of Taekwondo in China does not mean that Taekwondo is superior to China Wushu, but the key problem lies in China Wushu itself. "Martial arts projects such as Taekwondo have experienced transformation to meet the market demand, such as creating guiding clothes and grades, while martial arts has not yet made changes to meet the market demand."

According to industry statistics, there are currently more than 200 Taekwondo gymnasiums in Beijing. Although martial arts such as karate and kendo are not as popular as taekwondo, the audience is also expanding. In Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and other big cities, the development status of these sports is basically the same.

Wushu is transformed into "dance" in order to enter the Olympic Games.

── The Lost Traditional Wushu in China (Part Two)

China Youth Daily April 5, 2005

Reporter Cixin

Xiao Ge, 17 Artest training athlete who studied martial arts, had to retire because he could not adapt to adding somersaults to his favorite sports. After Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, in order to speed up the pace of Wushu entering the Olympic Games, Wushu was once again strengthened and standardized in competitive sports, but the result was a performance that looked like a ghost.

Beijing, April 4 th

"What we are talking about now is essentially a sports event formed by dismembering China traditional martial arts and transforming some of its contents. This' created' martial arts project is deformed. It can neither represent the traditional martial arts in China nor be popularized. " This is the feeling of Professor Xu, vice president of Wushu College of Beijing Sport University, when interviewed by reporters, and it is also a big problem that puzzles the Wushu circle in China at present.

When Wushu entered the Olympic Games at the last minute, a large number of Wushu experts questioned the present situation of Wushu.

The new competition rules force Wushu to move closer to gymnastics.

/kloc-Ge Xiwu, a 23-year-old martial arts player in 0/7 years, will retire this year because he can't continue training because of injury.

2002 was the second year of Beijing's successful Olympic bid, and all the preparations for Wushu's Olympic bid were fully implemented in this year. One of the main reforms is the change of Wushu competition rules. This change is fresh in the memory of Xiao Ge and all martial arts athletes. After the implementation of the new rules, the difficulty of Wushu routine competition increases, and the referee's scoring standard is closer to gymnastics, diving and other ornamental sports. Wushu routine athletes must change their training methods to adapt to the new rules. "We began to pursue difficult movements such as somersault and rotation, and I felt more and more like a gymnast. However, because some movements are too difficult for Wushu athletes, or it is difficult to practice after strong participation in Wushu routines, a large number of athletes have been injured. "Little brother said that except for younger athletes, most martial arts athletes are disappointed with the reform of martial arts rules. Many outstanding athletes chose to retire after the implementation of the new martial arts rules.

In an interview with Professor Xu, the reporter learned that traditional Wushu can never become a modern sport because it has no rules and protective gear. Wushu must be reformed if it wants to enter the Olympic Games. However, due to subjective and objective reasons, Wushu, as a martial arts sport, was eventually transformed into a rehearsal and ornamental sport far from boxing, judo, wrestling and taekwondo.

China traditional martial arts first appeared in the Warring States period, because of military needs, and formed a major school in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Due to the ruling strategy of "forbidding martial arts" by rulers of past dynasties, it has basically become a "martial arts cultural and sports entity that focuses on drills and martial arts exercises, has no legal status and no exhibition place, and is loved by the people and pays attention to personal spiritual cultivation and moral cultivation". This subjective reason makes the antagonism and sparring of Wushu greatly weakened in open and formal occasions, and the practical skills of Wushu such as kicking, hitting, wrestling and grabbing can only be expressed in the form of personal practice because of "application is not confidential" The reporter learned by interviewing several Wushu experts that it is the historical and subjective reasons of traditional Wushu that make it more practical than practical. However, this does not mean that Wushu has lost its practicality. In fact, the martial arts community generally believes that after more than 2,000 years of tempering, martial arts has already reached the level of perfection in fighting skills.

However, the modernization and competition of Wushu are making Wushu farther and farther away from its identity. A martial arts expert told this reporter: "Judo and Taekwondo, two oriental martial arts sports, have entered the Olympic Games one after another and become popular all over the world. It is understandable that China people hope that martial arts can be developed all over the world. However, we are too eager for quick success and instant benefit, and we have not responsibly tailored appropriate methods for the competitive transformation of martial arts. "

The transformation of Wushu is at the cost of dismembering the mother.

On the internet forum about martial arts, we can see that a large number of ordinary people in China are asking such questions: "Why do I see only one set of action performances in martial arts, and are those martial arts masters with superb martial arts only available in novels and movies?"

"Martial arts is first and foremost a martial arts sport. This is not a performance. The essence that distinguishes it from other sports is practicality. " Professor Xu told the reporter, "But our current Wushu needs competition standards, because it needs to score athletes. As a result, the requirements of action drills have been repeatedly exaggerated. In fact, action drills are only a means of martial arts training, not an end, just like boxers practicing spring balls. Can you equate the training means such as playing spring ball with boxing? "

However, over the years, under the control of competition rules, the disadvantages of Wushu emphasizing exercise over practicality have been expanding in the field of Wushu, and the narrow prejudice of replacing Wushu with exercise has also spread. Many Wushu experts keep proposing that Wushu should return to the status of Wushu and popularize its extensive connotation among the people, but they have never stopped the trend of Wushu moving closer to performance sports.

200 1 After Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, in order to speed up the entry of Wushu into the Olympic Games, Wushu has once again turned into a routine and standardized competitive sport. Like gymnastics and diving, every movement in Wushu competition has a scoring standard. The higher the difficulty, the higher the score. As a result, Tai Ji Chuan athletes like Xiao Ge had to add a week and a half of difficult movements such as spinning in place. When interviewed by reporters, the younger brother laughed and cried: "Tai Ji Chuan, whose essence is soft Ke Gang, suddenly spun or flipped in the same place during boxing. These newly added difficult moves are not only useless in boxing theory, but also make the whole set of Tai Ji Chuan look neither fish nor fowl. In addition, many martial arts athletes who have practiced "horse stance just look" and punched piles since childhood find it difficult to do those movements that are more like gymnastics. "

Abnormal competitive martial arts has always been sneered at by the martial arts community, and some experts named this kind of martial arts after "Wu Dance". But what makes the martial arts community feel sad is that competitive martial arts and various imported martial arts are likely to replace traditional martial arts, and China's traditional martial arts with a long history and rich connotations are struggling to survive in the cracks. Some martial arts experts lamented: "Wushu has not only changed beyond recognition in the martial arts world, but also lost its traditional influence on all China people."

Martial arts experts believe: "The competitive transformation of judo and taekwondo is a complete copy of the attributes of the matrix, that is, judo and taekwondo in competitive sports are essentially the same as those in the matrix, but the competitive transformation of martial arts is a dismemberment of the martial arts matrix, which takes away the exercise expression of traditional martial arts and abandons the traditional martial arts as the essential attributes of martial arts." A martial arts expert told the reporter bitterly, "We now spend 65,438+000% of our energy on the part that is less than 65,438+00% of martial arts, and forget more than 90% of the martial arts matrix."

When more and more people in China can see and come into contact with those martial arts that are only dismembered parts of real martial arts, and when imported products such as Taekwondo and Karate are popular in China, China traditional martial arts with profound historical accumulation, various types, both kicking and wrestling, and both internal and external skills will inevitably decline among the people, especially among teenagers.

In fact, since modern times, the competitive transformation and demonstration of martial arts have been going on, but years of practice have made some experts in the martial arts field question: "Is China traditional martial arts with rich connotations suitable for being as competitive as judo and taekwondo?" If you can't compete, or even if you can compete, how can you preserve and carry forward the traditional Wushu, a China heritage that has been circulating for thousands of years? "