Warm greetings from the IWUF Secretariat! At the beginning of 2007, I wish to take this opportunity to extend best wishes to all the IWUF member federations. Your efforts in promoting wushu over the years are highly appreciated. May 2007 bring all of you happiness, prosperity and success!
1. Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008
Mr. Gilbert Felli, Executive Director of the Olympic Games sent a letter to all the NOCs of the Olympic family on December 7，2006, notifying that there will be a Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008 during the Olympic Games. The dates are August 21 – 24, 2008. The venue will be the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium. The participants shall be 120 from 25 national federations. The events will include taolu and sanshou for both men and women. These athletes shall be qualified from the 9th World Wushu Championships.
2. World Games
The 9th World Games will be held in Gaoxiong, Taiwan from July 16 to 26, 2009. On behalf of the IWUF, Mr. Wang Xiaolin, Secretary General of the IWUF has been discussing with the President of International World Games Association and CEO of the Organizing Committee of the World Games about wushu issue on many occasions. The Gaoxiong Organizing Committee officially informed the IWUF that it was approved wuushu would be an invitational event of the Games. The detailed information will be notified to all the IWUF members in due course.
3. 9th World Wushu Championships
Since the stadium for the venue of the 9th World Wushu Championships is under renovation and wushu competition shall be held after Handball Qualification System for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the 9th World Wushu Championships will be held in early November 2007. The Regulations of the Championships will be circulated to all the IWUF members in April, 2007. The IWUF Technical Committee, Medical Committee, Traditional Wushu Committee, Marketing & Development Committee meetings and 9th Congress will also be held during this time. Proposals for the IWUF Constitution and nominations for election shall be submitted to the IWUF Secretariat 6 months prior to the Congress.
4. The IWUF Executive Committee, Technical Committee and Traditional Wushu Committee meetings
On October 15 and 16, 2006, the IWUF Executive Committee, Technical Committee and Traditional Wushu Committee meetings were held in Zhengzhou, China during the 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships. The Executive Committee discussed the matters regarding wushu’s entry into the Commonwealth Games and the World Games. The Technical Committee studied the Regulations of 2nd World Junior Wushu Championships and the Regulations of the 9th World Wushu Championships. The Traditional Wushu Committee discussed traditional wushu development in each continent.
5. The 3rd Sanshou World Cup
The 3rd Sanshou World Cup was held in Xi’an , China from September 22 –24, 2006. 59 athletes from 23 countries and regions participated in the competition, which was organized in good order. They are the top three place winners of each category of sanshou competition of 8th World Wushu Championship. With everyone’s efforts, the competition was organized with success.
6. The IWUF Coaches Training Course
The International Coaches Training Course was held in Beijing from July 17 to 22, 2006. 155 coaches from 36 countries and regions participated in the course. The Chinese Wushu Association provided free accommodation for 46 coaches from some developing countries, and helped them to train technical backbones.
7. The IWUF Judges Examination Course
The International Judges Examination Course was held in Shanghai, from November 20 – 26, 2006. 91 judges from over 28 countries and regions participated in the course and they were conferred international judges certificate of grades.
8. 1st World Junior Wushu Championships
The 1st World Junior Wushu Championships was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 20 to 26, 2006. More than 300 junior athletes from over 40 counties and regions took part in the event. The event was successfully organized. Some Executive Committee members also attended the Championships. We are very pleased to note that the technical level of junior athletes is continuously on the rise.
9. 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships
The 2nd World Traditional Wushu Championships was held from October 16 to 20, 2006. 2008 athletes from 66 countries and regions participated in the event. The IWUF committee meetings were held during this time. The grand opening and closing ceremonies, spectacular welcome ceremony in Dengfeng and the Shaolin Temple, Science Conference and artistic performance of Zen Buddhism in the mountains leave deep impression on every participant. Mr. Hein Verbruggen, Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 29th Olympiad and Mr. Gilbert Felli, Executive Director of the Olympic Games attended the Championships and watched with interest the wushu demonstration at the invitation of Mr. Yu Zaiqing, IWUF President. They spoke highly of the demonstration.
10. The 15th Asian Games
The Wushu Competition of the 15th Asian Games was held in Doha, Qatar from December 11 - 14, 2006. 29 Wushu Federation of Asia (WFA) member federations participated in the Asian Games. The WFA Technical Committee, Executive Committee meetings and the 10th WFA Congress were held during this time. 5 new members were accepted into the WFA. New WFA official members were elected. Mr. Yu Zaiqing was elected President of the WFA. Athletes from 17 countries and regions have won medals. Wushu has been a medal sport since 1990 Asian Games.
11. IWUF New Members
Since last year, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Tunisia, Mauritania and Guyana Wushu Federations applied to join in the IWUF. They were accepted as the IWUF provisional members by the IWUF Executive Committee meeting. They will become IWUF full member after they are approved by the IWUF Congress. The Slovenia Wushu Taijiquan Federation was recognized by its national Olympic committee. It has already been affiliated with the European Wushu Federation. It will become an IWUF member, replacing the existing one. The IWUF now has 111 members.
12. Activities from the IWUF member federations in 2007
1. The 1st International Wushu “President Cup” will be held from February 20 to March 1 in Iran.
2. The 4th International Grand Wushu Festival will be held from May 31 to June 4 in Warsaw, Poland.
3. The 4th Jiaozuo International Taijiquan Exchange Competition will be held in August in Jiaozuo, China.
4. The 3rd World Taijiquan Health Conference will be held in December in Guangzhou, China.
12. IWUF Major Events in 2007
a) The 9th World Wushu Championships will be held in Beijing in early November 2007.
b) The 4th Asian Junior Wushu Championships will be held in Jeongju, Korea from June 27 to July 1, 2007.
c) The European Youth Wushu Championships will be held in Warsaw, Poland.
d) The 3rd South Asian Wushu Championships will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from September 10 to 17, 2007.
e) The IWUF International Judges Examination Course will be held in China. The detailed information will be sent to the IWUF members soon.
f) The IWUF International Coaches Training Course will be held in China. The detailed information will be sent to the IWUF members soon.
g) IWUF Executive Committee, Technical Committee, Medical Committee, Traditional Wushu Committee meetings and IWUF Congress will take place in Beijing, China, in November 2007.