China and Russia on Thursday won the first two of 13 Wushu golds that will be awarded at the 2009 World Games, taking the titles in the Taolu Changquan (long staff) event. Yuan Xiaochao of China captured the first gold drew in the men's finals of the event, scoring a near-perfect 9.88 out of the maximum 10. Japan's Daisuke Ichikizaki, who finished 0.16 behind, won silver and Russia's Semen Udelov took the bronze. In the women's Taolu Changquan division, Russian Daria Tarasova took the gold with a score of 9.71, ahead of Vietnamese Vu Tra My (9.63) and Indonesian Susyana Tjhan. Both events had five competitors. Crowds of Wushu fans packed Kaohsiung County Stadium Thursday to catch a glimpse of the traditional Chinese martial art being performed at its highest level. Wushu, one of five invitational sports at this year's World Games, is composed of two disciplines -- Taolu and Sanda (or known as sanshou). Taolu, which was the featured discipline earlier in the day, is similar to gymnastics but involves martial art patterns and maneuvers. Competitors perform individual routines that are scored by judges. Five broad forms within Taolu were being contested Thursday, but gold medalists were only decided in the Changquan category. Chinese competitors had good showings in the first rounds of the other categories. China's Hao Qingjian took the lead after the first round of the Gunshu (staff) form of the men's Taolu Daoshu (broadsword) and Gunshu category, with performers from Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea and Russia trailing behind. In the Taijijian (Taiji double-edged sword) round of the men's Taolu Taijiquan and Taijijian category, China's Wu Yanan took a first-round lead with a score of 9.89 after an eye-catching performance. But lurking just 0.09 points behind was Wu's teammate Hei Zhihong, followed by competitors from South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. In the women's side of the category, China's Cui Wenjuan of China led Chinese Taipei's Fan Man-yun by 0.09 points after the first round and were the clear frontrunners for gold. The only men's Taolu category in which China did not enter a competitor was the Nanquan (southern fist) and Nangun (southern cudgel) . Chinese Taipei's Peng Wei-chua took the lead in the Nangun round with a score of 9.8. But in the women's division, China's Lin Fan jumped out to a commanding lead with a score of 9.87. Another Chinese, Ma Lingjuan, took a big lead in the first round of the women's Jianshu and Qiangshu with a score of 9.88, 0.16 points better than second-place Chen Shao-chi of Chinese Taipei. The second round of the Taolu events will be held Friday, and the performers with the highest combined scores over the two days of competition in each category will win the gold medal. Wushu, also known as modern wushu or contemporary wushu, is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. The first Wushu world championship was held in 1991 in Beijing. Taolu forms comprise basic movements, including stances, punches, kicks, balances, jumps and sweeps, based on aggregate categories traditional Chinese martial art style and can be changed for competitions to highlight one's strengths. Sanshou is a modern fighting method and sport influenced by traditional Chinese boxing, Chinese wrestling methods called Shuai Chiao and other Chinese grappling techniques such as Qin Na. It has all the combat aspects of wushu. While Taolu features competitors performing individually, competitors fight against an opponent in Sanshou. Competition in Sanshou was to begin Thursday night at the World Games. 