Arrr Collegiate!

Leah C.

March 6, 2010 - 6:00 PM

Yesterday was the 14th Annual Collegiate Wushu Championships. This was the fourth time that the UO Wushu Team hosted the event in Oregon. The competition consisted of forms, weapons, tai chi and team group sets. There were many participants from schools all around the United States. We had students from UC Davis, UCLA, Stanford, Georgia Tech and many more. It was a very spectacular event and this was the first time I've ever participated in the competition. Everyone was busy and stressed, so I tried to help out as much as I can. I volunteered to make name tags for the 100+ competitors, and was Oregon's main photographer for the night, taking over 8GB worth of photos. I will definetly make sure to post the link of the wushu site once they're sorted and uploaded.

Regarding how I did in the competition: all I have to say is that I did my best. I was the last female competitor in the beginners long fist event and once I saluted to the judges, I lost all confidence and awareness of what I was doing. Looking back I wished I had focused more, making sure that my extensions and forms were perfect. My knee that I had previously twisted, gave out in the end when I did a drop stance. I touched the floor with my hand, which was an automatic .3 deduction. I also wobbled a bit during a stance.... I was really disappointed in myself after hearing my score, cause I knew I could've done better. All I can say is that it was a great experience for me, and it definitely motivated me to train harder for the next competition. I walked a way from the ring knowing what I need to do next time, because really, this is just the beginning.

Well, after the long fist event, it was really just the beginning. The championship started at 9am, and lasted till 10:30PM following an after party at around midnight. It was a really long day, everyone from the UO team was exhausted from all the prepping and clean up. We had to put the carpet out the night before along with the chairs. I got 3 hours of sleep before I had to go back and help with prep work before the event. I just hope we made a good impression on everyone and all the other competitors. The team brought back a gold in the advance males long fist, and silvers in both male and female long fist. Go Oregon Wushu!

A lot of the beginners got a lot out of this and it just motivated everyone to train harder. The atmosphere during the competition was amazing and just the support that everyone got was great. People screamed the Chinese phrase "Jai Yao" (add oil) in support of each other, even to rival competitors. Wushu is all about bonding, about learning from each other. Everyone wants to see the best from all the competitors and there was great deal of admiration from everyone. I hope to be a part of this as long as possible and cherish all the memories I have with all my wushu friends.