Oceania Wushu Rules

 

Being based in Australia, the Wushu Herald is bound to be interested in how our region’s Wushu athletes, coaches and individual practitioners are represented in the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) which was established on October 3rd, 1990 and is the international federation governing Wushu in all its forms worldwide. Currently, the IWUF has 146 members, across five continental federations worldwide. The IWUF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and is also a member of both ARISF and Sport Accord.

The IWUF is devoted to development of Wushu throughout the world, to enrichment of people’s lives by making them healthier, both mentally and physically, and to promotion of friendship and understanding between all people through the spirit of sport.

The IWUF is governed by the Executive Board and several Committees which, in total, include 62 people from all over the world. The diagram above shows the distribution of representatives from five continental federations relative to their respective populations (as of September 2017). It can of course dramatically change after the upcoming IWUF Congress, but at the moment the number of Oceania representatives in all IWUF Committees is clearly unproportionate to its population share. With just 0.5% of the world population, Oceania’s representatives enjoy 6% of the total IWUF Committee members which is probably due to their most adorable, charismatic and persuasive foreman whose smooth talk can apparently convince the IWUF President that he is the best man to be the President of the Oceania organisation, and that the simple act of renaming the Kung Fu Wushu South Australia into Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation is a magic move to revitalise Oceania Wushu and boost its membership.

Note: While most of the data used in this analysis was taken from the IWUF website, some of it has been adjusted according to the advice from Mr Glen Keith (former President of the Oceania Wushu Federation and a Vice President of the IWUF who stepped down from these positions in 2015) who now claims to be the Senior Vice President of the brand-new Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation (not to be confused with the Oceania Wushu Federation currently listed on the IWUF website as an official continental member) – the word of the Senior Vice President HAS TO BE TRUE!

Oceania Wushu: Multiple Representation Disorder?

In anticipation of the fast-approaching 14th World Wushu Championships and the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) Congress in Kazan, Russia, we asked Mr Glen Keith, a former Vice President of the IWUF, to clarify several confusing facts about Oceania Wushu structure. He kindly agreed to answer our questions.

 

 

 

 

WUSHU HERALD: There are two websites claiming to be the official sites of the Oceania representatives to the IWUF: http://www.oceaniawushu.org/ and http://oceaniakungfuwushu.com/.

GLEN KEITH: The correct website is http://oceaniakungfuwushu.com/ and I am in the process of closing down the website http://www.oceaniawushu.org/, which is now redundant.  I am also in the process of de-registering the formal structure associated with the Oceania Wushu Federation Limited.

WUSHU HERALD: Accordingly, there are two organisations: Oceania Wushu Federation Limited (NZBN 9429041506516) and Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation Limited (ACN 159 557 892).

GLEN KEITH: There is only one official organisation, being Oceania Kung-Fu Wushu Federation Limited.

WUSHU HERALD: The IWUF website states that the continental member for Oceania is Oceania Wushu Federation Limited although the contact details appear to be of Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation.

GLEN KEITH: I will remind the IWUF to update their website.

WUSHU HERALD: Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation claims to have 12 members 10 of which appear to be in the process of formation. Their logos clearly show the streamlined approach to this process.

GLEN KEITH: I have no reason to dispute the information on the Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation website with regards to membership.

GLEN KEITH: General Comment: In Jakarta 2015 at the IWUF Executive Meeting and Congress, and for personal reasons, I formally withdrew my candidacy for President of the International Wushu Federation.  I also at this time (for the same personal reasons) decided to stand down from my role as President of the Oceania Wushu Federation.  I recommended to IWUF that Mr Walt Missingham take my position as President, given he was the Senior Vice President of the Oceania Wushu Federation.  This was later ratified by IWUF and Mr Missingham was duly nominated and elected.  My current position in the Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation is that of Senior Vice President. 

Mr Glen Keith refused to comment further and it remains unclear why it was necessary to create a new Oceania Kung Fu Wushu Federation while keeping the old one. We continue our investigation.

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The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) is the international organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The IWUF governs Wushu in all its forms worldwide and currently has 146 members, across 5 continental regions including Oceania. Australia is the biggest Oceania country and its Wushu, Tai Chi and Kung Fu practitioners are affected by the policies and decisions of the IWUF and its Oceania Continental Member regardless of their formal affiliations. 

Mr Glen Keith’s Manifesto in his bid to be elected as the IWUF President in 2015 was the subject of the Wushu Herald article (https://issuu.com/auswushu/docs/wushu-herald-2015-vol-03-no-03) and can still be found on http://www.glenkeith.org/.

ASADA Athlete Warning – Higenamine

Recently, ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority) contacted Wushu Council seeking our assistance in warning our athletes about prohibited substance Higenamine, following a flood of positive tests stemming from popular dietary supplements.

In just over a year, 13 Australian athletes from nine different sports have tested positive to Higenamine, which is prohibited both in and out of competition. This is in spite of a warning issued by ASADA in November 2016. Higenamine is often listed on the ingredient label of the supplements, however this is not always the case. As such, ASADA is reiterating its warning around the risk of supplements, as well as ways to help reduce that risk.

To do that, ASADA has published a blog specifically about Higenamine, which includes the names of supplements known to cause positives, and has made several posts on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

https://www.asada.gov.au/news/athlete-warning-higenamine-supplements

Twitter: @anti_doping

Facebook: ASADAantidoping

MFEST 2017

Once again, this year the organisers of the annual Malaysia Festival in Darling Harbour, Sydney, invited Wushu & Tai Chi NSW to participate in this event. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday (20 August 2017) morning although cold and windy which did not prevent the volunteering members from giving an excellent demonstration of traditional Yang style Tai Chi, Short Fan Form, 32 Steps Competition Sword, Simple 8 Steps Tai Chi and dynamic Kung Fu Tai Chi Fan – that was the great way to complete the presentation!

Wushu & Tai Chi NSW is a state member association of the Wushu Council Australia that promotes Wushu, Tai Chi and Qigong in Australia and helps practitioners with their professional growth and maintaining their skills.

https://youtu.be/ut6in4IoUts

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First World Health Qigong Day in Australia

The International Health Qigong Federation has proposed to introduce the World Health Qigong Day on the second Sunday of August. Many Health Qigong organisations supported this initiative and have run some demonstrations and free workshops on this day. This year, it was 13 August 2017.

Wushu Council Australia encouraged everyone with the interest in Health Qigong to participate. In Sydney, on 13th August, Wushu & Tai Chi NSW had a free park demonstration session of Qigong and Tai Chi at Bradfield Park, Milsons Point from 1.30 pm to 2.00 pm. At 2.00 pm, they joined the demonstration of Health Qigong routines led by Professor Liu Xiao Lei from Beijing Sports University. The Professor’s visit was hosted by Tai Chi Fitness Australia. After 3.00 pm the Wushu Tai Chi NSW continued their practice and were joined by some locals and international enthusiastic tourists. Some of them were inspired to explore it further. That’s one of the goals of such a day!

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