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Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in a tai chi wu shu tournament? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be part of the Beijing Olympic Games? Well, give yourself a few minutes to learn about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I was privileged to be selected as the coach and team manager of the Australian Team at the Special Wushu Tournament which was run concurrently with the Olympic Games in Beijing August 2008. The International Olympic Committee gave special permission for this Wushu (kung fu and tai chi) tournament to be conducted during the Olympic Games in order to promote the Chinese martial arts such as tai chi and kung fu on the international stage.
128 athletes from 48 counties and regions took part. These athletes were the top participants from last year?s World Wushu Tai Chi Kung Fu Championships. There was also ?wild card? entries allocated for some regions of the world that would not otherwise be represented. Australian Susie Parnham,received one of these wild cards to compete in Tai Chi Chuan (bare hands) and Tai Chi Jian (straight sword). During the Games in Beijing, I kept a diary, which I would like to share with you.
Tai Chi's Monday 18th August
I arrived at the grand new airport in Beijing to be met by IWUF volunteers at the arrival gate and escorted to the special Olympic Passport control area to be ?fast-tracked? through while everyone else had to stand in long queues. The Customs officer greeted us with a very nice smile, which was so different to the usual serious manner. Outside the Customs area we were greeted by an IWUF official and given our ID cards, which were to be our passport to so many events, areas and services for the whole duration of our stay. We were wondering where we would be staying and when we were told that we would be in the Olympic Village, we were over the moon.
Upon arrival at the Olympic Village (called the OLV by Olympians), we went through very high security provisions and was scanned in a similar fashion to airport security. At each entrance of the OLV there was a SWAT team with machine-guns and rifles and in full riot gear. Then we went through the main gate. Just being inside and seeing this enormous ?city within a city? was overwhelming. We finally found our proper allocated apartment. (We were first mistakenly taken to the official Australian Olympic Team?s accommodation. I had a strong and uncomfortable feeling that we really shouldn?t be there.) We were relieved to find our own rooms in a fourbedroom apartment with shared bathroom.
We had a rest and then went on reconnaissance to find important matters ? food! Luckily we were given a map of the OLV by the Australian Olympic team to find our way around. We were in awe at the size of the largest of the three dining halls. It was the length of an AFL football ground, with row after row of tables and chairs, and at the far end, the food buffet included all types of food you can possibly eat - from international cuisine, to Chinese and McDonalds. Food and drinks (and ice-cream) was available 24/7 and all free. We sat down to enjoy a nice lunch with an added delicacy ? Beijing Duck! We were told that the first week 3000 serves a day were consumed and the following week they had to increase the number to 6000 serves per day.
After lunch we explored some more. Other facilities included a laundry, and internet caf?, both free of charge. Another area allocated for athletes was the international zone for banking, mobile phone sales and recharging, and, of course, shopping (this was China after all).
Tai Chi's Tuesday 19th August
We attended a special meeting in the morning. At the meeting, we found out that the IOC was unhappy that the Wushu tournament participants were accommodated in the OLV. We were told not to display any wushu flags and keep a low profile in the OLV. In the afternoon I walked a circuit to find out where and how we could take the shuttle bus to training and competition. All transport was free to athletes including the normal trains and busses in the city. Only taxis had to be paid for.
The shuttle bus was battery-driven to keep within the ?Green Olympics? theme.
Tai Chi's Wednesday 20th August
A Team Officials meeting outlined the competition format. Then the ballot for the athlete?s order of performance on the floor was carried out. We had lunch, a rest, and late in the afternoon we took a bus to the Welcoming Dinner. This was a 13 course dinner including lobster, scallops, crispy-skin chicken and much and from the since-elected Vice-President of the IOC. Each country was presented with a Beijing 2008 Wushu Competition souvenir plate. Lots of photos were taken amongst old and new friends. As is usual in China, before we had even finished our food, we were being told ?Thank you for attending. See you later.? Still munching, we elbowed our way back into buses and drove back to the OLV.
Tai Chi's Thursday 21st August
Woken up very early by dripping sounds, I opened the curtain to find that it was drizzling ? the first rain since we arrived. I went for an early breakfast, during which the sky opened and it was pelting down heavily. I hadn?t taken an umbrella or jacket! The nice volunteers at the dining room had big black plastic bags available for us to cut a hole in to poke our heads through and wear as raincoats. After I hurried back to the apartment to change my wet clothes, I took the shuttle bus to the first day of the championships. Watching the top elite wushu athletes performing the routines on the floor was electrifying and inspiring! These were the new difficult routines, the ones that included many new super-advanced techniques. In the evening there was more competition and we had our first medal presentation. The gold medal was won, of course, by China. Subsequently, every event that China competed in, they won. The only events won by other countries were ones with no Chinese entry. Eventually, China won 8 gold medals. The medals were identical to the ones presented to the Beijing Olympic athletes except that they had the IWUF and wushu symbols in the centre instead of the Olympic rings.
Tai Chi's Friday 22nd August
Jet Li opened this day?s competition session. Jet Li was the international ?image? ambassador for this tournament. Susie competed that morning. I also had to make sure that the music was the correct CD and was started at the right time for her performance. I?m not sure if it was that day but at one of the medal presentations, the President of the IOC, Jacque Rogge, madethe presentation. This showed support for Wushu at a high international sporting level.
Tai Chi's Saturday 23rd August
In the morning Susie competed again. As we left the competition before lunch, the Chinese crowd noticed that we were wearing our Australian Team uniform and they all wanted to have their photos taken with us. We were there for about an hour having our photos taken. What a wonderful feeling, we were treated like Rock Stars! It showed how popular we are in China!
The night time session was dramatic. The Italian competitor in straight sword and spear missed out on first place by 0.05. Her mum, who was the coach of Italy, was furious. She stormed out of the sitting area and barged into the competing arena to protest. While the three medal winners were ready to receive their medals on the podium, she dragged her daughter away in tears. The officials went to talk to them for a long time, the other medal winners being left standing waiting for the presentation to commence. Eventually the Italian competitor returned to the podium to receive her silver medal. Had wushu been an Olympic Games sport, I am sure this would not have been allowed to happen.
Tai Chi's Sunday 24th August
The last day of the competition was the Sanshou finals. Once again there were two Chinese finalists and they won their final bouts. The Chinese Women?s 52 kilo competitor wasparticularly ?brutal? to her opponent. She was fierce!
The surprise came at the end of competition when all Team Managers were told that we were to be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games closing ceremony. Would you believe it? The closing ceremony? Inside the Birds Nest? We clapped and clapped. We were very very excited.
We arrived at 5 o?clock to catch the bus to go to the Closing Ceremony. All the buses were lining up to take us to the Birds Nest. We were told there were 63 buses! On the way, all the side roads were closed off along the route. On the bus, we were given tickets for the Stadium. When we noticed that all the tickets were marked with the same section and number, we started to wonder about the validity of the tickets. But they were genuine ? just another example of a unique Chinese system.
Our seats were very close to the edge of the arena ? a perfect viewing placement. On each seat there was a ?show bag? containing a fan, a mini-Olympic torch, a little prayer-drum, a colourful wristband, and a souvenir booklet. All the items were for use during the show.
By now I was starving because I hadn?t had any lunch. So I ventured to the back of the Stadium, to my astonishment, there were two trestle tables full of food and fridges full of drinks ? all free! The weather was very hot and humid. We were all stewing nicely inside the Stadium. There were preliminary entertainment before the commencement of the Closing Ceremony (this was not shown on TV). There were comedians, acrobats, tumblers, singing, and crowd involvement. And there were girls on the aisles who gave us a rehearsal of the things we had to do during the ceremony.
You?ve seen what a spectacular show it was on TV. Being there was another experience altogether! No words can really describe it. Just to be part of the Closing Ceremonywas the experience of a life-time.
After the Closing Ceremony, as usual in China, the whole place was empty within 5 minutes. After we arrived back at the OLV, all the athletes gathered in the dining room. This is where the action started. Everyone wanted to get McDonalds. Even with all that wonderful other food available! There was such a buzz in the air!
While I was queuing up, the word got around that the American basketball ?Dream Team? was in the queue at MacDonald?s and, luckily, I had my camera with me, and started taking photos of Kobe Bryan and other American basketballers who I could not identify. There was a big crowdaround the team while they were eating. It was on the border of hysteria. It was a late night to bed.
Tai Chi's Monday 25th August
In the morning we had breakfast in the giant hall again, but for the last time. We then went to the shopping area for a last minute grab at some shopping. At 12 o?clock it was time to leave the OLV. The South African Olympic team was on our bus to the airport. When we arrived at the airport there was a special area for the bus to park, and we then checked in to return home.
Some of the famous people I met at the Games were Grant Hackett, Kobe Bryant, Ronaldino the Brazilian soccer player, John Earl, Melissa Wu, John Stephenson, Natalie Cook, Hussein Bolt the fastest man on earth, and many more.
This was just an incredible experience, not only of tai chi and kung fu, but of an Olympic Games ? an opportunity that probably will not be repeated again in a lifetime. I?ve learnt many valuable things by just being part of the Beijing wushu games. So you can be sure I?ll be passing on these experiences to every aspect of our academy, to make sure that we continue to improve and continue to offer you the very best at Golden Lion Academy.
Si Gung Charles Tsui-Po
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