Martial arts display at the Beijing Olympics
“How could foreign artists find a media to express the essence of kung fu philosophy so well while we, the Chinese, have repeatedly failed to do so,” the line of thinking went through a number of published opinions and blogs. The sense of failure was palpable.
The opening ceremony of the games provided a sense of redemption for the devotees of the kung fu tradition. In a stunning number where 2008 performers displayed “tai chi”, which gradually evolved into boxing, the director managed masterly to strike at the heart of kung fu teachings that the “soft and the palpable will defeat the hard and strong”.
Tai chi expert Huang Zhongda appraised the number as one that conveyed the same message as “Kung Fu Panda”: “The panda could knock down the powerful wolf by a slight touch,’’ he said. It all derived from the martial art’s ancient tradition of striking a balance between internal and external strength.
Now, kung fu backers are getting another reason to cheer. While the millennia-old art failed to get the stamp of approval as an official Olympic sport in Beijing it held an unofficial international competition on the sidelines of the games this week. More flips and kicks by students of the Chinese martial arts are predicted for the hotly anticipated closing ceremony of the games on Aug. 24.
