Issue: Wushu Grading System
As directed by the 24th IWUF Executive Committee Meeting on October 23, 2009 in Toronto, Canada, the project of drafting a Worldwide Wushu Grading System (WGS) was given to the Traditional Wushu Committee (TWC).
The TWC appointed Professor Kang Gewu as Vice Chairman of the TWC to undertake this work with the Chinese Wushu Research Institute (CWRI). It was noted in the IWUF Executive Committee meeting that the proposal of establishing the IWUF Wushu Grading System had first been put forward in 2007.
Subsequently a Draft System and Draft Implementation Plan were produced. The CWRI also produced 27 text books supporting the aim of the WGS, with associated DVDs as a basis for training examination and reference materials.
The WGS working committee reached unanimous agreement at its seminar held between October 31, 2010 and November 1, 2010 in Antalya Turkey, that the "establishment and ongoing management of the WGS was to be run on a professional basis under the control of a dedicated and separate committee of the IWUF, and NOT under either the Technical or Traditional Committees." And that such a committee would be "directly answerable to the Executive Committee and Congress".
After a significant amount of effort to develop the WGS, the work appears to have stalled. The publications and DVDs that have been developed to date are all in Chinese, which is of no use whatsoever to the rest of the IWUF membership outside of China.
I and others believe this has significantly hindered the global growth and development of Wushu and caused considerable frustration to IWUF member federations.
The WGS, if managed correctly, is a potential source of revenue that could significantly contribute towards achieving long-term financial sustainability as an organisation. This would help make IWUF financially independent without having to rely on the Chinese NOC and sponsors.
I and others are at a loss to understand why this has not been a high priority of IWUF in recent years. We believe that it is important for the future of Wushu, that matters of this nature should be of concern to the President of IWUF and priority given to ensure all barriers to the promotion and development of Wushu are removed.
The TWC appointed Professor Kang Gewu as Vice Chairman of the TWC to undertake this work with the Chinese Wushu Research Institute (CWRI). It was noted in the IWUF Executive Committee meeting that the proposal of establishing the IWUF Wushu Grading System had first been put forward in 2007.
Subsequently a Draft System and Draft Implementation Plan were produced. The CWRI also produced 27 text books supporting the aim of the WGS, with associated DVDs as a basis for training examination and reference materials.
The WGS working committee reached unanimous agreement at its seminar held between October 31, 2010 and November 1, 2010 in Antalya Turkey, that the "establishment and ongoing management of the WGS was to be run on a professional basis under the control of a dedicated and separate committee of the IWUF, and NOT under either the Technical or Traditional Committees." And that such a committee would be "directly answerable to the Executive Committee and Congress".
After a significant amount of effort to develop the WGS, the work appears to have stalled. The publications and DVDs that have been developed to date are all in Chinese, which is of no use whatsoever to the rest of the IWUF membership outside of China.
I and others believe this has significantly hindered the global growth and development of Wushu and caused considerable frustration to IWUF member federations.
The WGS, if managed correctly, is a potential source of revenue that could significantly contribute towards achieving long-term financial sustainability as an organisation. This would help make IWUF financially independent without having to rely on the Chinese NOC and sponsors.
I and others are at a loss to understand why this has not been a high priority of IWUF in recent years. We believe that it is important for the future of Wushu, that matters of this nature should be of concern to the President of IWUF and priority given to ensure all barriers to the promotion and development of Wushu are removed.