CDN SportsTalk: What is wushu?

Photo courtesy of Vange Agbay

CEBU CITY, Philippines -Wushu, a Chinese martial arts that requires determination and dedication, has been around Cebu since 1990.

This was what Osias Jr. “Liuk” Rama Cartagena, head coach of the Wushu team in Cebu City, said during the latest episode of CDN SportsTalk. He was joined by Vange Agbay, a former Philippine team member for wushu.

Cartagena said wushu is a practical sport in the form of martial arts which practices self defense while incorporating health and fitness. 

So how do you start getting into this sport?

“I usually start with stances and footwork because I think it is the foundation of all movements nya plus the hand finger movements,” said Cartagena.

“Once ma coordinated na ang stances, footwork, and arms, the head and the body [and] the upper extrimity will follow, that’s the basic form that we are practicing, and then later on we will proceed with the advanced movements,” he added.

Health-related, skill-related

The head coach also emphasized that the technique lies within and how the athlete performs the sport because he admitted that when people would see the sport being performed, some would say it’s easy.

Cartagena explained what an aspiring wushu practitioner needs to possess, which he categorized into two:  health-related fitness and skill-related fitness.

Health-related fitness includes endurance and flexibility while skill-related fitness includes agility and reaction time, explained Cartagena.

Meanwhile, Agbay,  who received multiple awards, including a gold medal in Nanchen and is now a coach for Talisay and Mandaue, shared her knowledge of the sport.

Agbay explained that wushu is divided into two categories called “taolu” and “sanda.”

Taolu is composed of choreographed routines or dances while sanda is about full-contact combat forms, which includes kicking, boxing, and wrestling, otherwise known as modernized “Kung Fu.”

Agbay also stated that her mom used to enroll her in different summer classes before she bumped into the sport in 2004, as it was introduced at the Cebu Normal University (CNU).

“Na-engganyo ko kay mura siyag sayaw nga na’y karate, so during that summer ni-join ko 2004 so after ato nakakita og potential ni-join mi og National games,” said Agbay.

“So during that time, nakita sad ang potential didto sa Manila sa National team. Mao to nga giinvite mi og training pool,” she added.

Challenges of wushu

The former wushu athlete is considered as one of the pioneering athletes in Cebu along with her sister Mary Stephanie Agbay, who are best known as “The Agbay Sisters”.

She also added that wushu was implemented in the Department of Education (DEPED) in the late 2000s.

Agbay admitted that the hardest challenge for wushu is the support from both the local government and from the public, since it is still a sport not many know about.

Agbay is currently teaching summer classes solely for recreational activity while her athletes are planning on joining several competitions in Cebu.

Meanwhile, coach Cartagena currently operates a grassroots program for wushu in Cebu City that is active all year round.

/bmjo

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