Category: News

The organization often credited as the champion for Traditional Chinese martial arts is called the Chin-Woo Athletic Association (CWAA). The Chin-Woo Athletic Association is the second largest umbrella organisation for Chinese martial arts in the world today. It is the only non-government funded international organization with a focus on Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and it has over 56 branches in 35 countries covering 5 continents.The word Chin (Jing in Cantonese) meaning refined, top-grade or spirit. The word Woo (Mo in Cantonese) meaning military, of the martial arts and brave & daring. The first of the CWAA was formed in Shanghai, China around 1909. By naming the then school, the Chin-Woo Athletic Association and not a kung-fu organization, the founders have avoided rebel and militaristic connotations. This helped keep both the general public as well as the local authorities from being concerned over any connection of this newly form school to any subversive activities.

As the nightmare of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion were still vivid and fresh on everyone’s mind.There is a romantic but true story associated with the founding of the Chin-Woo School. During the early 1900’s China was frail and corrupted to the core. The Ching dynastic government had to kowtow and made concessions to almost every foreign power whom has set foot on Chinese soil. With the official’s cowardice had led the people of China to consider that Traditional Chinese Martial Arts was false and unworthy. At the time there was this travelling circus show staged at the Apollo Theatre in Shanghai. In one of it’s act the performer, O’brian the strongman has openly challenge any Chinese people who could fight and defeat him. After having beaten several feeble attempts from the locals the strongman bragged that no Chinese Martial Arts could match his strength and skill. Agitated by this boastful claim, a group of patriots led by Chen Gong-Ze contacted Huo Yuan-Jia of Tianjin to come to Shanghai to accept this challenge.After much negotiation by both sides, agreement to the contest rules has been reached. The news of this much-publicized contest has reached national interest, as a contest to defend the honour and integrity of an important part of Chinese culture. Many people came from afar to witness this event. However, the strongman O’brian obviously had second thoughts about this and departed before the due day of the match. On the day, as not to disappoint the fuelled crowd that has massed in front of the 20′ x 20′ stage at Chang Garden. It was decided by Huo to take on any challengers from the crowd. In the next two days challengers were defeated one after the other.

The demonstration of Huo’s prowess on stage has impressed who were there and restored their faith and confidence in Chinese Martial Arts. Sensing this surge of self-pride from the people from this outcome, Chen Gong-Ze and others invited Huo to remain in Shanghai to teach his family style at the Chin-Woo Athletic School. Huo died some eight months later of jaundice (his nickname “Yellow-Faced Tiger”, probably stemmed from this condition). Huo’s senior students continued until 1919 when the founders reorganized the school to Chin-Woo Athletic Association at a new location with four new instructors, Luo Guang-Yu of Northern Praying Mantis style, Chen Zi-Zeng of Eagle-Claw style, Wu Jian-Quan of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan and Zhao Lian-He of the Northern Shaolin style.

With this borne the Chin-Woo concept of many arts under the one roof and a new notion of the modern Chinese Martial Arts School where a formal “introduction” before acceptance for training by the teacher is no longer a requirement.During the early years, the CWAA slogan being “to strengthen the citizens to develop the country”. This sentiment received recognition of the founding father of modern China, Dr. Sun Yat-San and aroused the patriotism of many established martial artists throughout China. Within the following years branches have spread to all corners of South East Asia, i.e. Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, with recent addition of Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.In recent times, this association’s slogan have been extended to “Chin-Woo As One Family”, given that the fraternity have now grown beyond the Asian boundary into Switzerland, France, Poland, United Kingdom, North & South America, Australia and New Zealand.

This growth into a global organisation has led to a two-yearly international get together for all members in the form of competition and cultural exchanges since 1990. Twice held in Shanghai in 1992 & 1994. Guangzhou hosted the 4th Chin-Woo World Championship in 1996. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia hosted the 5th Chin-Woo World Championship in 1998. In 2000, Tianjin Chin-Woo hosted the 6th World Championship. The 7th Chin-Woo World Championship in 2002 was for the first time an international meeting hosted outside of Asia, in Texas, U.S.A.

Following on this mode, the 8th World Chin-Woo Championship was held at Warsaw, Poland while the 9th International meet was held in Manchester, England in 2006. The New Zealand chapter was first incorporated in 1995 and formally launched in October 1998 in Auckland, with 43 members. Since then, the membership has increased many folds with branches in Auckland and Wellington with members between Whangarei to Timaru.

The mission statement for the Chin-Woo Athletic Association of New Zealand is to promote Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and culture in New Zealand. In other words, it is to utilise Chinese Martial Arts as a medium to bridge the cultural differences and to develop friendship and cultivate harmony and peace around the world. Chin-Woo is also a non-commercial and non-political organisation.

The formation of the Chin-Woo New Zealand chapter can be largely credited to Mr. Kenneth Liu, an ardent supporter of the Chin-Woo movement in the past 40 years. It is through his passion and dedication to the course of promoting Traditional Chinese Martial Arts that has enabled the “seeds” of Chin-Woo to be sown in New Zealand.

Saturday 6 October 2007, Farm Cove Intermediate, Pakuranga
By Josh Addison & Peter Yu
Back to Past Events

The Fourth Annual Chin Woo New Zealand Wushu Competition took place on Saturday the 6th of October at Farm Cove Intermediate in Pakuranga. Students from several Auckland wushu schools competed in a variety of event categories, which, for the first time, included International Wushu Federation competition forms in addition to the standard Chin Woo forms.

This year’s competition saw a large turnout, with two separate performance areas set up to accommodate all of the events. Students competed in over ten events organised into more than fifteen separate categories, with competitors divided by experience, age and gender depending on the event. Also included in the day’s events were open categories for bare-hand and weapon exhibition forms.

Supervised by head judge and Chin Woo NZ Chief Wushu Coach George Guo, assistant judges Berin Hunter and Michael Yip awarded scores, aided by their corner judges. A good level of competition was on show in all events, with students from all schools taking away prizes. The traditional exhibition forms saw an impressive variety of styles on display, drawing much applause from the audience.

The Chairman of Chin Woo NZ, Peter Yu, in his closing address, first congratulated all the competing athletes for their participation and to remind them that winning is less important than the knowledge & friendship gained through this tournament. Learning & practicing the Martial Ethics ( ) is just as significant as learning & practicing of the techniques in wushu. Concluded with asking all athletes to be remindful of the Chinese tradition of “????”, while drinking water, one must remember it’s source, in this case, always to remember & respect their instructor, for he or she is imparting to them their own life experiences.

Over 100 medals were awarded to the various divisional winners. Special award presenter of the day, Vice Chairman of Shenzhen Wushu Association of China, Mr. Li Bin, a master of Sun Style Internal System.

Also at the awards ceremony, for the first time in New Zealand, some one or two star patches were awarded to students who have successfully passed the requirement set by the internationally recognised Chin Woo grading system.

The day was a big success all round, thanks to all competitors, organisers and volunteers who made it possible.

Saturday 6th October 2007, 9am to 5pm
Application Form & Rules and Regulations
Followup of the Competition

To be held at Farm Cove Intermediate Gymnasium, Butley Drive, Pakuranga, Auckland.

This annual event has became so immensely popular since its initiation in 2004, under the tutelage of Chin Woo New Zealand’s Chief Wushu Coach, Mr. George Guo.

This year Chin Woo New Zealand will extend the competition items to include the IWUF (International Wushu Federation) competition forms & other traditional empty hand & weapons forms, and is open to all clubs & individuals outside the Chin Woo New Zealand membership.

For the Chin Woo Forms the competitors are divided into two categories:

1) training for 1 year & under,
2) with over 1 year of training.

There are three age groups:
1) Child 10 years or under,
2 ) Youth 11 to 17 years old,
3 ) Adult 18 years & above;
male or female division.

There is no age or gender division in the IWUF Forms and in the Traditional Form Exhibition Group.

For more information, please email “chinwoo@actrix.co.nz”:mailto:chinwoo@actrix.co.nz. Or download your Application Form & Rules and Regulations.

We would like to thank Asia New Zealand Foundation & Auckland City, whom enabled this event to take place.

Through the introduction of our patron, Mr. Kenneth Liu (who is currently base in Hong Kong), we were informed of the upcoming visit of “a modern traditionist” – Mr. Li Bin, the Vice Chairman of the Shenzhen Wushu Association.

On Saturday 18th August, Chin Woo Wellington hosted Mr. Li Bin, a Xing-Yi and Sun Style Tai Chi teacher from Shenzhen, Southern China.

Mr. Li is a graduate of the Beijing Wushu Institute and has studied both traditional and contemporary wushu over many years. He studied Sun Style Tai Chi from Sun Shu Rong who was the granddaughter of the Sun style founder Master Sun Lu Tang.

Accompanying Mr. Li was Miss Wang who was very helpful in assisting with translation on the day.

The exchange took place for 2 hours on the Saturday afternoon and included an impressive demonstration by Mr Li of Xing-Yi Quan, the famous ‘mind boxing’ internal style of Northern China. When initially learning Xing-Yi Mr. Li trained for some 6 years every day for 3-4 hours per day! It was this enduring commitment that helped him to achieve great success in many competitions in China.

Mr. Li also treated the group to a demonstration of the rare Sun Style Tai Chi, both empty hand and jian forms. Mr. Li’s jian demonstration was impressive, particular as it was the author’s jian (which is a heavy and firm weapon) that he was bending to all sorts of angles.

Reciprocating on behalf of Chin Woo Wellington was a variety of local kung fu practitioners one of whom is Sifu Hennie Barnard of the Wellington School of Tai Chi Chuan. Sifu Barnard gave a good demonstration of the Yang Style 36 Jian Form.

Also in attendance were members from the NZ Ling Nam Wushu Association, led by Sifu Melissa Chan. Sifu Chan demonstrated the southern Chinese form Hap Gar Siu Lohan as well as the Yang 24 Tai Chi form. Various students from the Ling Nam Association also performed forms from their curriculum. Sifu Peter Sue of the Wellington Chinese Martial Arts Association gave an impressive demonstration of his power in performing the Southern Praying Mantis and Shotokan Karate’s Tensho forms.

Students from the NZ Wing Tsun Association gave an ad-hoc demonstration of various Wing Tsun forms as well as pre-arranged Chi Sau sets. Befitting a Chin Woo organized event, Miki Schmidt performed a section of the Tam Tui form, Chin Woo’s first set.

The afternoon went by fast and Mr. Li’s passion for traditional Chinese martial arts shone through from his enthusiasm and willingness to encourage others, both junior and senior to him to pursue higher levels of achievement in their arts. One Chin Woo member likened the mood of the afternoon’s exchange as to that of good friends chatting around a camp fire. Mr. Li graciously extended an open invitation to the members to visit and train with him and his students in Shenzhen, a generous and tempting offer for many of us.

The following day at 4pm, Mr. Li accompanied by Miss Wang, visited the Auckland chapter and was greeted by Auckland Regional Director & National Chin Woo Coach, Mr. George Guo. Mr. Robert Pointon came up from Hamilton and Sifu Malisa Ng of Chenshi Taichicise got off her sick bed to support this special occasion.

Tom Cotton, senior student of Coach Guo, demonstrated a well executed Jie Quan from the official Chin Woo form which has attracted high praises from Mr. Li. Other performers included Peter Yu doing a modified Wing Tsun Chum Kiu form; Sifu Malisa Ng demonstrated a segment from the Chen Style Tai Chi new form; Sifu Robert Pointon performed a part of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan; Sifu Robert Chitty demonstrated the Wing Tsun Free Style Sticky Hands. A young Chin Woo member also demonstrated the basic form of Wing Tsun Siu Nim Tau which Mr. Li has found fascinating of the small and compactness of this Southern style kung-fu since his prime interest was the Northern style, where both the footworks and hand movements are a lot bigger.

Mr. Li performed his traditional Sun Style Tai Chi Sword (Jian) which had held all who have attended spellbound. We have all thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Li’s visit and looking forward to meeting up with him again either in China or here in New Zealand in the near future.

On 16th May 2007, Mr David Chan, on behalf of NZ Chin Woo visited the Western Australia Chin Woo Athletic Association, based in Perth.

Mr Chan was very pleased to see that WA Chin Woo are well supported by a group of dedicated and keen enthusiasts. WA Chin Woo have a particular emphasis on promoting modern Wushu as well as the traditional Chin Woo Forms and Sets.

Mr Chan was hosted by WA Chin Woo Vice President Dr Tan Kee (Pictured)

The visit was the first formal visit by a NZ Chin Woo representative to WA Chin Woo.

“www.chinwoo.com.au”:http://www.chinwoo.com.au/

Congratulations

Mr Robert Pointon who has been appointed the new Secretary General for the Chin Woo Athletic Association of New Zealand. The demands of this position require the incumbent to have both a thorough understanding and belief in the Chin Woo movement as well as excellent communication skills across all levels of the associations involvement. Mr Robert Pointon not only has these traits but has dedicated himself to promoting Chin Woo at grass roots level over the years as the Regional Director for the Central Region.

On Sunday 17th June 2007, the Chin Woo Athletic Association of
New Zealand held its Annual General Meeting in Hamilton

Mr Robert Pointon, the Central Regional Director hosted the event which included not only the AGM, but also two introductory workshops given by Chin Woo executive members Mrs Malissa Ng (Chen Family Tai Chi Chuan) and Mr George Guo (Gong Li Chuan). Both workshops were well supported by people from Auckland and the Waikato Region with both young and old, beginner and experienced taking part.

In only 5 short years of his teaching in New Zealand, his students have surprised the International Chinese Wushu Community by winning nearly 30 medals (10 of them Gold Medals) and recommendations in 2 separate world class tournaments.

Chin Woo NZ Chief Wushu Coach, George Guo has just opened his training venue in North Shore, Auckland. Classes are open to all age group. If you are a person who is interested in this modern approach to a traditional Chinese martial arts training for both health and friendship please call 09-5355928 or 021-0324456 for more information.

Venue: Onepoto Primary School, 17 Fraser Avenue, Northcote, North Shore City.

Time: Wed 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Sat 2:30pm – 3:30pm