Martial arts team punches out in style

The Beijing Wushu Team performed a martial arts show last Saturday at the National Wushu Traning Center in Huntington Beach before returning to China. Spectators of all ages came to see the team and when it came out fans applauded.

The demonstration began with a brief display of the men's empty hand form. They displayed swift, powerful moves and had the audience in awe.

That was just the beginning; the women, wearing white costumes, came out in full force displaying strength and grace with precise punches.

Mist, music, and smoke filled the gym as the athletes leaped in the air, turned 360 degrees and finished off with a sharp kick.

The team also brought out some old comers, former team member Jet Li was present to show his support.

Demonstrations included Tai Chi sword, straight sword, empty-hand versus spear, butterfly twist and three-man fight.

In the empty hand versus spear competition, the audience went wild for a women team member fought a male member. Her quick reflexes amused them as she rolled her head clockwise numerous times dodging a jabbing spear. The team had the audience laughing when they performed their "three-man fight."

One athlete jumped crotch first into another member's face then both spun around before falling to the ground. It was comic, like a scene from a Jackie Chan movie.

In literal terms, Wushu means "art of war," in Chinese.

"It is the national sport of China and it has the most practitioners," Chen said.

There are 33 Wushu teams in China. The Beijing Team, lead by head coach Wu Binh, is the all time champion. The team brings its Eastern practice to the West for two months every year to practice because of cold weather in China. While here, the team performs for people of all ages.

"We would like to have the sport of Wushu represent China in the Olympics," Chen said. "We have upcoming plans to bid Wushu to represent the country in the year 2008."

The team consists of 30 members, the youngest is 16 and the oldest 29. These men and women start practicing at the age of 5 years old.