On 20th July Chenjiagou’s International Culture Centre hosted the Chinese Wushu Association’s (CWA) three day long national taolu (forms) tournament. This is the first time it has been held in Chenjiagou since the inaugural competition in 1993. Theme of the 16th tournament is promoting the development of China’s “martial arts villages” or significant locations in the ongoing history of the countries martial arts. At the opening ceremony one of the Wenxian official explained that the competition was emphasising the taolu of each system because learning a set of taolu is the first step in laying a lifetime practice. Secondly the competition was intended to let people to feel the “atmosphere and warmth of family” – with competitors taking part in a discipline that has a family feel to it. One of the aims of the competition was for all the competitors taking part to have a deeper appreciation of the story of Chinese wushu. In all 97 different wushu locations were represented consisting of 1600 competitors. Each different location has its own story to tell about its part in the development of China’s many different martial arts systems. Competing on the same stage individuals highlighted the 129 disciplines recognised by the CWA.
Wenxian in which Chenjiagou is situated was itself recognised by the country as a representation of a martial arts village in 1988 and 1992. In 2007 the CWA recognised Chenjiagou as the birthplace of Taijiquan. In Wenxian are over 3000 Taijiquan coaches teaching in China and abroad. As part of the opening ceremony representatives from all the major Taijiquan styles demonstrated - pictured above Chen Xiaoxing and his students.
