Tag Archives: California State University Northridge

March 12, 2011

15th Annual Collegiate Wushu Tournament at UCLA

Congratulations to the UCLA Wushu Club, this past weekend (3/5/11) they hosted the 15th Annual Collegiate Wushu Tournament in the Student Activities Center. 27 Teams competed against each other in ‘forms’ which include techniques from various Chinese martial arts. Many of the forms include acrobatic and aerial moves which the competitors move across the floor in various orders. Some forms have the same techniques some have variations from school to school. But all are very impressive to watch, see below;

(Click the picture to watch a video of Stefan Wojciechowski – Co President of the UCLA Wushu Club, performing a form during the tournament)

While watching the tournament, I kept hearing a single chant to encourage the competitors, this chant was “Jiayo” and it means to ‘add oil’ or gas, like fuel to a fire. When I asked the UCLA Wushu Club President what the chant meant he expanded on how rival teams cheer for each other and what the collegiate tournament means to him;

“For me, the Wushu Collegiates shows true sportsmanship. There is no malice between rivals and it is common that your arch rival will lead the cheer for you as you compete. That strong sense of community and friendship and the ethic that we are about improving ourselves and our expression through martial arts, is what made me really love this sport and want to provide that opportunity to other college students.”

–Stefan Wojciechowski (UCLA Wushu Club President)

UCLA A team took 2nd place group set, losing by only .01 to Berkeley UCLA Wushu’s biggest rival! UCLA also took 2nd place in the overall team competition, again coming second only to Berkeley, Stefan said that Berkeley has a massive club with many schools in the bay area to train with, this makes them a force to contend with. Individually the UCLA Team received nine 1st place, eight 2nd place and three 3rd place medals. To see all the individual UCLA achievements check out the list below;

Julie Wang 1st place Beg Female Straight Sword
Chris Hoo 2nd place Beg Male Staff
Josephine Lee 2nd place Int Traditional Open Empty Hand
Andy Huang 2nd place Int Male Traditional Open Empty Hand
Candace Sy 2nd place Int Female Traditional Open Empty Hand
Christine Truong 3rd place Int traditional Open Empty Hand
Karen Mok Adv Female Southern Fist 1st place & Adv Female Broadsword 1st place
Erin Wu 1st place Adv Female Straight Sword, 3rd place Adv Female Spear & 2nd place Adv Female Taiji Sword
Jarrad Lee 3rd place Adv Male Yang Taiji, 1st place Adv Male 42 Form Combined Taiji, 2nd place Adv Male Taiji Sword & 2nd place Adv Male Internal Open Empty Hand
Elaine Ho 1st place Adv Female Internal Open Weapon & 1st place Adv Female Internal Open Empty Hand
Janice Chan 1st place Int Female Straight Sword
Ernest Wong 1st place Beg Contemporary Open Weapon
Stefan Wojciechowski 2nd place Adv Contemporary Open Weapon