Wushu is a successful industry in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, with successful practitioners of the sport emerging from the country. Wushu was already gaining prominence in Singapore in as early as 1967. The country was hailed as Southeast Asia's "best wushu nation" in 1993. In 2000, the Government in Singapore initiated wushu into its Sports Excellence Scheme.
As of 2013, Singapore won two gold medals, three silver medals, and seven bronze medals at the
World Wushu Championships
The World Wushu Championships (WWC) is an international sports championship hosted by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) for the sports of wushu taolu and sanda (sanshou). It has been held biennially since 1991 and is the pinnacle event ...
, placing it at number 20 in the world. The Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, formerly known as the Singapore National Pugilistic Federation, is the official body which oversees and governs the sport in Singapore. Among the notable wushu professionals in the city-state is
Vincent Ng
Vincent Ng Cheng Hye (born 6 December 1975), also known as Weng Qinghai, is a Singaporean martial artist and former actor. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp actor from 1997 to 2007. He is best known for acting in Chinese-language televisi ...
, who became the first individual wushu champion from Singapore in 1995.
History
In 1993, Singapore was ranked the number one wushu nation within Southeast Asia. The same year, May Tan Mui Buay, a
taijiquan
Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Ta ...
exponent, snagged the gold medal at the
Southeast Asian Games of the year in Singapore, and followed up this feat by finishing third and obtaining the country's first medal at the
1994 Asian Games
The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...
in Hiroshima, Japan. The Singapore Sports Council recognised Tan's achievements by rating her as an elite-class athlete. She also won a place in the
Singapore Book of Records for her showing in Hiroshima.
The 1995 World Wushu Championships held in the United States saw Ng Cheng Hye (now better known as Vincent Ng), who participated in the broadsword category, earning the country its first gold medal at the event. This feat was unparalleled for more than a decade, until in November 2013 when Ho Lin Ying became the second Singaporean individual wushu world champion. In 1999, he was listed as one of the twentieth-century's fifty best athletes by newspaper ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
''. In 2015,
Tan Xiang Tian became Singapore third world wushu champion after winning xingyiquan at the
2015 World Wushu Championships
The 2015 World Wushu Championships was the 13th edition of the World Wushu Championships. It was held at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania ...
in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
The renowned
Wing Chun
Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is ...
master
Ip Man
Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, ( / 叶问; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972) was a Hong Kong-based Cantonese martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial art ...
, also spelt as Ip Man, imparted his knowledge of the sport to disciples Lee Shing and Wong Shun Leung. Joseph Cheng and Nino Bernardo became proteges of Lee and Wong respectively, and they in turn became Singaporean Chua Kah Joo's teachers, making Chua a third-generation Yip Man disciple. Later in his life, Chua set up various wushu academies in the United Kingdom and one in his home country, also coaching a healthy number of students.
Similarly, there are a handful of third or fourth-generation proteges of another wushu great,
Wong Fei-hung
Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun; 9 July 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero. His recent fame was due to becoming the subject of numerous martial arts films and televis ...
, in Singapore. They include Leong Kwok Khuen and Siew Puay Lee.
Governing body and other organisations
The official national governing body of wushu in Singapore is the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, interchangeably known as the Singapore National Federation of Wushu. It was established on February 3, 1967, as the Singapore National Pugilistic Federation.
There are numerous wushu schools in Singapore. Wufang Singapore is known to have produced multiple SEA games gold medalists like Jowen Lim who was also the 2012 and 2014 world junior champion. There are other Wushu schools like Xuan Sports, RexArts, and Chua Kah Joo's Wing Chun Kuen Training Centre,
as well as, Leo Wen Yeow's Martial House, which bills itself as the leading wushu institute in Singapore. Under Martial House is the Dewu Pugilistic Association, headed by the former association's Master Leo Kee Ann.
See also
*
References
{{Singapore topics
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...