Wushu

Wushu is the modern sport form of traditional Chinese martial arts.

In demonstration events, competitors perform a set routine scored out of 10.

Wushu combines the thrill and dynamism of a kung-fu action movie with graceful, dance-like artistry.

Japan has produced numerous world-class wushu competitors.

Today, two former national champions join us to discuss the depth and intricacies of their respective Wushu styles.

We also zoom in on efforts in Japan to promote wushu through movies, as we examine the wide appeal of this varied and dynamic sport.

Today, we feature competitive Chinese martial arts, or "Wushu."

The broad range of styles contested, each have their own characteristic movements.

There's everything from flowing acrobatics to displays of rapid, explosive power.

We'll be taking a deeper look at how the aesthetics of performances are judged, as we explore the element of beauty in Wushu competition.

The sport of wushu has become a worldwide phenomenon.

It features in the Asian Games and also has its own World Championships.

There are three main performance categories contested.

The first category is known as changquan or "Long Fist".

Based on the martial arts styles of northern China.

Changquan is the most acrobatic of the three main wushu demonstration events, with complex aerial movements, and pinpoint landings key to a successful routine.

Nanquan or "Southern Fist" is a wushu category based on the martial arts of southern China.

It's characterized by strong vocalizations, explosive power, and firmly rooted footwork.

The third core wushu category is Taijiquan, a martial art most commonly known in English as the health promoting exercise of Tai Chi.

The competition form requires not only smooth, flowing movements, but also perfect balance.

Techniques include jumps landing on a single foot.

One former national wushu champion is a pioneer, who has helped lead the way in raising the quality of wushu competition in Japan.

His name is Ichikizaki Daisuke.

Hugely influential in the sport, he once won the national title six years running.

Ichikizaki competed in the changquan category.

His routines always focused on artistic self-expression.

On competition day, I of course want to win.

In reality though, it doesn't always happen, because on the day, the most important thing is whether I'm happy with my movements.

That means even if I lose in competition...

as long as I'm satisfied with my moves...

that's good enough for me, even if I drop down to silver or bronze.

Much like figure skating, wushu routines are judged on both the precision of an athlete's technical skills and their ability to wow the crowd with their artistic expression.

To better understand the technical and aesthetic elements the judges want to see, let's take a look at some footage of Ichikisaki's routines...

The video on the right is from 2008.

The left one from 2011.

Even filmed three years apart, the basic movements look pretty much identical.

While Ichikizaki can always reproduce the basic framework of an ideal routine precisely, he's also able to introduce specific, stylistic variations.

In 2008, after standing back up from the splits, he moves dynamically, emphasizing speed...

Three years later though, he does just the opposite.

This time, after standing up from the splits, he actually moves slowly.

Ichikizaki says he came to realize that deliberate, slow movements contrast and accentuate the faster parts of the routine.

With his expressive versatility, Ichikizaki soon began to rise up the world championship rankings.

Ever since he was a child, Ichikizaki has always found his own particular way of doing things.

People like to stand out, and I was no different.

I wanted to do something unique, and I like it that in wushu, some elements are mandatory, while others are optional, so even though there is a form, you can still freestyle,

and put elements together to really make a performance your own.

When I was in elementary school, I didn't like restrictions, and I asked my instructor to make an original routine for me.

Then, as I moved onto junior high, I spent more time practicing the free routines.

So even as a kid, I was determined to be different.

I didn't want to just repeat the same thing as everyone else.

Since retiring from competition, Ichikizaki has been focused on training younger wushu athletes.

The past two years have seen many events canceled due to the pandemic.

Children have found it hard to sustain their motivation, and many have even left the sport.

This year though, events are finally being held once again.

If you can, try it like this.

This is the best way, but you tend
to end up like this.

15-year-old Shimada Riki is one of the many youngsters Ichikizaki coaches.

Riki says he was attracted to the sport by the sheer range of different techniques employed.

What got me interested was all those cool movements you don't really see in other martial arts.

In April, an all-Japan junior competition was held, the first event for teenagers in some two years.

In the junior competition, there are usually no freestyle events.

Younger wushu athletes simply perform predetermined set routines.

With no difference in difficulty-level to set competitors' routines apart, scoring instead emphasizes accuracy and perfect execution of the fundamentals.

Even finger positioning can affect your score.

Riki is competing in the junior high school level changquan event.

With everyone performing the same routine, he still makes an effort to stand out.

I think about where I'm looking, imagining the opponent.

These routines all assume an actual fight against an attacker, so you have to consider positioning, speed and timing.

Riki makes sure to keep his awareness firmly on his imaginary opponent, using them to direct his gaze.

For example, with this technique, the arms stretch high and low, before slapping backfist onto palm.

Let's see the actual combat application for these moves.

When someone attacks you, this move is simply to repel them.

That footstamp helps you drop your center of gravity.

If your center's too high, you're only using your arm.

You want your whole body behind it.

That's why you make a larger movement.

You can't stop here though.

It's a connected series of movements...

Like this.

Some people stop at the top for dramatic effect, but that changes the whole meaning of the movement.

With his realistic eye movements, varied speed, and firm grasp of combat applications, Riki puts on a sharp performance.

He eventually hopes to follow in Ichikizaki's footsteps and find his own unique style.

I want to become the sort of competitor who can put on performances that go beyond people's expectations.

Wushu competitors have to be not only athletes, but also artists, with a full expressive range.

The depth and complexity of the sport is a fundamental part of its enduring appeal.

One of the three core disciplines of Wushu forms competition is Taijiquan or "Tai Chi".

Taijiquan's characteristic slow movements are said to have numerous health benefits, and Tai Chi has been a popular form of health exercise in Japan for decades.

Let's try out some simple moves from this unique martial art.

Hi! I’m Ichikizaki Naoko.

Nice to meet you!

Great to have you on our show.

So, Naoko is a former Japanese Wushu champion in Tai Chi.

Today she'll be talking to us about the joy of performing and the unique appeal of her art.

Ichikizaki Naoko and Ichikizaki Daisuke are a married couple.

Naoko is a two-time Japan Wushu Champion in taijiquan.

She's also won silver at the World Championships.

When performing Tai Chi forms in competition, what are the secrets to ensuring you create a beautiful performance?

Taijiquan is not simply a sport.

You must sink your vital energy down to your lower abdomen, and keep your lower back loose.

That looseness allows the power from your legs to transfer via your back, all the way through to your fingertips.

This leads to fluid movement and a graceful, flowing form.

Are there any elegant movements you could show me that I might be able to copy and do myself?

Sure, let's have a try!

Firstly, with Tai Chi, you don't keep your legs closed like this.

This is just the starting position.

You always start by opening your stance, so your feet are a comfortable shoulder's width apart.

That's the basic stance.

Then we raise our hands.

This is the first movement of the form.

Then you bring your hands down, and bend your knees slightly, to lower your center of gravity.

Next you lift your right hand and right leg to stand on one foot.

So bring your right hand and right leg up together.

Raise your right hand and right leg together.

Then start to lower your right leg slowly, and bring your right hand across and start to raise your left hand and left leg.

That's great.

Are you sure? Am I doing it right?

I'm losing my balance already.

Then, you switch between right and left.

It looks easy, but it's not.

One more time.

Lower your right hand, and lift your left hand and foot.

Do you have any tips, I'm like losing my balance.

Yes, in the beginning, it's hard to keep your balance.

If you push your chest out, it's easy to tense up, and start to wobble.

Instead, you can try to breathe out like this...

OK, so you exhale when you do this?

That's right.

Breathing out helps you sink your vital energy to your lower abdomen, and then down to your feet, allowing your upper body to relax.

That all makes it easier to balance.

Let's review.

Place your feet a comfortable shoulder-width apart.

Raise both hands, and then bring them down slowly, lightly flexing your wrists.

Lift your right arm and right leg at the same time, and drop.

Next, lift your left arm and leg.

The legs comprise some 70% of our body's muscle mass, so this alternating movement helps promote good circulation.

OK. Let's try another one.

We start in the same way, with feet at shoulder-width, and raising our hands to chest height.

Then, you want to lower your arms and hands, at the same time as you sink your lower body down.

Then, you pull your right leg back, while moving your hands like this.

It's like a little dance.

Let's start again.

Now we're going to try on the other side.

Put your body weight on your right foot, and keep your knees bent.

Like this.

Basically, the left hand and right hand make different movements.

It's a bit like brain training.

Keep your body weight over your right foot.

If you can feel your right leg muscles burning just a little, then that's good.

Now let's try the other side.

Move your hands down and bring your right leg around behind your left.

Then your right hand and left hand come diagonally forward.

So much is going through my mind.

Again... Bring your right foot back, right palm face up, and left face down.

Lower and drop...

Now bring your left leg back, turn the left palm up, and right palm down.

Tai Chi is sometimes likened to a kind of moving meditation.

You should focus your awareness simply on your movements.

You were breathing out very well.

That was a struggle!

Recently, we dropped in on a Kungfu action movie set where both production crew and cast are all wushu veterans.

The movie's plot follows the story of a museum curator who discovers a valuable dinosaur bone but has to fight off a gang of robbers to protect it.

In this movie, all the action scenes are real.

There's no CG enhancement or stunt doubles being used.

Takahashi Akiko Jerry, the director, has been practicing wushu since she was a little girl.

I saw my first Hong Kong action movie when I was in year one of elementary school.

It was a kung fu zombie movie called Mr. Vampire.

I thought it was just so cool.

Ever since then, I've always dreamed of shooting my own kung fu movie.

Jerry is hoping to help re-popularize the kung fu movies that wowed audiences in Japan in the days of Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

She also hopes to attract new fans to the sport of wushu at the same time.

One of the martial artists collaborating on the movie is someone we met earlier.

I play the villain.

The gang leader.

I look like this.

Director Jerry and the rest of the team started a YouTube channel two years ago to help raise funds for the movie's production.

The channel shows videos of their martial arts performances.

After two years of raising money through crowd-sourced funding, they finally raised the ten thousand dollars or so they need to cover basic production expenses.

Once finished they're planning to enter their film in an action movie film festival.

Alongside Ichikazaki, another wushu expert is also lending his skills on set.

Matsu-ura Arata and Ichikizaki have been best friends since they were kids.

Matsuura is playing the lead.

Matsuura was a world-level wushu competitor in the nanquan category.

However, at 22 he retired early from competitive wushu, before traveling to China to study drama at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

Now a full-time actor, Matsuura's time in China gave him valuable experience and insights into the world of the Kungfu movie action scene.

I went to China to study drama, and despite the language barrier, I could see that different people performing the same wushu routine would express themselves with totally different movements.

That made a big impression on me.

Despite not speaking the language, people responded to my performances.

I could show what I had learned through my study of wushu.

That was a real eye-opener for me.

Matsuura came up with both the choreography and shot sequences for the film's action scenes.

As he's both acting and advising at the same time, he's extremely busy on set.

In charge of realizing Matsuura's fight choreography is action director BUENO.

How’s it going today?

"It's hot!"

BUENO is a former Canadian changquan champion, and his deep understanding of wushu movements allows him to get the camera in perfect position for capturing the action.

A lot of people think... creative people don't see that it is like manual labor.

It's a mix between manual labor and creativity, so it is like a creative construction site.

Also involved is Nagakubo Rossei, a wushu competitor originally from Russia...

As well as Kanazawa Shinji, a former junior world champion.

The elite team of former wushu competitors have shot more than 50 cuts so far.

Having won numerous titles between them over their sporting careers, this talented crew are now looking to promote kung fu movies as well as wushu in general,

and of course they wouldn't mind to win a prize at a Kungfu movie festival either!

The graceful, powerful movements of Chinese martial arts have been distilled into the dynamic sport of wushu.

But what is the ultimate goal of those who practice this intriguing fusion of sport and art?

People often say that martial arts is all about artistry and expressing yourself.

Since I retired from competition, I have a broader focus, and I'm even shooting movies now.

When I was competing though, I was totally focused on perfecting my routine, and becoming stronger and better than anyone else.

But I don't believe that should be the final goal.

We should be using the martial arts as a tool to express ourselves, and set a standard of how we want to live.

For me, that is now what it's all about.

In kung fu films, characters often greet each other by touching fist against palm, a Chinese martial arts greeting known as Baoquan-li.

While there are a number of theories on the origin of this gesture, one well known explanation is that it means, "putting away one's fist" - in other words, a rejection of violence.

This traditional symbolism reminds us that martial arts are not just about brute force, but represent a profound set of skills and code of etiquette.

The graceful techniques we saw today have given me a sense of the sheer depth of these life-or-death arts.

Let's now wrap up the show with this week's Spotlight.

Please join us again next time on J-Arena.

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Originating in Southeast Asia, the sport’s name combines "Sepak" the Malay word for "kick", with "Takraw" the Thai word for "ball".

Players mesmerize spectators as they employ acrobatic techniques to kick the ball back and forth over the net in dramatic rallies.

In April, Japan’s national Sepak Takraw team unveiled its new uniform for the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

The uniform uses the yagasuri motif, a traditional Japanese arrowhead design first used centuries ago.

We decided to use the yagasuri design as the arrow naturally symbolizes our straightforward love for the sport, and expresses the directness of our aim to achieve victory.

While Japan has previously reached the podium at the Asian Games, the team have yet to claim a gold medal.

This year, the Extreme Sepaktakraw League was launched in Japan, with the goal of raising standards in the run-up to the Games.

When the action kicks off, Japan will have their sights, and hearts, fixed firmly on gold.