Baguan Seminar by Master Sun ZhiJun (28th Dec)

On Sun 28th Dec, Victoria School's Wushu Team round up our last seminar presentaion with Master Sun Zhijun from China.

Master Sun, his senior disciples Madam Ge Chun Yan and Madam Mi Jin Pei gave strong theoretical insights into the nature of internal Chinese Martial Arts.

Students were then given a chance to show case their learning and to recieve pointers from the various teachers regarding their form, movement and applications
Here we see the students going through the core footwork of Bagua Zhang:


Members of the public were present at our seminar and it allow martial enthusiasts and novices alike to gain an insight into the depth and breath of Chinese Martial Arts.

We hope that Victoria School will be able to continue our efforts to contribute to the growth of the martial arts community in Singapore so that we can spread the love and passion for Wushu to benefit all practictioners.

Join us as we work diligently towards this goal!
Nil Sine Labore

2nd World Junior Wushu Championship @ Bali 2008

2 members of our VS Wushu Team, Tan Xiang Tian and Fung Jin Jie represented Singapore to participate in the 2nd World Junior Wushu Championship in Bali

Victoria School is proud to announce that Fung Jin Jie managed to clinch a bronze for his cudgel routine



The VS PE Dept and Wushu Team went to the airport to welcome them for giving their best for school and country.
Well done, boys- we are proud of you!

Bagua Seminar by Grandmaster Sun Zhijun

As part of Victoria School Wushu Team's partnership with our coaches, Victoria School played host to visiting teacher and respected Grandmaster, Sun ZhiJun




Grandmaster Sun, is one of the oldest living exponents of Bagua in China still teaching and practicing today. His student, Mdm Ge Chun Yan, coaches our wushu team in Taiji.



The seminar was well attended by martial enthusiasts from all walks of life. Despite his age, Master Sun was vigorous and passionate about his art and would punctuate his demonstrations with personal demonstrations.
Here we see him explain the finer points of balance in bagua footwork.


Here Master Sun demonstrates some Bagua applications:

It's good to see that he is still vigourous and spritely at his age.
Let all of us from the younger generation of martial artist follow in his example!

Even more shooting ...

Today, I brought the VS Wushu Team down to DM Archery at Suntec

Well, it was a good outing for all of us. As DM Archery were keeping track of scores for Top 6 shooters, there was a mood of friendly competition amongst the boys to see if they could qualify against the ladder board.

Our little DSA talent, Lee Jing Wei managed to score 104, placing him amongst the Top 6 shooters in Under-12; team captain Ryan Goh blasted his way with 110 to place within Top 6 for Under-16 (tying my score for the day at that time!)


Last session, I hit 114 and was tied for 2nd place in the Open category but a check on the ladder board showed that I was relegated out of the Top 6 cos some ace had hit a 120pt perfect score. Subsequently, 2ns and 3rd position were 116 pts with the rest of us mere mortals trailing at 114pts.

Inspired by Ryan Goh's fantastic scoring, I aimed to better my personal best. After some meticulous zeroing and consolidating my grouping shots, I took my final round for the day.
With 11 shots on the yellow and 1 on the red, I'm back in the running for 2nd place in the open category with 118 points! An almost perfect score.

Woots! Not let's keep my fingers crossed... and see if I can stay at 2nd position on the ladder board

38th East Zone Colors Awards (2008)

Today, was the presentation ceremony for the East Zone Sports Colors Awards.
This year was a special year for Victoria School in many ways.

First off, the cover design for the backdrop and program (seen above) was chosen from artwork submitted by students in the East Zone. Our very own Victorian,Ong Kang Sheng from Sec 2D, had his design selected to grace the cover and the facade for the ceremony.

In all we took 11 Team awards and 15 Individual awards.



It was a fitting welcome for our new VP Mr Anith who just reccently joined VS in June. In his short time with us, Mr Anith has already made himself an integral part of the Victorian family and his presence at the award ceremony made it all the more special for the boys.


This year's award ceremony was special for another reason. In the short time that Wushu was introduced in VS, we have managed to break through into National Top-4 ini both the B and C Divisions.

The B-Div boys managed to take National 3rd place.


While the C-Div boys managed to clinch National 2nd.


This means that next year, we will have to keep working harder to push ourselves.
With the potential in the team and the effort that we know we can put in, I am sure that next year we will be able to do better.

Let us work together boys, all the sports, all the CCAs and make tomorrow better than today.
Nil Sine Labore

Day 2 of "Aspire- 我武维扬" VS Wushu Talent Development Camp

Today is Day 2 of our camp, so bright and early we got the boys and girls to wake up and begin the day with some sports and games:

The VS boys introduced our Primary School friends to a favourate VS sport- Floorball.
In no time at all, our little wushu juniors had picked it up and were going at it with their hearts out.


After that, we began with more stretching. Darren had a taste of what it meant to undergo 'hard core' partner stretching exercise.


After that is was back to our fundamentals. Although the boys and girls were tired, I was glad to see some pronouced improvement in some of the VS boys. I'm sure that the presence of their little juniors working hard must have spurred some of them on.




We ended the day with the small competition. All participants were divided into groups. Each group was given a task to choreograph a short 15-30sec routine for their group.

Here we have Zhen yu's Group



Next we have Ryan's Group



After that came Yuda's Group



The winner of the this little mini-contest was Jinjies' group. Jinjie and group showed the most dedication and in the short time they had, they managed to stay focus and work on their routine to showcase the best of their abilities.



It has indeed been a fulfilling camp and today being Teacher's Day, I couldn't think of a more fulfilling way to spend the day :)

Thank you to all our little boys and girls from the various primary schools, we definitely enjoyed your presence here. We hope you'll all join us for future events and we can learn and train together again!

Day 1 of "Aspire- 我武维扬" VS Wushu Talent Development Camp

Today Victoria School Wushu team hosted 20+ students from various Primary Schools in the East Zone for a Wushu Talent Development Camp.

The camp was sponsored by South East CDC

Judging from the eager faces and excited chatter, I'm sure that many of the Primary School students had been looking forward to the camp.

It was the first time VS Wushu Team had invited guests to join us during our training and we were equally excited at hosting the lively boys and girls from the various Primary Schools.

We began immediately with the basics:

Yup, ssstretching!!!


Joining me in running this camp, was Coach Di Guangwen and Madam Ge Chunyan, both of whom were highly accomplished athletes when they were competing during their time in the Beijing Wushu Team.
Here see Coach Di leading the group in explaining the finer details of how to execute the basic fundamental movements of Wushu- our 基本功.


As flexibility is an important part of all martial arts training, we wanted to make sure that we spent adequate time stretching. This will improve their flexibility and allow them to accomplish more technically complex movements. More importantly, it will also help them to avoid injury from sudden movements or during their jumping/aerial techniques. So let's see how low we can all go!


After a sumptous lunch (Sphagetti and Honey Glazed Chicken!), we took the boys to East Coast for some games and team-building activities. Victoria School is located right next to the beach, so we had a nice stroll across to the sea via the underpath at ECP leading to the lagoon:


At the beach, we started out with a traditional game of 'Dog and Bone'. Tried and tested, it never fails to get a large group of people to start bonding quickly:


Later, we had the kind services of Alvin Lee and the great people from CastleBeach - Beautiful Minds to show us how to use their innovative Beach Works sandcastle building kit to make sandcastles. Alvin and team run free workshops on sandcastle building every weekend at East Coast Park from 3.30pm onwards. To find out more, see his website here www.castlebeach.org

Here we see Alvin give the kids a lively and interesting introduction to Sandcastle building. Good to go back to good, old-fashion fun in a natural environment, ya?
I'm sure many parents will miss the good ole kampung days:)


So after the demo, we broke the students into 4 groups and gave them 45 min to see which group could come up with the best Sandcastle in that time:


Here are the final products of our budding new wushu architects. Let's see what they came up with:

1)Tan Yuda's Group


2)Ryan Goh's Group


3)Fung Jin Jie's Group


4)Jin Zhenyu's Group


And the Winner of the Best Sand Castle goes to Ryan Goh's Group! Well done, boys (and girls- sorry, so used to only teaching boys that I kept refering to everyone as 'boys'!)

In the evening, Miss Atiqah Halim from South-East CDC came over to talk to our kids on community involvement and giving back to society. They might be young, but we figured that learning to give and having good character should be a core component of any martial arts training.


It's been a hectic first day with lots to do and I'm sure all the boys (and girls) had loads of fun. I could see the older VS boys enjoy themselves being Big Brothers to their younger wushu friends from the various Primary Schools.

To my VS Team, I hope that as you grow stronger, you gain strength in character as well. And as you grow in skill, you also grow in care and concern for others.

Always remember boys, that Victorian's are Gentlemen, Professionals and Sportsmen.
Nil Sine Labore

Penang Free School Visit to VS

Today, several teachers from Penang Free School visited VS as part of twinning and networking exchange.

It was a most pleasant and welcome surprise when we found out that one of their teachers, Mr Ong, was an active member in the Penang Chin Woo Pugilistic Association.

Mr Ong is a veteran martial artist and was skilled in the traditional Changquan style of Tan Tui.
It was indeed a pleasure and honor to be visited by someone who is my senior both in the teaching profession and in the martial arts community.

To top off the fantastic experience, Mr Ong kindly offered to teach our boys some of the traditional elements of Tan Tui 弹腿.


You can see fromt the movements that the combative aspect to his form is still present- more compact, crisp and precise. Much of the modern Changquan that we do has the same movements but our expression of it tends to be flowy rather than crisp, extravagant rather than compact, acrobatic rather than precise.

There's still so much more to learn boys! Let us journey together unceasingly in the quest for excellence.

'Aspire' - 我武维扬: VS Wushu Talent Development Camp

我武维扬-维中武术营

Aspire- VS Wushu Talent Development Camp

(31st Aug-1st Sep 2008)

The VS Wushu Team began modestly with a few casual students training after school in 2003. We started modestly by fielding a few participants in individual events in 2004 and 2005. Finally, our hard work paid off in 2006 when we were formally recognised as a CCA in Victoria School and fields a team to participate in the National Inter-School’s Wushu Championships. That year, we achieved 3 medals (1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze) in Individual events and Silver for Group Quan.

This year, we have made history in VS by breaking into National top four positions for both participating divisions in the National Interschool’s Wushu Championships. The B-Div Boys team are ranked 3rd, while our C-Div Boys are ranked 2nd nationally.


In association with South-East CDC, Victoria School would like to invite your child to participate in our VS Wushu Talent Development Camp to be hosted in Victoria School from 31st Aug to 1st Sep 2008. The camp will be set to raise the skill levels of students already practicing wushu as well as serve as an introductory course for those new to the sport.

Details of the camp are as follows:

Date: Sun 31 Aug 2008 to Mon 1st Sep 2008

Coaches: Mr Randell Siow
-Subject Head-PE of Victoria School
-Registered Wushu Coach with SNWF

Mr Di Guang Wen
-Registered Wushu Coach with SNWF
-Former Team Captain of Beijing Wushu Team
(1992-1997)
-Certificate of Merit by Beijing Wushu Association awarded for being among Top 10 Wushu athletes in 1994

Mdm Ge Chunyan
-Registered Wushu Coach with SNWF
-Former team member of Beijing Wushu Team
(1974-1984)
-Specialist in Taiji
As South-East CDC will sponsor the cost of coaching fees, the cost of the camp will be $20 to cover food and drink for the duration of the camp.

Reporting time for the camp is 8.00am on 31st Aug 2008 in Victoria School
Dismissal time from the camp is 12.00pm on 1st Sep 2008 from Victoria School

VS Wushu Team performs at Punggol 'Hibiscus' RC

The VS Wushu Team performed for the Punggol 'Hibiscus' GRC on Sat 12th Jul 2008.
We were invited to perform during their Sanshou Friendly Competition.

It was a performance we looked forward to because the Guest of Honor, was Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliarmentary Secretary of MCYS and MP of Punggol-Pasir Ris GRC.
Mr Teo is also an Old Victorian and Chairman of the OVA.

The boys were able to see martial artist and full-contact fighters from various associations performing and competiting during this event.

SNWF Sanshou Exchange 2008

(VS Wushu Team Members with Mr Ang Moh Seng, MP-Hong Kah GRC and President of SNWF)

On Sun 20th Apr,
Victoria School sent a delegation of students to participate in the Sanshou free-sparring exchange organised by the Singapore National Wushu Federation.

Although the National Inter-schools Wushu Championships were just over, we decided to still participate in this event so as to gain more exposure for our team and more importantly, so that we would developed as a well-rounded team able to compete both in routines as well as in the practical applications of sparring.

Our atheltes were:
Chang Wei Liang from (3G) and Pang Hong Yun fro (4C)who fought 2 rounds each with their opponent. As it was a friendly match, there were no declared winners but our 2 boys did well against the competition. Hongyun and Weiliang both were able to land solid blows on their opponents and score decisive ring-out and take-downs during their matches.

We also had 2 alumni representing the VS Team:
Liu Weilie (currently from TPJC) & Tan Lye Huat (current in TJC), the fact that past Victorians still continue to get involved in CCA in the alma mater came as a surprise even to the officials in the SNWF. It shows the great sense of pride and belonging that Victorians have that even after they graduate, they are willing to come back and fight for her glory under the VS banner.

Our Volunteer Adult Leader (VAL), Jin Cai also motivated our team by participating together with the boys. The fact that instructors and students compete as one body is something we would like to keep as a hallmark of VS Wushu Team's tradition.

The VS Wushu Team will continue to strive for greater heights and we thank all Victorians for their support.
Nil Sine Labore

VS Wushu Team's Achievements for 2008

National Inter-School Wushu Championships (Group Finals)

Finally, we reached the final day of competition!
After an agonising 2-weeks and months of hard work, it all boiled down to this day.
Based on our calculations, VS was unbelievably in contention for Top 4 placing in both B and C Divisions.
But we knew we were head-to-head with other tougher and more experienced teams. The point difference was very close and there was still a total of 18pts in total to be contested for in each Division (9pts for 1st placing in Group Weapons, 9pts for 1st placing in Group Quan)

First, up was our C-Div Group Quan.
Our competitors dazzled the judges with changing formations and some of them had very technical flips and somersaults in them; by contrast our routine was a relatively simple one. To the old-school practitioners, the routine would seem familiar (Look at videos of the old Beijing Team during 80s :)


When we got our score of 7.86, we were quite hopeful but strong performances from our competitors pushed us to fourth place. Nevertheless, it was still an achievement to be in the top 4 and garner an additional 3 points for our team.

Next came the B-Div Group Quan.
The competition here was out of the world- the standard has really gone up and some of the schools have mastered some really impressive acrobatics. This year, we tweaked and modified our Xia Jia Quan to include formation changes and to add in more aerial movements.


Although we had hoped to impress the judges with our uniformity and form, the B-Div boys were relegated and only managed to place 6th. Nevertheless, I'm of all of you all, especially Terrence and Weiliang who braved their pain and injuries to pull through for the team.

After that came the final event for C-Div- The C-Div Group Weapon. Based on our calculations and rough estimates, it seemed that the C-Div was tied for division first at this point in time! Everything rode on the performance of the Group Weapon and pressure was intense for the boys.
This year's Group Event combined the best of 2 traditional forms by both my own teachers. We got Ryan Goh to be the central pivot of the team by leading with a traditional Hung Gar dagger routine while the rest of the boys did a modified Heng Quan Circling Dagger Routine that had them intersecting each others path


By this time, we knew that our focus on uniformity and martial choreography would be overshadowed by the flashy acrobatics of many other teams. But the boys did their best and hoped that the judges would appreciate how we blended 2 traditional forms and performed it in a novel way.
Our final score left us hovering precariously being tied for 4th- Fortunately, after the scores were re-assessed we won the tie break and emerged 4th for the event, adding another 3 points to C-Div.

By this time, the pressure was really on and even the judges were starting to feel it. The were several occasions where the head judge had to intervene to moderate the scores as there were instances of wide variances between the various corner judges.
Inspired by '300', our B-Boys attempted to inject a Spartan flavour into the wushu competition by doing a Sword and Shield performance for their Group Weapon event.


This even was the result of a long process of me choreographing it with the help of my own teachers to fine-tune and give it a distinct combative feel the routine. However, perhaps the intense combative element was not what the judges were looking for and we did not manage to place within even the top 6.
But that is the nature of competition, I'm proud that the boys have done their best- their performance went perfectly according to plan and they had no mistakes.
That is all I can ask of any one of the team members.

When it came time for results, I was really feeling anxious for the boys to see if my calculations were correct. If they were, in our short history since being officially formed in 2006, we would rank in the top 4 for not, one but two divisions.

Fortune favours the brave and we when it was announced that VS came in 1st Runner Up, my heart leapt with joy for all the hard work that the boys put in.

I wondered whether, my calculations would prove as accurate for the B-Boys. They had been disappointed in both Group events despite having trained really hard.

This was the first batch of students to have trained with me since the team was formally set up and they would be graduating this year and I wished so much for them to be able to leave their mark in VS history. Despite being denied in the team events, it seem our previous achievements did see us through and the B-Div boys managed to come in 3rd in their division.

This was an astounding sense of achievement for the boys and myself. Last year, we knew that VS was on the verge of breaking into the Top 4 in the C-Div but we didn't know if we could maintain and develop that edge this year- espcially since competition seemed to be getting more intense and the standards higher.

To simulataneously breaking into Top 3 for both C and B Division at the same time is a testament to the blood, sweat and tears the boys have put in.

We sacrificed our entire March holidays, I gave them a intensive training camp during holiday weekend (the boys can testify that we trained close to 16 hours from Fri to Sat morning!)

We analysied our movements by video, we trained at the beach.

I must also thank all our specialist coaches, my teachers who have taken time and effort to help me with my students. To my sifus, I hope I can sustain the legacy you have given to me in my students

It is a long road ahead and we know that we will bleed, sweat and cry along the way.

In reality, some of the boys literally bled for VS- Ryan Goh sustained a deep gash on his underarm from his weapon that required 3 stitches.

Bernie (aka Mr Baluku) got whacked twice in the head in one day (once by himself and once by his partner:P) The second impact was on the bump sustained during the first impact *sigh*
Bernie's little 'baluku' split and blood spurted out, staining his entire face.Yet all the while I was giving him first-aid, he maintained his composure.

None of the boys gave up- all of them wanted to keep training, to keep fighting for their team.That is the VS spirit and that is what makes us different.

My time as a competitive athlete is over for the moment, my dreams live on in the endeavours and success of the boys in my teams.
And when I see your achievements tower above my own,
when I see you all progressing so fast that I struggle to keep pace with you,
when I see old boys coming back to still train with us and be part of a team,
when I see all this in the silence of my office late at night,
I know that it is all worth it

You may be 2nd, 3rd 4th or even last in the eyes of the world.
To me, you are my champions and no one can take that away from you.

Nil Sine Labore

National Inter-School Wushu Championships (Day 5)

Today is the final day for our Individual events, Tan Xiang Tian completed his hat-trick by winning the Gold Medal in the B-Div boys Nan Gun event:
(quality of clip is grainy because my original footage was lost and


Fung Jin Jie got off to a good start in the B-Div Cudgel 2nd International Routine.
However, 2 unforced errors cost us the Gold and we ended up having to settle for a tie between 2nd and 3rd- will have to check the average of the invalid scores to determine the tie break.



This concludes the individual routines for both C and B Division boys. All the competiting schools are frantically calculating the total points in the various divisions.

Next Tueday's Group Events will be the final determining factor for Division Championship.
So let's go VS, let's go!

National Inter-School Wushu Championships (Day 4)

Today was Day 4 of the National Inter-school Wushu Championships. VS had many events today and a lot was riding on it as every point is crucial towards our over-all division score at this stage.

For the first time, we fielded 2 athletes for the 24-style Taiji Event in C-Div. Although there were only 11 participants, the standard of the competitors was very high. Both Ang Kang Jie (1B) and John Png (1F) only had less than 2 months to learn the routine but in VS we believe it is the fighting spirit that counts more than the final outcome- so although we didn't manage to place in the top 4, rememer that you boys both have a long way to go and now that you have seen the how intense the competition is, you must work harder in order to be able to do your school proud.

Here is John Png's routine:


Here we have Kang Jie's routine:

I must take sometime to praise Kang Jie here for his hard work during the holidays- on his own he signed up for extra coaching, even after our regular practices, he comes to me to get me to watch him practice a few more times. That is the attitude that we are looking for in all our students and athletes here in Victoria.
That attitude is what makes you a champion; and not the medal that hangs round your neck.

In the C-Boys Nan Gun 1st International Routine, Darren Tan from (1E) managed to clinch 3rd by a very narrow margin.

Well done, Darren!

Unfortunately, Darren and Bernie Ang were not able to place in the top 4 for the Group Sparring Event for C-Boys. They had work very hard for that event as it was the last event that we managed to get together in the time we had to prepare for the competition. Yesterday, the boys came back to school after competing to practice some more and Bernie was hit on the head practicing for this event. Despite the injury, both he and Darren persisted and gave us a good showing today- not bad considering the huge 'baluku' that sprouted on Bernie's head yesterday :)


Our B-Boys Group Sparring managed to retain our 3rd position with the 3-Man Set. Wayne Kang (4D), Sean Ho (4D) and Tan Xiang Tian (4I) worked hard to overhaul the routine from last year and made new additions to spice up the content.
Here we see them in action:


Our one and only A-Div participant, Pang Hong Yun (4C) competed in the Nan Gun 1st International Routine:

Because he's older than the rest of the guys, Hongyun's our one and only A-Div participant.
So this year, we have students in C-Div, B-Div and A-Div. Although, Hongyun did not place in the top 4, he has improved tremendously in his Nan Gun routine and that is also something to be proud of.

The standard of Wushu and the level of our competitors is increasing- let this spur us all to greater heights!
Nil Sine Labore

National Inter-school Wushu Championships (Day 3)

Today was Day 3 of the Inter-school Wushu Championships.

First up were Tan Yuda (2F) and Bernie Ang (1F) taking part in the 4-Duan Cudgel.
Here is Yuda during his event:


Here is Bernie during his event:

Bernie gave his best for all his previous events and this was his last individual event and he put everything he had into it. It was quite suspenseful as he was tied with another athlete for 2nd and 3rd placing. In the end, after the scores were re-calculated, Bernie managed to clinch the second place and walk away with the Silver medal. Well done, Bernie! All your hard work paid off!

For 4-Duan Spear, Tan Xiang Ting won his 3rd individual Gold Medal when he made a decisive win during his event:


For the B-Boys, Fung Jin Jie won his second medal for VS by mananging to place 4th in the Broadsword 2nd International Routine. Competition in this event was very tight- with the athletes scores being very close together. Jinjie gave his best and here is a clip of his outstanding performance:

National Inter-School Wushu Championships (Day 2)

Day 2 of the National Interschools Championships saw some very intense competition amongst the skilled athletes from all the various schools. In the C-Div Broadsword,
Bernie Ang (1F) and Ryan Goh (2F) did their best but were unable to place in the top 4.

Here we see Bernie and Ryan in action:




In the C-Div Sword, Tan Xiang Ting managed to clinch his second Gold medal for VS.


Elder brother, Tan Xiang Tian also completed the double-whammy by securing his second Gold in the B-Div Nan Quan routine.(As there were 2 events going on consecutively, I was only able to get footage of Xiang Tian's routine from afar)


Our final medal came from Fung Jin Jie 'Jingo', JJ had a tough fight for 2nd and 3rd placing as he was tied in score with his fellow opponent.
(JJ was penalised 0.1 for an extra movement thus giving him an identical score with another athlete)
In the case of a tie, the competitor whose mean value of the 2 invaild scores comes closer to the average of the valid scores shall be placed higher. After much waiting and the final calculations, JJ achieved 3rd.
It was a hard fought event, with all the athletes pushing the limits of their personal performances, so it is important to savour every bit of success as it is hard won.

National Inter-School Wushu Championships (Day 1)

Wed 2nd April was the beginning of the National Inter-school Wushu Championships.
In the first event, C-Boys 5-Duan Chang Quan, VS scored first blood with Tan Xiang Ting from 2G winning us the Gold medal for the event.


Our new Sec 1 member, Bernie Ang gave a great performance and only missed getting into the top 4 by 0.01. Keep it up Bernie!


In the second event, C-Boys 5-Duan Nan Quan, VS made it a two-in-a-row when Ryan Goh from 2F came out of nowhere to astonish the crowd with his outstanding performance.
Ryan has been training very, very had these few months to brush up on his routine and the work has paid off with our dark horse emerging champion.


Darren Tan from 1E also did VS proud. Even though he is only in Sec 1, he is competition in the more technical event for Nan Quan 1st International routine.
Despite this challenge, he managed to achieve a 4th placing to secure a Bronze (4th) for VS.


In the B-Div, Tan Xiang Tian from 4I gave VS our hat-trick when he clinched the Gold medal in the B-Div Nan Dao routine.


Well done, boys!
Let's keep up the good work and continue working hard.
Know that success does not come easy and that with success we must continue to stay humble and train even harder

Nil Sine Labore

Preparation for Interschool Wushu 2008

John, here are your training clips for Taiji

VS Chinese New Year Celebrations 2008

We're off for 4 days of holiday for the Chinese New Year,
Victorians in the hostel celebrated the New Year with a steam-boat dinner on Mon 5th Feb.

The VS Wushu Team performed during the dinner and here we can see the following boys in action:
Tan Xiang Ting: Free-style Chang Quan
Fung Jin Jie: Competition Cudgel
Wayne Kang, Sean Ho and Tan Xiang Tian: 3-Man Sparring



For our own celebrations at VS, the Wushu Team performed Lion dancing, you can catch pictures of the event here (courtesy of Mr Su Ronghua)

We were also honoured by the presence of Madam Ge Chunyan, a founding member of the Beijing Wushu Team that toured internationally with Jet Li. She is the parent of one of our Sec 1 boys- Liu Haoran. Madam Ge gave us a great demonstration of Bagua Double-Deer Hooks

(Liu Haoran, your mother is cool, sia!)

Urban Shield Personal Protection Workshop

Victoria School was priviledge to have a team of guest speakers come down to deliver a session on personal protection and crime awareness.
Our panel of speakers comprised of Mr Nigel Februrary, who has done research into criminal methodology in South Africa; Mr Lloyd de Jongh, who works in close protection and has been the bodyguard of celebrities like Wesley Snipes and even Bill Gates, and Mr Corey Perry a former US Marine.

Our guests came to deliver a concept known as the Urban Shield to our students to show how physical assault is only the 4th Stage in a long series of events. Urban Shield presents the crime scenario as follows:

INTENT - This is where the person crosses a normal mental boundary.
INTERVIEW - This is where the criminal decides if you are safe to attack.
POSITIONING - This is the criminal putting himself in a place where he can attack you.
ATTACK - The attack is the criminal using force, or the threat of force to get what he wants.
REACTION – The aftermath of the assault, and potentially the most dangerous stage
In their words "During the first three stages, if you know and understand the consistent methods and signs, you can prevent an attack without the use of violence. These are where the criminal (or violent person) decides whether or not he can get away with it safely. He may want to (INTENT), but if he doesn't have the opportunity (POSITION) he cannot succeed. In the same vein, he's going to make sure he can successfully use violence against you (INTERVIEW and POSITIONING) before he commits himself to act. Once he is sure of his ability to succeed and as put you in a position where he can quickly overwhelm you, he will attack."

Our presenters showed presented this concept to the audience and showed how easy it was for a criminal to gain the trust of an unsuspecting civilian by the following role-play:

It was a sobering fact that only 2 students out of the group of 50 plus had noticed their young female friend leave with a stranger out of the designated presentation area.


Our presenters role-played the scenario and show how a criminal tries to close in on his victims personal space to assess and access the potential success of his intented crime.


Our presenters then presented us with the most common manifestation of violent crime-a knife attack. They show students how criminals commonly use misdirection and deception to rob us of our awareness to make us vulnerable to their attacks.


We then explored how we could safetly define and demarcate our personal safety zone through non-threatening gestures and use of verbal cues. A simple 'Stop!' and question to discern the intent of someone approaching you often gives you an added safety barrier in terms of time and personal space:


Our students enjoyed the session alot with the fast paced presentation and hands-on demonstrations.
I think the part that they enjoyed most was when our presenters used me as a victim and role-played the various mugging scenarios that commonly happen in South Africa:
yes, yes boys, you know who you are.... I saw that gleeful look in all your eyes! You all loved it when poor Mr Siow got 'mugged'! I'm so hurt that none of you came to my rescue :(

We hope this workshop was reinforce in all our students the need to be safe and aware and that their personal safety lies in their own hands

S.O.F.T. Work (Wed 17th Jan 2008)

Movement
Footwork Mirroring
Stick Evasion

Concept
Same-side Parry Up/Parry Down
Cross-side Parry Up/Parry Down

(Armed and unarmed variation)

Conditioning
Slap hands
Push-ups

Questions
What is the purpose of the stick evasion drill?
- will it be more effective if a shorter stick or longer stick is used?
- What part does footwork play in the stick evasion drill?

What is the purpose of holding the static push-up position and doing the slow push-ups?

How do these exercises translate into striking?