U.S. Wushu Team 2009

by Sue Woo and Anthony Roberts

On June 20-21, 2009, the National Wushu Team Trials were held at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. This was for taolu (forms) competition. It was the first time this event was held on the West Coast. On July 25, 2009, the United States successfully held national sanshou team trials. Like the 2007 event, the trials were organized and hosted by Mr. Ian Lee at his school, the United Martial Arts Training Center, located in Lubbock, Texas. The turnout at the trials was comparable to the 2007 trials, though there were fewer women this year. The chief referee at the event was Malee Khow, USAWKF Administrative Vice President of Internal Events and Chairperson of the Competition Management Committee. The platform and sideline judges were: Wang Tao, Anthony Sims, Ian Lee, Jeff Chow and Carmine Downey. With the completion of both taolu and sanshou trials and the selection of team officials finalized, the U.S. team is now preparing to participate in the 10th World Wushu Championships (WWC), which takes place in Toronto, Canada from October 24 to 29, 2009. The championships are sponsored by the 122 member-nations International Wushu Federation (IWUF) and organized by the Confederation of Canadian Wushu Organizations. This is the second time that the WWC has been held in the New World. The lone previous event was the 3rd WWC in Baltimore, Maryland in 1995. Apart from these two events, the WWC has only been held outside of Asia two other times: the 4th in 1997 in Rome, Italy and the 6th in 2001 in Yerevan, Armenia.

The Tiger Claw Foundation is the official sponsor to the 2009 U.S. National Wushu Team for the 10th WWC. Established in 2002, the Tiger Claw Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to promoting martial artists and assisting martial artists in achieving their goals. The Tiger Claw Foundation has supported more U.S. Wushu Teams than any other organization in history. The Foundation's first major project was the 10th Anniversary of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine Gala Benefit in Foster City, California, which raised funds for the 2008 U.S. Wushu Team. Since then, the Tiger Claw Foundation has supported American wushu athletes for the 7th, 8th and 9th World Wushu Championships, the 1st and 2nd World Junior Wushu Championships, the 6th and 7th Pan American Wushu Championships, the TreX Games and the Wushu Tournament Beijing Team at the XXIX Olympics Games. Beyond IWuF events, the Tiger Claw Foundation has also supported Jet Li's ONE Foundation, Jackie Chan's Disciple, the U.S. National Judo Team and ParaOlympic Judo Team, the Korean National TaeKwonDo team, the Kaiser Permanente Dragon Boat Festival and many more.

10th World Wushu Championships U.S. Team and Delegation

Taolu Team

Men
• Peter Dang
• Max Ehrlich
• Alfred Hsing
• Colvin Wang
• Alan Zhao
Women
• Sarah Chang
• Ashley Chung
• Elaine Ho
• Stephanie Lim
• Joana Pei

Men
• 56 kg: J.R. Ridge
• 60 kg: Josh Simpson
• 65 kg: Michael Lee
• 70 kg: Maximillion Chen
• 80 kg: Alex Cisne
• 85 kg: Gary Chandler
• 90 kg: Kasey Corless
Women

• 52 kg: Sonia Menjia

Team Officials

• Delegation Leader: Anthony Goh
• Deputy Delegation Leader and Taolu Team Leader: Malee Khow
• Deputy Delegation Leader: Tat-Mau Wong
• Taolu Team Coach: Lu Xiaolin
• Taolu Team Coach: Zhang Guifeng
• Assistant Taolu Coach: Jiang Bangjun
• Assistant Taolu Coach: Stephon Morton
• Taolu Judge: Shudong Li
• Sanshou Team Leader and Coach: Ian Lee
• Sanshou Coach: Jeff Chow
• Assistant Sanshou Coach: Carmine Downey
• Sanshou Judge: Anthony Sims

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About Sue Woo and Anthony Roberts:
For more information, visit usawkf.com and TigerClawFoundation.org