I’ve mentioned from my previous blog that the Philippines has yet to win gold medal in the Olympics. Although “wushu” was not an official Olympic sport, our very own Willy Wang had taken the championship in the men’s Nanquan and Nangun at the recent Beijing Olympics. Still the gold medal he brought back has a special meaning.
A significant component of China’s cultural heritage, wushu said to be training for life. Wushu literally translated as “wu” means military and “shu” is art. Not only wushu is practiced all over China but also in the streets and parks of New York City. In Woodside where I live, I’ve seen people from different cultural background perform solo, paired or group in the park and sometimes they use traditional Chinese weapons. I find the movements are actually beautiful which is similar to Tai Chi. I once told that wushu is a sport that can practiced whole life. It is training for body and soul.
When Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in 1964, they introduced Judo and Korea kicked off Taekwondo in 1988 Seoul Olympics. For now wushu was an exhibition event, but China is pushing hard to make it an Olympic sport.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
My Olympics Recap
The number 8 that said to be auspicious in Chinese culture ended with a bang in Bird’s Nest Stadium on Sunday night. Beijing delivered spectacular and mind-boggling choreographs with incredible precision in the opening ceremony then dazzled the audiences from across the globe in the closing ceremony with displays of lavish fireworks and impressive scripted merriment. The 16-day of glory, the agony of defeat, the moments that make memories and the judging and scoring controversies in Beijing are now part of the Olympics history.
Some life stories crashed with intriguing tales of glory and tragedy. Samia Yusuf Omar is a girl from Somalia, a country of a decades-long civil war, who competed in the 200-meter dash and finished last but with great joy and pride. Bringing the Somali flag and standing with best athletes was her proudest memory and lifetime experience. American Hugh McCutcheon’s heartache and Chinese Liu Xian’s disappointment left our hearts heavy. And the electrifying runs of Usain Bolt from Jamaica and the strokes of determination of Michael Phelps of the USA inspired everyone.
Romanian Nadia Comaneci was just 14 when she scored a perfect 10 to win gold in 1976 Montreal Olympics. Being a young gymnast then wasn’t a bad thing. That is to remind sour-grape Romanian-American Martha Karolyi when she kept smearing the Chinese gymnasts every time they stuck their landings with comments like “Those little babies.” The age confusion, according to China’s deputy sports minister, has attributed to a paperwork mistake during a team transfer. Whatever it was, after all, the philosophy of the time was old enough to vault, old enough to compete.
But that didn’t stop the Karolyis bad mouthed when American Nastia Luikin and Chinese He Kexin earned identical scores of 16.725 on the uneven bars. Bela Karolyi, Martha's husband, had reason to believe that the new scoring system should have been flawless but he seemed to have a lack of knowledge on mathematical scorings. If there’s a tie in A-score (difficulty) and B-score (execution), each judge sums up his/her deductions. Nastia Luikin found to have greater deductions than He Kexin.
Wrestler Ara Abrahamian of Sweden dropped his bronze medal in disgust was justified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The judges said that Abrahamian was right to protest against the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles for refusing to review the video after a disputed call. This kind of loophole needs to be fixed because this happens all the time.
Most shocking without a doubt when Cuba’s Taekwondo Angel Matos deliberately kicked a referee square in the face and pushed one of the judges after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal match for taking too much injury time. The rule fighters get one minute time only. Matos’ time ran out.
Flashy swimsuits can also be put on a spotlight. The Spanish synchronize swimmers, Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual, wanted to wear swimsuits with embedded waterproof lights, but the suits banned by swimming’s world governing body. It would have been fun to watch if they were allowed to wear those lights. “It looks a bit like Christmas lights,” Fuentes said.
Six athletes represented the Philippines in the Beijing Olympics. It’s long enough that the Philippines hasn’t won any medals. What we need is a government support and public and private sectors sponsorships. We should step up to improve sports facilities and train our athletes up to their potentials.
Some life stories crashed with intriguing tales of glory and tragedy. Samia Yusuf Omar is a girl from Somalia, a country of a decades-long civil war, who competed in the 200-meter dash and finished last but with great joy and pride. Bringing the Somali flag and standing with best athletes was her proudest memory and lifetime experience. American Hugh McCutcheon’s heartache and Chinese Liu Xian’s disappointment left our hearts heavy. And the electrifying runs of Usain Bolt from Jamaica and the strokes of determination of Michael Phelps of the USA inspired everyone.
Romanian Nadia Comaneci was just 14 when she scored a perfect 10 to win gold in 1976 Montreal Olympics. Being a young gymnast then wasn’t a bad thing. That is to remind sour-grape Romanian-American Martha Karolyi when she kept smearing the Chinese gymnasts every time they stuck their landings with comments like “Those little babies.” The age confusion, according to China’s deputy sports minister, has attributed to a paperwork mistake during a team transfer. Whatever it was, after all, the philosophy of the time was old enough to vault, old enough to compete.
But that didn’t stop the Karolyis bad mouthed when American Nastia Luikin and Chinese He Kexin earned identical scores of 16.725 on the uneven bars. Bela Karolyi, Martha's husband, had reason to believe that the new scoring system should have been flawless but he seemed to have a lack of knowledge on mathematical scorings. If there’s a tie in A-score (difficulty) and B-score (execution), each judge sums up his/her deductions. Nastia Luikin found to have greater deductions than He Kexin.
Wrestler Ara Abrahamian of Sweden dropped his bronze medal in disgust was justified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The judges said that Abrahamian was right to protest against the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles for refusing to review the video after a disputed call. This kind of loophole needs to be fixed because this happens all the time.
Most shocking without a doubt when Cuba’s Taekwondo Angel Matos deliberately kicked a referee square in the face and pushed one of the judges after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal match for taking too much injury time. The rule fighters get one minute time only. Matos’ time ran out.
Flashy swimsuits can also be put on a spotlight. The Spanish synchronize swimmers, Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual, wanted to wear swimsuits with embedded waterproof lights, but the suits banned by swimming’s world governing body. It would have been fun to watch if they were allowed to wear those lights. “It looks a bit like Christmas lights,” Fuentes said.
Six athletes represented the Philippines in the Beijing Olympics. It’s long enough that the Philippines hasn’t won any medals. What we need is a government support and public and private sectors sponsorships. We should step up to improve sports facilities and train our athletes up to their potentials.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Pressures
For the past weeks I have been overwhelmed and inundated with projects and reports to generate and their deadlines were so tight. There were times that I would not even get up and leave my cubicle just to go to the men's room. For over 20 years that I’ve been working, it was the first time I’ve experienced coming in to work early and leaving late. Yet after the pandemonium (sometimes confusions) to meet my deadline for each, I felt great after our big boss gave me a pat on my back. He said I did excellent jobs with those financial reports that were presented to the board of directors and officers. Today it will be a relaxing day – which I have time to update my blog, evidently. Then I thought about it so hard, I have nothing to write except this one.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Spain's Fallout
Spain’s Olympic basketball team shows all its players slanting their eyes posing for an advertisement prior to the Games; they claimed to be funny or at least try to be one. But it turned out to be not. Living in a politically-incorrect-world, this type of image is offensive to Asians across the globe. However this team and the organizer defend themselves, this picture was taken in poor taste and judgment. The idea was ridiculous and racist.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Happy Birthday Mom
Today my mom’s celebrating her 70th. Four years ago she came out from retirement and started to go back to work. At her age, she has not stopped moving around nor she would ever slow down. Every time she always amazes me for her high spirit and energy. I spoke with her this morning and seemed to be having a great time in San Francisco with her cousins. She still manages to travel from coast to coast and across the pacific, three or four times a year. I wish her to be in great shape for two more decades.
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