In December 2020, UNESCO officially included Chinese Taijiquan in the "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity"; )pass.
As a cultural heritage of the Chinese nation and one of the outstanding Chinese martial arts, Taijiquan has taken an important step in the internationalization process.
Taijiquan has a rich background and connotation, integrating philosophy, medical theory, and boxing theory. There are hundreds of millions of fans and practitioners around the world.
More than 20,000 people from 47 countries and regions participated in the 2nd Global Tai Chi Online Competition, which ended at the end of June.
In the past few years, the Wushu Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Wushu Association have promoted Taijiquan by adhering to the principles of science, standardization and simplification, and have taken various measures to better meet the lifestyle and fitness needs of contemporary young people.
Taijiquan is no longer a "sport for the elderly" in the eyes of many people, and the trend of younger practitioners is becoming more and more obvious.
globalization
The successful application of Taijiquan to the World Heritage List is conducive to popularization and promotion
The origin of Taijiquan can be traced back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It has a history of more than 400 years. It contains rich cultural heritage and connotations, integrating artistry, ideology, integrity and sports.
Through the continuous improvement and enrichment of Taijiquan inheritors and experts and scholars from generation to generation, the main styles of Taijiquan such as Chen style, Yang style, Wu style, Wu style and Sun style have been gradually formed.
As one of the outstanding martial arts styles in China, Taijiquan is a precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. It integrates the essence of philosophy, medical theory and boxing theory to form a unique theoretical and technical system, which is deeply loved by people all over the world. , with hundreds of millions of practitioners and enthusiasts.
In May 2006, Tai Chi was announced by the State Council as a representative item of national intangible cultural heritage.
Two years later, Taijiquan started the application for the representative list of the world's intangible cultural heritage of mankind.
On December 17, 2020, UNESCO officially included Chinese Taijiquan in the "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".
After 12 years, Taijiquan finally succeeded in applying for the World Heritage List.
"The application to the World Heritage List is also due to our worries about Taijiquan, and we are worried that others will rob us." Qiu Huifang, associate professor of Beijing Institute of Technology and Taijiquan world champion, said that Taijiquan is also developing very well in Japan, and some places abroad even started to call it "" "Japanese Taijiquan", this once made Taijiquan practitioners very worried.
Taijiquan world champion Ma Jianchao also said that the successful application to the World Heritage List is a milestone in the history of Taijiquan development, which means that it has been recognized by people all over the world, and everyone must work together to protect it and not let it be lost. It is a special honor to carry on our intangible cultural heritage.”
According to Xu Xianghong, deputy director of the Wushu Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports (hereinafter referred to as the Wushu Management Center) and spokesman of the Chinese Wushu Association, the success of Taijiquan's inscription on the World Heritage List is of great significance and far-reaching influence. It is the pride and glory of hundreds of millions of Taijiquan practitioners around the world, and it is conducive to the popularization and promotion of Taijiquan around the world. "This confidence comes from our promotion and practice over the years, and it comes from Taijiquan's 'going out' process. Its attractiveness and influence." In Xu Xianghong's view, Tai Chi will gradually become the trend of world health culture and fashion fitness in the future.
At the same time, the successful application of Taijiquan to the World Heritage List is conducive to promoting the "going out of Chinese culture".
Xu Xianghong believes that this is of great significance for inheriting and promoting the excellent traditional Chinese culture, highlighting the innovative vitality of the Chinese nation, enhancing the international influence of Chinese culture, promoting people-to-people bonds and cultural exchanges and mutual learning. , an important carrier to spread the 'Chinese voice'."
In addition, Xu Xianghong said that the successful application of Taijiquan to the World Heritage List is also conducive to improving human health and well-being.
"It is not only an important symbol of Chinese culture, but also a valuable asset that Chinese martial arts dedicate to the people of the world." Xu Xianghong introduced that Taijiquan advocates the healthy concept of "harmonious nature" to the world with its unique expression, and "strength and softness" The way of exercise explained China's simple "yin and yang" philosophy to people, and presented the "Chinese plan" to the people of the world to promote physical health.
Systemize
5 criteria passed to demonstrate cultural confidence
In April 2022, the five standards of "Technical Specifications for Basic Taijiquan Movements" were approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is of great significance to the development, external promotion and industrial development of martial arts, filling the gap in the industry.
These five standards include Chen style, Yang style, Wu style, Wu style and Sun style Taijiquan, which were developed and submitted by the Wushu Sports Management Center of the State Sports General Administration.
"To put it bluntly, this is a manifestation of cultural self-confidence." Since 2018, Qiu Huifang has participated in the formulation and compilation of these five standards.
"We have to set our own standards for our own things. If you want to learn this, you have to follow China's rules." Qiu Huifang said that she often goes to foreign competitions to communicate, and there are often some different voices about Taijiquan. These voices are not expected by everyone. He heard, "For us Tai Chi people or the entire martial arts community, we need to be able to stand up when we go out to teach in the future. Our own things must be done according to the rules of the Chinese people."
In recent years, the Wushu Management Center has actively explored the road of international standardization of Wushu, and with the support of the Economic Department of the State Sports General Administration and the Equipment Center, it has actively organized relevant units and experts to develop the standardization of Wushu equipment, clothing and movement techniques to promote China's The internationalization process of relevant standards for martial arts.
In Xu Xianghong's view, these five standards, on the one hand, play a positive role in promoting the international standardization of Taijiquan movement techniques; Physical and mental health.
Ma Jianchao, who is currently teaching at the School of Physical Education of Zhengzhou University, also said that these five standards will play a role in promoting the inheritance of Taijiquan.
"If you can't tell the truth or the way, even if it is passed down, it will be this teacher's style, that teacher's style. Just like a thing, some people say one, some say two, and some say three, it is not easy to promote If everyone said three together, it would be much easier." In Ma Jianchao's view, with this set of standards, everyone learns a system, and it will be easier to learn on the competitive stage, and then through drills And personal understanding will make Taijiquan more charming.
Of course, the standardization of Wushu projects is still on the way. In the future, the Wushu Management Center will continue to improve related work with the strong support of the State Sports General Administration and related departments, and implement precise policies to help realize the dream of "wushu entering the Olympics".
platform
The competition system at home and abroad is becoming more and more perfect
On January 8, 2020, at the meeting of the International Olympic Committee Executive Committee held in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tai Chi was included in the 4th Youth Olympic Games, which is a milestone in the history of martial arts development.
At present, the international competition system of Taijiquan has been relatively complete. In addition to becoming a comprehensive sports event such as the Youth Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and the World Games, Taijiquan also has the World Wushu Championships, World Cup, World Taijiquan Championships, and World University Students Wushu Championships, etc. single event.
In terms of domestic events, the National Games, the National Youth Games (Student Games), the National University Games, the National Ethnic Minority Games and other comprehensive events all have Taijiquan competitions.
In addition, there are 5 championship series events including the National Youth Wushu Routine Championship, the National Wushu Routine Championship, the National Wushu Routine Championship (Tai Chi Division), the National Wushu Routine Championship, and the National Wushu Routine Championship (traditional competition area).
In addition to various comprehensive sports games and professional events, social events are emerging one after another.
In order to help the international promotion of Taijiquan, the Wuguan Center has successively held a series of Taijiquan such as "Global Taijiquan Online Competition", "China-Latin America and Caribbean Taijiquan Online Competition" and "China-ASEAN Taijiquan Online Competition" during the epidemic. Boxing online competition.
In addition, 99 episodes of "Chinese Wushu Network Lecture Hall and Taijiquan MOOC" series of teaching courses were filmed and produced, which expanded the influence of Taijiquan in the world.
At the end of June, the "Second Global Tai Chi Online Competition" just ended.
The competition lasted for 45 days, and the scale of the competition, the number of participants and the total number of visits far exceeded the previous one.
Liu Yuping, the chief referee of the competition, introduced that this year's Global Tai Chi Online Competition received a total of 23,619 videos from 47 countries and regions, and 18,125 entries were selected for the competition, with a total of 21,083 participants.
Qiu Huifang, who serves as the MOOC teacher of this global Taijiquan online competition, introduced that every summer is a time period for Taijiquan competitions, exchanges and activities.
Due to the epidemic, many competitions can only be changed to online, but it is a good way. "Because it is a competition form, we will urge everyone to practice before the competition to achieve a fitness goal."
An important part of Taijiquan competition is the communication between boxers, and the competition plays a more role as a platform.
Today, even in online competitions, boxers can communicate in another way.
Qiu Huifang introduced that this year, the competition team has posted the video of the top players in each group on the Internet, so that players can watch the video of other outstanding players while checking their results.
rejuvenation
Important groups for the popularization of Taijiquan among college students
In recent years, the Wuguan Center has adhered to the work philosophy of "creative transformation and innovative development", and has made it a work goal to promote the better and faster integration of Taijiquan into the people.
In order to improve the level of practitioners, the Wuguan Center has taken measures such as scientific guidance of Taijiquan, the establishment of a grading teaching system for Taijiquan techniques, and the determination of Taijiquan grade standards for each stage.
At the same time, it also uses platforms such as the martial arts rank system and group events to compile scientific guidance service books on Taijiquan theory, Taiji concepts and Taijiquan scientific fitness principles as a dissemination carrier to better serve the fitness needs of the whole people.
Today, Taijiquan is no longer the "sport for the elderly" in the eyes of many people, and the trend of younger practitioners is becoming more and more obvious.
The Chinese Wushu Association organized experts to create and publish the Taiji eight methods and five steps to the society, which is positioned as an introductory Taijiquan routine.
On the basis of various types of Taijiquan, the Chinese Wushu Association has organized and standardized the common and core "eight methods and five steps" technical content of Taijiquan, and sorted out and refined the two exercise forms of standing and walking, thus forming A set of Taijiquan popularization routines with culture, fitness and simplicity to better meet the lifestyle and fitness needs of contemporary young people.
Having taught at Beijing Institute of Technology for 20 years, Qiu Huifang's biggest feeling is that more and more young people are fascinated by Tai Chi, not only because of the technical level, but also because they are in love with traditional Chinese culture.
In Qiu Huifang's view, college students are a very important group for the popularization of Tai Chi.
"Our teaching method is different from other groups, not only teaching twenty-four poses. Because young people still like confrontation, we introduce the content of push hands, so that they can realize that it is not to use strength to fight against strength, but to use Brains. Some girls can push boys down because they use skill." Qiu Huifang said with a smile that the classroom atmosphere is always the most active when it comes to pushing hands or fighting.
When teaching college students, Qiu Huifang not only taught movements, but also explained the history, culture, and striking techniques of Tai Chi to the students.
"Many students think Taijiquan is very mysterious. It looks so slow, how can there be a striking function?" In response to everyone's curiosity, Qiu Huifang adjusted the teaching content in a timely manner, and also let the students experience traditional Chinese culture through Taijiquan. Charm.
Qiu Huifang pointed out that, as a part of traditional Chinese culture, many concepts of Taijiquan are unique to China, and the characteristics of being upright and impartial are very distinct.
When it comes to young people's love for Taijiquan, Ma Jianchao also feels the same way. In the past two years, he has created Rhythmic Taiji and used songs such as "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Dragon Boxing" as Taijiquan soundtracks. The students are very happy when they practice together.
"There is softness in Taijiquan rigidity, softness with rigidity, the combination of movement and stillness, and there is also a rhythm." Many people think that Taijiquan should be slow and music should be soothing. Ma Jianchao emphasized that "it is not the case."