Saturday, 14 September 2013
Wushu
There really is something quite extraordinary in watching a lady bend your child's legs backwards so they actually look like they are broken while sitting on their chest to get it flat to the floor at the same time. I am assuming for this reason most parents do not stay to watch their children take part in the Chinese Wushu classes that we subjected our children to this weekend.
Now that I am native Singaporean Chinese having been here for two months I am speaking local. For you non-Chinese folk, I am talking about Kung Fu. The beautiful, disciplined and powerful art of Jackie Chan and Po the Panda alike.
Singapore provides a multitude of activities and sports for children ranging from "speed pot stacking" (this is genuinely an extra-curricular activity at my children's school and before you ask, it is not related to illegal drug manufacturing) to the usual football, tennis and gymnastics.
Even though I have invested a small fortune in swimming, football, rugby and gymnastics lessons for my children these last four years and was keen to continue those lessons to not make our investment a waste and help them build on their skills, I began to feel it would be a missed opportunity not to get them trained in a sport or activity that had its origins in Asia.
I looked into Taekwondo, Judo and Karate but all are combative which I knew my daughter would not like and given my son spent last week being beaten up on the school bus, I didn't feel anything with a shade of fisticuffs would be a great idea. Kung Fu or Wushu seemed ideal.
I tried to find a class not run by expats as unfortunately they do try to make the classes fun for the children and our children have had enough fun. They need to do some of that hard learnin'.
We wanted something very local and found a class not far from Little India taught by a Chinese lady, expert in Wushu who is extremely nice to the children but is strict to the point of giving them a smack on the legs if they are not listening or being disruptive. My kind of girl given I was chased around the house frequently by my Mum and her wooden sewing ruler in my youth.
This really was a grilling in discipline, flexibility and gymnastics. They were instructed in English and Mandarin which we thought was wonderful.
Of course before the children can really take on some of the dynamic moves of Kung Fu they have to become flexible and given my son is like a five day old cadaver in terms of flexibility he did amazingly well and his teacher in fact thought he was very good and had potential (could not see it myself). My daughter did well too but as she attempted some of her stances, my husband and I could not help but be reminded of the fabulous episode of Blackadder when Prince George is learning from a couple of Shakespearean actors how to stand with authority when orating. If you have not seen it, it is very much crotch forward.
Their teacher informed us at the end of the class that within a few weeks the children will become very bendy but each week she has to keep pushing them and forcing them physically into these contorted positions. As a parent it really was eye watering watching their legs being bent backwards and their feet pointing the wrong way. When we returned home I tried one of the moves myself and got stuck in the position, ended up with horrific cramp in my thigh and calf I had to be untangled by the children.
I am now looking forward to my children becoming the next Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh and spent the evening watching the fight scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with great hope. My daughter spent her evening practising the new moves that she learned and my son overjoyed with his new Wushu kit spent the evening prancing around in his black satin trousers not doing any Kung Fu moves at all. Once again, money well spent.
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