Vol 14, Issue 4/2003
Taijiquan on the road to Olympias
The sports politics aspect of a traditional art. By Urs Krebs
While the debate continues here in Europe about the pros and cons of participating in Taijiquan tournaments, the news is gradually filtering through that it might even become an Olympic discipline. Urs Krebs describes how this development arose through the inclusion of Taijiquan in the China Wushu Association and the internationalisation conducted by this body, and that inclusion in the Olympics is indeed quite possible. However, this would only apply to women because the organisers, in order to create a varied Wushu presentation, have divided up the various disciplines between men and women. The competition form will probably be the 42-step routine, and a qualification at national level and at the 2007 world championships will be necessary. The exact participation conditions will not however be published until after a final decision in 2004.
