Tai chi competition hosted in Nanyang

Nanyang city in Henan province held a municipal tai chi-focused martial arts competition at a symposium of Nanyang Normal University on Nov 19.

Over 500 tai chi enthusiasts from around the city attended the contest, competing both in groups and individually.

After a brief display of martial arts were staged as a warm up, various competitions were held, including Chen-style tai chi boxing, Shaolin boxing, Xinyi boxing and tai chi fencing.

As a city with a rich martial arts culture, Nanyang established a martial arts association six years ago, which now accommodates nearly 30,000 members and 100 training sites.

Gao Dongxiang, deputy president of the association, addressed the wide popularity of tai chi in Nanyang.

"Almost 10,000 local residents practice tai chi," Gao said. "The competition is a good platform for tai chi lovers to show their skills and communicate with each other."

Wushu (Martial Arts) Philosophy United Commission also gave the competition great support. The commission's founder, Qiu Haiyang, spoke highly of Nanyang's continuous development of martial arts, noting that "Nanyang has developed marital arts into an innovative cultural element that has world-wide influence."

A group of participants perform tai chi. [Photo/Nanyang Daily]

The martial art competition attracts a large amount of tai chi lovers. [Photo/Nanyang Daily]