From health qigong to wushu, traditional Chinese culture gains global appeal
BUDAPEST (Sept 23): In Budapest’s City Park, just beside Heroes’ Square, a group of locals moved slowly in unison, raising their arms, shifting their weight and regulating their breathing as they practiced health qigong under the guidance of Chinese instructors. The weekly practice has become more than an occasional encounter with a Chinese exercise for [...] The post From health qigong to wushu,…
BUDAPEST (Sept 23): In a Budapest park, a group of locals joined together to practice health qigong, a traditional Chinese exercise guided by Chinese instructors. For many, it has become a regular part of their routine. The BPST European Centre for Chinese Traditional Culture and Sports Exchange, established by local Chinese community members, organizes health qigong sessions twice weekly in Budapest.
The center has facilitated trips for Hungarian practitioners to China, where they compete in the International Traditional Sports Exchange Competition. The interest in traditional Chinese culture extends beyond health qigong, as other communities in Hungary practice wushu and engage with traditional Chinese medicine and intangible cultural heritage.
Across the world, similar enthusiasm for traditional Chinese culture manifests in Bozhou, an eastern city in Anhui Province, China. There, five Italian enthusiasts trained under Wang Sanhua, an inheritor of wuqinxi, an exercise based on the movements of the tiger, deer, bear, monkey, and bird. Wang Sanhua, based in Bozhou, claims it as the birthplace of wuqinxi and the hometown of Hua Tuo, a renowned traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who developed the exercise around 2,000 years ago.
Wang's students, including Italian practitioners Ludovica Maria Ciarpi and Diego Bianchi, value wuqinxi for its ability to introduce them to traditional Chinese medicine and health preservation practices, as well as its potential to promote understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture. Health qigong and wushu represent different aspects of traditional Chinese sports culture, with the former emphasizing well-being and the latter gaining international attention through competitive events.
A significant milestone is approaching in 2026, when wushu will be featured as an official competition sport at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
Written by urgent.news from Borneo Post Online's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
