Adam of Brainysmurf was kind enough to inquire as to whether news that China was trying to exclude taekwondo from Olympic competition and replace it with the Chinese martial art of wushu ahead of the Beijing 2008 was making waves here. Apparently, there wasn’t much news of it in China. Well, it doesn’t appear to be major news over here, either, although Uri Party lawmaker An Min-seok, returning from Athens after observing the games, did say that China was attempting to do just that, and warned that now that Juan Antonio Samaranch and former IOC vice-president Kim Un-yong weren’t around to pull strings like the good old days, Korea needed to be on its guard.
Interestingly enough, Samsung Group king Lee Geon-hui submitted a statement to Seoul High Court’s 4th Criminal Division on Tuesday asking the justices to show leniency to Kim Un-yong, who is appealing a conviction on embezzling public money, pointing to Kim’s contributions to Korean sports, and the adoption of taekwondo as an Olympic sport in particular.
Korea took two gold and two bronze medals in taekwondo in Athens, including Moon Dae-sung’s wicked gold medal KO of some 6′7″ Greek dude. China also took two gold, as did Taiwan (which also took a silver to come out on top of the entire taekwondo tournament).
33 Comments
Anybody know where I can find a video capture of this knockout blow? Would appreciate it very much.
China does not want to be faced with a situation in which Taiwan’s Olympic flag and Olympic anthem are played on its home turf. Getting rid of taekwondo for 2008 and replacing it with wushu would be a big step in insuring that doesn’t happen.
That was a nice ass-whuppin’, wasn’t it?
The problem with that line of reasoning Jason is that there are plenty of Wushu teachers and students in Taiwan that can be competitive. Afterall, it is a Chinese sport.
I don’t think it has anything to do with Taiwan, or any vendetta against Korea. Simplest answer is that China just wants a Chinese sport in the 2008 olympics as a matter of pride, and of course to snag some more medals in a sport where the competition isn’t as prolific. There are a lot of Wushu and other martial arts organizations in the U.S. that are also supportive of adding Wushu to the line-up.
Wushu is not really a world inclusive sports like Taikwnodo or judo. The sport should be enjoyed and be competitive throughout many countries for it to be considered an Olympic even. And no, just because the sport is popular in Chinese countries like China or Taiwan, should not be the sole reason why it should be included in the Olympics. Wushu is a dumb ideal. It’s another spectator sport that will depend 100% on subjective opinions of judges. And we all know how sports like gymnastics have been having difficulties in the judging area in this Olympic. Do we want to add more judging controversies into the mix?
Wushu already has enough practitioners, its got enough teams on 5 continents so it passes the initial qualifier. As to whether or not it is “world inclusive” like Taekwondo or Judo, well thats fairly subjective unless you have some data which states there are X more Taekwondo practitioners than Wushu practitioners. As for judgeing, well we’ll just have to hope the judges are good? If power walking is an Olympic medal sport, than certainly Wushu deserves to be.
Apologies… some of the comments were erased during the process of a server move. Actually, a couple of posts were, too, which have now been restored.
Again, I offer my apologies.
i just want to ask serious question here: why do the chinese seem so angry with the koreans? what have the koreans done to garner such sinic hostility that they now seem to go out of their way to insult koreans? of course, the koreans shouldn’t feel bad; at least the chinese, at this point, do not spit on them.
i saw the inklings of this hate during the world cup. at a bbc messege board, i read a messege asking why the chinese seemed so angry that the koreans were winning. further down, i read that some chinese were seem ripping up posters of korean movie stars and joining the losing euros in suggesting that the koreans were cheating.
then we see the issue of koguryo which needs no further discusion here by me. now, we can add the further insult of trying to rub out tkd to make way for wushu. why not try to get rid of judo?
i think the chinese are jealous of south koreans and cannot believe they as individuals are still dirt poor compared to their distant korean cousins. they can’t bear the idea of a people they have taught for thousands of years are now the ones teaching them. they hate themsleves for loving korean soaps.
the chinese have no one but themselves to blame. afterall, did they forget that the pupil can pass the teacher? look what happened to korea with regards to japan.
the people of china are going to make korea their enemy, and it’s sad because it does not have to be. next time one of you chinese see a korean, ridicule him for the fact that the CHINESE movie ‘hero’ is #1 at the box office here in the states. feel proud you beat the korean!
****
i know i can’t do much about removing the chinese footprint in korean culure but i don’t have to use a chinese derived handle. therfore, i am changing my moniker.
nulji maripkan
Shin/Nulji:
Are Chinese very angry with Koreans???
I thot K-culture is the hip thing now…Korean movies are great (some of them anyway), Korean folk dance is wonderful.
I think for every Chinese who spits on something Korean, there are many others who luv it. That’s the way it is between Chinese/Japanese/Koreans.
As for Koguryo, perhaps there are people -not Korean or Chinese - uncomfortable with two countries getting too close?
Anyway, I think Hero is a crappy movie - Americans have been conned into watching it because Miramax added: presented by Quentin Tarantino
yes, i’m 100% sure the americans, and probably some other dastardly yang nom, orchestrated this whole koguryo history issue.
as far as getting rid of judo…sounds great. i say we get rid of judo, taekwondo, and any other pseudo sport that relies on subjective judging for its results. while were at it, let’s flag the skills games that are disguised as sports for the purposes of the olympic games. these would include and all shooting games (e.g. archery, rifle/skeet), equestrian (doesn’t the horse do the work?), synchronized swimming (no explanation needed), and possibly table tennis. if these kinds of “games” are continued to be called sports, it’s only a matter of time before we see olympic typing.
by the way, yen jun, what the hell does an american movie have to do with any of this?
I think for every Chinese who spits on something Korean, there are many others who luv it. That?€™s the way it is between Chinese/Japanese/Koreans.
Interesting way to look at it.
As for Koguryo, perhaps there are people -not Korean or Chinese - uncomfortable with two countries getting too close?
Or perhaps China just screwed up its approach on this one. Or perhaps the relationship between Korean and China has been a lot more complex than some in Beijing would like to believe. Heck, the Koguryo issue is one of the few foreign issues that managed to piss off all the major political factions in South Korea — left and right. Heck, even the North Koreans criticized it in their own muted way. But then again, perhaps it really is the American imperialists/Japanese militarists who are simply trying to put a stop to Sino-Korean solidarity.
Anyway, I’ll be making a Koguryo-related post later tonight, so we could continue the debate on this issue there.
This is a way for China to get more medals and to try to beat Russia and the US. In 4 years I expect China to do ALL it can to be #1 including some big bribes.
One question is how many martial arts/ self defense sports can there be in the olympics? Why not get the hundreds of others or at least the ten or so most popular ones? I would think the Olympics knows this can’t happen and wants to maintain the number of self defense sports to 2 sports for now. China wants its brand of self defence in the next olympics and figured it might be easier to knock out taekwondo rather than judo.
Eepobee:
I was just responding to Shin’s comment that Hero is No 1 at the American box-office. Miramax, the distributor, has tagged on a disclaimer: presented by Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino, who loves Chinese movies, actually has nothing to do with this movie at all.
But Miramax - shaky about Hero’s chances with American audiences - added Tarantino’s name, on the bet that a familiar name will pull them in.
Just clever marketing. Hero did so-so business throughout Asia only. But it’s a better movie than Zhang Yimou’s latest, House of Flying Shit..oops, Daggers.
Fair enough if they want to gain more medals, but then why try to get rid of Taikowndo? Why not try to add Wu Shu? Something’s not jiving here.
Theres a hard limit on the number of sports that can be in the Olympics. I think its set at 28 so there can not be any sports added without any sports removed. I’m not sure if the Chinese Olympic Committee is actively pressing for Taekwondo to be removed or not, but I was aware that the IOC was mulling over making cuts to certain sports: baseball, Taekwondo, and a few others are on the short list.
A few corrections. I don’t think introducing Wushu into the Olympics will affect Taekwondo at all. It seems that sports such as Wushu, Golf, and Rugby are being mulled over for introduction into the olympics while Baseball, Softball, and Olympic Pentathlon are being considered to be cut or not. I think Taekwondo is in the limelight mainly for other other factors such as bribery and embezzlement.
p.s. Did you know there have been over 4,000 wushu practitioners in Aremnia since the mid 70’s? 4000 thousand may not seem like a lot spread out over two decades, but Armenia isn’t exactly known for Wushu.
If they want to cut the number of sports, I can think of a few that deserves more to be cut:
Trampoline, sychronized swimming, walking, bowling, rythmic gymnastics, darts and any other lame “sports”.
Cut baseball in favor of “wushu”???? And the thinking on this is…??
Great, what we need is more judges screwing up the games with their own opinions. Let’s get rid of all sports that rely 100% on judges for results, not add them!
Marmot:
yes, the ties between Chinese/Koreans/Japanese are very complex, for historic reasons.
Yes, Chinese are smug towards Koreans and Japanese because whatever these two countries can achieve - and however much they emphasise the “indigenous”elements of their culture - both Japan and Korea draw from the same well as Chinese. Without the impetus of Chinese civilisation, they may not come this far.
Yes, Chinese feel envious and ashamed when they see how ahead on the curve the Koreans and Japanese are.
Probably Koreans and Japanese feel the same about China: a grand, powerful civilisation to be admired, but scorned for falling behind.
But no Chinese (with the probable exception of Gordon Chang, author of Coming Collapse of China) doubts that China will re-claim - dare I say it - its rightful place in the sun.
What is 150 years of hardship and difficulty,when you look back on 5,000 years? Time and history are on China’s side.
Yes, China probably screwed up on Koguryo. In the Chinese world view, its perspective of Korea is probably still 19th century.
Which is how it opened a window for the issue to be exploited. Part of the reaction was spontaneous, but surely there are parties eager to blow it up, too.
Japan refuses to bring closure to WW2 issues -Koizumi visits Yasukuni (where apparently many Koreans gangpressed into fighting the war for Japan are interred) and history books are revisionist.
Isn’t Koguryo a great oppurtunity for Japan - there, if China can’t re-write history, why just harangue us about it?
Lol, I’d love to see Starcraft as an Olympic sport. Or better yet Counter-Strike, I can just picture it now…
OMGWTFBBQ! Bunny-hopping spawn camping awp whore took my gold medal! U R teh SUX! haX0r!
by the way, in response to HSN. Baseball is a terribly boring sport in my opinion. Soccer is almost as boring to watch, but at least you can engage in the fine history of hooliganism afterwards.
The Koreans due harangue the Japanese for it. All Koguryo did was make it painfully aware that Japan wasn’t the only country in the neighborhood that like to bullshit about its own history.
Which is how it opened a window for the issue to be exploited. Part of the reaction was spontaneous, but surely there are parties eager to blow it up, too.
Possibly, but not any more so that the way Beijing constantly makes use of historical issues involving Japan to browbeat Tokyo and drive diplomatic wedges between Japan and other states in the region. Besides, show me how the evil Japanese are encouraging Korean anger over the Koguryo issue? Do you think Koreans really respond to what the Chosun Ilbo reprints from the Sankei Shimbun?
Isn?€™t Koguryo a great oppurtunity for Japan
Yes, it is, gift-wrapped by Beijing itself. Someone should remind Prime Minister Koizumi to send Hu Jintao a thank you note or something. Perhaps a basket of fruit?
Japan refuses to bring closure to WW2 issues -Koizumi visits Yasukuni (where apparently many Koreans gangpressed into fighting the war for Japan are interred) and history books are revisionist.
China is hardly in a position to level criticism of any nation’s textbooks, and what’s more, I find it ironic that a nation that makes it distinct point to tell others to stick out of its internal affairs finds it appropriate to issue commentary on Japanese educational policy. And I happened to agree that visiting the Yasukuni Shrine is crappy as long as there are war criminals enshrined there. I propose that Beijing do the morally upstanding thing and propose a trade — the Japanese kick the war criminals out of Yasukuni and the CCP removes Mao’s Mausoleum from Tiananmen Square. Or is it OK for some countries to honor their murderous thugs and not OK for others? And just to be fair, you can throw in the Lincoln Memorial on the list of grandeous public displays of honor for guys who probably would have ended up at the Hague had they been around later.
The Chinese character for ?€?crisis?€™ is the combination of the characters ?€?danger?€™ and ?€?opportunity.?€™ The Koguryo crisis is a brilliant move by the Chinese because it is forcing Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scholars to get to the truth of the early history of these related civilizations. In fact, last month, the three nations have already agreed to work together to come to a consensus based on scientific and historical evidence of their origin. Most of the older historical evidence is in Chinese because they were essentially the only literate people in East Asia. No doubt the Korean mythical origin of Tangun, the Japanese myth that they are indigenous race in origin, and a lot of other past assumptions will go down the dustbin of history. What is being taught today in Korean and Japanese history textbooks of early history is outright erroneous. The genetic evidence strongly demonstrates that Chinese, Korean, and Japanese have a common origin with Southeast Asians in Southeast Asia 60,000 years ago. See works of Ben Chu, Stanford University. Although it will take many years to reach a consensus, I can see these three East Asian cultures and Southeast Asians coming together once they realize that they are all blood relatives.
Sugar Shin -
Why not ?€œWarcraft/ Starcraft III?€? at the Olympic Games
Sugar, where you been, man?? I was starting to get worried
As another proud Korean who drained a significant portion of his youth in Starcraft, I must respectfully point out that it’s Starcraft / Warcraft III, dude!
I can see these three East Asian cultures and Southeast Asians coming together once they realize that they are all blood relatives.
You know, you almost had me with with tearing down myths and assumptions in Korea and Japan (strange that you didn’t mention China, which obviously has its ancient history straight), myths that emphasis both the racial uniqueness and family nature (i.e., we are all of the same blood) of the society/body politic. But then you gotta go and replace it with another one that not only is just as rediculous, but just as easily lent to fascist/imperialist purposes as well.
yen jun, i have never felt any bit of disdain that the backbone of korean culture came from china. no problem with that and i accept it. but what i don’t accept is the chinese contention that korean culture is just chinese culture. anybody who knows korea knows it’s culture is unique to korea just as japan’s culture is unique to japan. you know, koreans can make a case for being the originator of many things thought of as purely japanese, but in my opinion, that kind of thing only goes so far; sumo may derive from sshirum but sumo is still very much japanese.
i’ll tell ya, yen jun, i’ve always had positive thoughts about the chinese and considered them friends. but i can’t do that if china is going to try to steal my heritage. i know that’s emotional but i accept that i am human.
lastly, china will not retake it’s ‘rightful place’ since china along with india is going to break the back of consumerism and the religion of wealth. our lifestyle will go down for china’s to go up. that will make us very cranky.
dark clouds coming our way, people. the good days are gone. pray you are able to live your life in relative peace.
nulji maripkan/shin jong il
ps welcome back, Mr Sugar Shin. oh-dee kattahwahssuhmnika?
Marmot:
Right. I think the jury is out on Koguryo, as Hu Jintao says China will study the issue. Could be forever, right? LOL.
China is not dictating Japan’s educational policy, just taking aim at the bit about World War II.
Koguryo’s a historic claim.
But re: World War II. there are people left over to tell the tale - or have recorded it in pics, right?
Read George Hicks book on Comfort Women. The cruelty of Japanese (militarists) is beyond belief.
If Beijing flogs the same old horses to charge at Tokyo, then why don’t the Japanese just admit they “invaded” - not “went forward” in - China, and leave Hu & Co without a stick to beat them with?
Wooj & Mr. Shin Jong-Il,
Because of job reasons I moved to a different city. And I took a break from reading the blogs, because of my blood pressure ;)!
Anyway, I’ve not much time left nowadays to comment as frequently as before. On the other hands, there are more than a few Korean-related topics to rant about here at Marmot’s… Always the best place to meet friends and foes.
[...] en, 1945? Sarajevo, 1993? Try Columbia, South Carolina, 1865. A couple of days ago, in a [...] en, 1945? Sarajevo, 1993? Try Columbia, South Carolina, 1865. A couple of days ago, in a http://blog.marmot.cc/archives.....mment-5871“ target=”_blank” title=”Marmot: Comment by Th [...]
[...] ajevo, 1993? Try Columbia, South Carolina, 1865. A couple of days ago, in a response to a [...] ajevo, 1993? Try Columbia, South Carolina, 1865. A couple of days ago, in a response to a http://blog.marmot.cc/archives.....mment-5867“ target=”_blank” title=”Marmot: Comment by ye [...]
here is the link Jung
why dont they have both arts instead of taking one out and puttin one in? martial arts should be more glorified
red line diet pill
Please visit the pages in the field of most effective diet pill
Baccarat Crystal Animals
Please visit some relevant pages dedicated to keno odds 9 out of 80
tamiflu capsules
Take your time to check out some relevant information dedicated to tamiflu pills bird flu vaccine