The members of the UIC Health Qigong team trained hard for two months in order to compete back-to-back in both the 2017 Zhuhai and Macao Health Qigong Competition and the 2017 National College Health Qigong Competition. Their vigorous training resulted in their team achieving excellence in both competitions.
Opening Ceremony of the 2017 National College Health Qigong Competition
On 16 July, an Instructor in the Whole Person Education Office, Mr Fang Wenze, led the team of five students who ended up taking first place in the Baduanjin category with a score of 9.10 at the 2017 Zhuhai and Macao Health Qigong Competition.
The students that were part of this team were Yuanmou Wang from ENVS, Xi Hong from MKT, Yueran Kan and Weiqi Wang from ACCT, as well as Xinjie Yu from IJ. These five students were able to showcase their abilities through their strong performance. After the competition, officials from the Chinese Embassy in Macao and teachers from the judging panel showed high admiration for the UIC students. They also mentioned the development of Qigong in Zhuhai and Macao with the hope of increasing the opportunities for collaboration between the athletes from both regions.
The winners of the 2017 Zhuhai and Macao Health Qigong Competition
The 2017 National College Health Qigong Competition was held on 19 July in Guizhou Province, with 400 students from nearly 100 colleges competing. UIC took home several awards over the five day competition including fifth place in Baduanjin and second place in Wuqinxi. These achievements were earned by Weiqi Wang from ACCT, Xi Hong from MKT and Yiyan Cao from FIN who had to work together to come up with the skilled improvisations. Additionally, in the individual category, Yueran Kan from ACCT scored 8.84 and won first place in competitive Yijinjing, Yuanmou Wang from ENVS scored 8.68 and obtained second place in traditional Baduanjin and Xinjie Yu from IJ scored 8.68 and took third place in traditional Wuqinxi.
Students collect their prizes for strong performances
After the competition, several officials from the General Sports Administration of China encouraged the UIC Health Qigong team to keep working hard, and continue to practice Qigong even though they were not sports major students. They agreed with the principles of UIC’s Whole Person Education, in the belief that students’ lives can be enriched and their bodies can be strengthened through Qigong. Furthermore, teachers and students from different colleges took pictures with the UIC students, and they enjoyed socializing with a diverse group of athletes from all over the country.
The UIC Health Qigong team poses with the chief judge
Health Qigong has many different forms including Wuqinxi, Baduanjin, Yijinjing, Liuzijue and their competitive methods. Developing Chinese traditional sports such as Health Qigong has been listed in the national ‘Health 2030’ programme. The UIC Health Qigong team is grateful for all the support and encouragement and looks forward to another great year.
Reporters: Xinjie Yu (IJ Y2), Yueran Kan (ACCT Y2), Xianhe Ren (FM Y4)
Photographer: Yiyang Cao (FIN Y2)
Editors: Samantha Burns, Deen He, Samuel Burgess (MPRO)
(from WPEO)
