Seventeen-year-old Amber Zhou is making history this month as the only athlete from Oceania competing in wushu at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
Wushu is a competitive form of kung fu that combines martial arts moves with acrobatic jumps and kicks. Unlike most martial arts, there’s no physical contact between competitors — instead, judges score athletes on how difficult and precise their routines are, much like gymnastics.
Zhou was selected as one of just 48 athletes worldwide to compete in the sport, which is appearing on the official Youth Olympic programme for the first time. She is competing in two categories: one using just her body, and one using a weapon.
“It’s basically eat, sleep, train, study and repeat. There’s not much time for anything else,” Zhou said of her training schedule. “The routine is extremely tiring. For me it’s pretty much a sprint, but at the same time you’re bending down and you’re jumping up. You can’t relax for even a second.”
Her coach, Wei Zhau, explained that wushu’s techniques are about far more than fighting. “Our main technique is actually for self-defence, for fitness training, but it’s not for hurting others,” he said.
Wushu New Zealand president Glen Keith hopes a strong showing in Dakar could help the sport’s bid to be included at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Zhou hopes her efforts inspire other young Kiwis to give the sport a go. “If a kid out there sees someone like me doing the sport and actually feels like they want to do it, then that’s going to be a huge reason why I continue doing wushu,” she said.
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