• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
      Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
    • Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
      Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
    • Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
      Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • The block system is a joke
      The block system is a joke
    • Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
      Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
      Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
    • Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
      Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
    • “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
      “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • No image
      Maintaining wellness as the cold sets in
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Julia Han ArtsMay 5, 2016

Wushu president passes down “The Art of Heroism”

Emily Jin ’17 rehearsing for Wellesley Wushu’s annual spring show. Photo courtesy of Emily Jin '17

Of the many cultural organizations on campus, Wellesley Wushu has remained a strong group over the years. Wushu, a Chinese martial art involving various movements of the body, is a sport, an art and a significant part of the national Chinese identity. Wushu is often found in Chinese martial arts films and Wu Xia stories — a genre of fiction involving the adventure of traveling martial artists. It is no wonder that Wellesley Wushu attracts many students to the org each year. Emily Jin ’17, the recently elected president of the organization, recounts how Wellesley Wushu has changed her college experience.

Joining Wushu was, as Emily recounts, her “own way of fulfilling a childhood dream.” Although she had grown up with a Chinese cultural background and had always read martial arts novels in China, she had never had obtained any experience prior to coming to Wellesley. “Wushu was always something that I was interested in, but I never had the chance to do when I was still going to school in China.”

Upon deciding to give Wellesley Wushu a try however, Emily was captivated by both the artistic beauty and heroic spirit of the ancient martial art. From an artistic point of view, the act of wushu turns the human body into a medium from which creativity is expressed. Wushu involves spinning weapons, twisting the body and jumping high in the air ending with a split, all of which require tremendous movement and coordination. “As someone without a dance or gymnastics background, I only did racket sports and was oblivious as to why the human body could be an art,” Emily recounts. “But it’s about what you can do with your own body.”

It is no surprise that achieving the perfection of movement requires a tremendous amount of practice and endurance. Members practice four hours a week standard, with two drills amounting to eight hours in total. Close to performance time, members must attend extra practices. During practice, drills involve running, extensive muscle training, frog jumps, relay resources and choreo practice.

“I did wushu for maybe twelve days in a row prior to our own show,” Emily admits. She doesn’t limit herself.

The practice has indeed all paid off. Wellesley Wushu’s year started off with an choreographed act based on “Game of Thrones.” The general themes of war, battle and legends were carried further by the other acts in the show, including a showcase of weaponry and “The Monkey King” or “Journey to the West,” China’s most famous legend. “This year was the year of the monkey in China, and we realized that we’ve never properly done any Asian legend,” Emily explains. “In the ‘Journey to The West,’ the monkey uses a staff and the staff is one of the most common wushu weapons.” The introduction of Asian folklore to campus was a breath of fresh air to the performance and, more importantly, promoted multiculturalism.

Crafting the choreography is also hard work. Wushu performances always narrate a story, all through the movement of the body. “We use our body and weapon language to present different themes and elements of stories.” In their most recent Slater Fall Cultural Show, the team crafted choreography representing “Game of Thrones.”

“To present the brute, down-to-earth Stark family traits, we created a choreography being represented by fists,” explains Emily. “On the other hand, to represent the Lannister family, we used swords to represent their sharpness and calculating traits.” To tell stories without using verbal language and only the choreography of the body is an artistic feat in and of itself.

Wushu is an organization that is many things to Emily—a venue for creativity, a celebration of multiculturalism and a test of endurance. But what does she treasure the most about Wellesley Wushu? “The reason I stayed in the team is because of the people.” It was clear that ultimately, her appreciation for her team members and her desire to give back to the team was her most important goal upon becoming president. “I want to give to everyone what wushu has given me.” For Emily, the team represents more than just a martial arts organization, but a family at Wellesley.

This support system was proven in her sophomore year, when after she had undergone a surgery, her team members took extra steps to help her recover. Touched by this experience, her goals as president are to help out the new members of Wushu, ease their way into Wellesley and continue the support system of Wellesley Wushu. In her agenda as president, she plans to teach wushu and make sure that everyone gets an equal amount of attention. “It’s really my way of giving back to the team.”

In Wu Xia, the “Xia” refers to those who use their learned skills to help others. This value is deeply embedded in a sense of heroism and helping those in need. At Wellesley, Emily embraces the meaning of martial arts in China and hopes to pass down this great responsibility of helping others. The team is truly a support system within Wellesley’s own community, a family of friends to fall back on. The spirit of Wushu celebrates the heroism in all of us. Emily knows that even through hard times, the members of Wellesley Wushu will always be there to welcome her with open arms.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleHollywood banks on “super-franchises to save the future of film
Next articleControversy surrounding “The Birth of a Nation” invalidates the film’s message

You may also like

Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester

Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart

“Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top