NTD’s International Traditional Martial Arts Competition Revives Martial Virtue

(Minghui.org) The 8th International Traditional Martial Arts Competition hosted by NTD Television concluded on September 2, 2024, in New Jersey. The competition showcased the profound impact traditional martial arts can have on both physical health and personal development.

From August 30 to September 2, 91 martial artists gathered in Waldwick, New Jersey for the competition. Preliminaries were also held in Germany and Taiwan. The awards ceremony took place on September 2, with martial artists receiving medals in the unarmed and weapons categories. Besides two gold awards, there were 11 silver awards and 41 bronze awards. Contestants were also awarded honorable mentions, promising newcomer awards, and contribution to cultural heritage conservation awards. 

The competition is unique in its focus on only traditional Chinese martial arts styles and its mission to revive martial virtue, a code of conduct required of traditional martial artists. It’s also part of a series of cultural events hosted by NTD to revive traditional culture. 

Awards ceremony for NTD’s 8th International Traditional Martial Arts Competition on September 2 (The Epoch Times)

Competition Chair: “We Are Trying to Create a Renaissance”

“Traditional martial arts is completely lost today, and no one does them in their original form anymore,” said Youfu Li, chair of the NTD International Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Competition. 

What remains today are some of the physical movements and routines of some traditional styles, but there are precious few teachers who can teach the original way – imparting the mental and spiritual component and philosophy behind each movement – much less the secret techniques of those styles, which were never written down.

The essence of traditional martial arts is “martial virtue,” which Li said provides martial artists with a roadmap that can guide their practice of martial arts to higher realms, even one day surpassing the lost original forms.

“Actually, we’re not just seeking to recover these arts. We are trying to create a renaissance,” Li said.

Contestants: “The Right Path”

Ta-Yen Liu, gold award winner in the men’s unarmed category presenting the xingyi style (The Epoch Times)

Gold award winner Ta-Yen Liu participated in the competition for the fifth time and had won awards in the past. “My goal is to reach the levels of those legendary old masters, and then new heights,” said Liu, who is from Taiwan and currently a martial arts teacher.

Eike Opfermann, who won the gold award in the men’s weapons category with the qimen sword (The Epoch Times)

Gold award winner Eike Opfermann from Germany said, “Martial virtue is preventing the evil and promoting the good... It’s also not being afraid in the face of evil, and not deceiving in the face of good, and to be humble.”

Silver award winner Shao-Hsuan Chen in the men’s weapons category (The Epoch Times)

Silver award winner Shao-Hsuan Chen, from Taiwan, has participated in competitions big and small, all across Taiwan and in China. Out of all of these, NTD’s is the only one that has held fast to its mission of reviving tradition, he said.

“This is the right path,” Chen said. “And to use a competition form to do this, this has an impact on us martial artists and changes the direction for us martial artists.”

Chen said it’s the right path because of traditional martial arts’ emphasis on martial virtue. From the perspective of a martial artist, who in ancient times would have been a soldier, the knowledge that you have the ability and strength to take a life shows how fragile human life is, leading one to have the determination to protect life, he said. And when you realize you have the strength and ability to protect yourself, you also gain the realization that you can never be cornered and, therefore, need not have fear, he added.

Sergio Torres from Bolivia, silver award winner in the male unarmed category (The Epoch Times)

Armilali Pinzon from Colombia, bronze award winner in the junior unarmed category (The Epoch Times)

Yi-Chen Shih from Taiwan, silver award winner in the female unarmed category (The Epoch Times)

Audience: Moral Emphasis “Important and Deep”

Liv Segura, a human resources manager from Pennsylvania who has studied martial arts in the past, watched the competition two days in a row. She said, “This is a great competition. The contestants were truly showing their skills. It also emphasizes martial virtue, virtue, and to stop fighting: more spiritual things… The atmosphere here is very friendly and cooperative. People are like siblings and kind.” She also said that after watching the competition, she thought she should pick up martial arts again. She hoped that NTD would host this competition every year.

Liv Segura, an audience member from Pennsylvania (The Epoch Times)

Michelina Palmer, a middle school teacher in New York State, came to watch the finals with her son, who is learning martial arts.

A mother and son at the finals (The Epoch Times)

She said, “My son and I read about the background of NTD’s competition online. My son reads about martial virtue. I think these things are so important and deep. The current society is filled with violence and fights. But here they talk about being good people and protecting the weak and young, and learning martial arts to stop violence. This is a very good learning opportunity for my son, so he knows at a young age about these kinds of morals, discipline, not using skills to hurt others, not being enticed to do bad things, that martial arts are used to do good things, to treat people with sincerity, and to defend justice. It’s so beautiful.”