KUCHING: It was more than just a training camp for 12 wushu athletes from Kuala Lumpur and Miri had expected at the Wushu, Lion and Dragon Dance Federation of Sarawak’s (WFS) premises at Tabuan Laru for the past week.
Together with 11 athletes from the state junior and back-up squad in Kuching, the group were put to ardous hours of training that some of the trainees had never experienced before.
This was an experience that none of them wants to forget and despite the hardship and strenous training, they all loved it and said it was fun way to train and practise wushu under the taskmaster Ling Ung Hee.
The training that started on Dec 22 and ended on Saturday was divided into two sessions daily and each session took four to six hours.
It was more towards practising on the basics (foundation) which was vital for all routines and disciplines, and the enforcement of attitude and discipline in training. Ling who is WFS technical committee head and Sarawak State Sports Council Centre of Excellence for Wushu coach said the camp was aimed to prepare potential athletes for the upcoming Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) wushu championship to be held next March.
“Starting next year, the KPM competition will be based on taolu routine and so we need to prepare early to get the athletes used to practising taolu,” she said while expressing satisfaction with the improvement and performance of the trainees who had a mock competition at the end of the camp .
“The trainees are able to see where they have gone wrong when executing their moves in the competition and from there correct them and tune to satisfaction, if not perfection,” she said.
Meanwhile 15-year-old Lee Yi Wei from Kuala Lumpur was in for a surprise when he stepped into the WFS training centre on Dec 22.
“It was very much harder than I had thought and expected before I came here. It was very intensive and in the first two days of training, we felt very tired but in the following days we got used to it,” he said on the camp which was interesting because it was not all about training alone.
“I felt that I could absorb more and faster during the training camp here… I also found out that the basics are important for me to do better in wushu and that was enforced by the coach (Ling),” he added.
“I am very proud and happy for being able to train under Ling, even if for a short period.”
Lee’s teammate, 16-year-old Tham Chun Ming was equally happy to be a participant of the training camp.