Young Dragons.

I was interviewed by a local radio station in Penang prior to the show and one question put to me was; what needs to be done to promote TCMA with the youths?

 

My answer was, in a nutshell, repackaging to make it more conducive – change the form but keep the substance, so to speak.

 

More events to increase visibility was my other recommendation; it’s not easy to see TCMA event these days. Out of sight, out of mind …

 

However, the Nov 3 show did see 2 group of young exponents taking the stage alongside the masters and veterans; Singapore Zhou Jia and Sarawak Chinese Martial Art Association.

 

One from my Zhou Jia family and having a hand in teaching the other; it gave tremendous delight to introduce them and see them hold their grounds among all the experienced practitioners during their performances.

 

Not forgetting my young friend from Sibu, Edmond Wong who not only performed and co-hosted the show with me, he was also running around helping out in the logistics.

 

Well, you know what they say about the “long” river in China; it takes the young to lend energy to the old to keep moving …..

 

Young dragons ……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aftermath of this event.

Generally, the sentiment is that the show went down well, by any standards.

From the very start, my partner wanted more than just an entertaining show; this show needs to be educational without coming out as preachy.

With the tagline of our company being “Research, preserve and promote”, this show is, in effect, a showcase of TCMA housed in Malaysia and other parts of Asia.

With her rich cultural heritage of TMAs of all genres, we see ourselves as the mouthpiece and promoter of this.

The show was presented in segments highlighting unique characteristics of Northern, Southern, Hakka, Cantonese and Fukien styles.

And I thought this delineation is refreshing – making the show kind of like a live documentary.

The foreign invited masters lend an opportunity for the locals to see how TCMAs are progressing outside of this region. The level of interactions and exchanges between them and the local masters, most time spontaneous, augurs well for future co-operation.

So before I flew out of Penang and with only about 2-3 hours to spare, I invited all the masters out to dinner at a local restaurant.

Since Russ and Nicole stayed behind, they came to dinner too. Master Ku Choy Wah was planning to hop over to “North Seas” and I invited him to join in also…

What a dinner …….

And those 2 hours of laughing and light banter , the Penang event came to a heartwarming close.

All martial arts one family – who say it’s not achievable?