Eleonora Kungfu

Guo Shu Cup

The winners of this years Guo Shu Cup is the Liu He Men Kung Fu School from Amsterdam. We congratulate them!

The results of this years Guo Shu Cup:

• First Place: Liu He Men Kung Fu School
• Second Place: Ricardo Sousa Kung Fu Academie
• Third Place: Shaolin Hong Choy EV

We wish to thank everyone who participated in this event and all those who helped to make it happen. Participants are important and in this modern world the traditional kung fu is becoming harder and harder to find. A special thanks goes out to our guests from Hong Kong Gordon Liu and Chen Kuan Tai for coming all this way and also to our guests from China, Zhang Shao Fu en his son Zhang Shao Ge and his student Zhang Minjuan.

Sponsors

We wish to thanks our sponsors for making the Guo Shu Cup possible.

Guo Shu Cup History

Below you will find information on the history of the Guo Shu Cup, its aims and its principles. Next, the general program will be outlined, along with several additional attention points for the jury.
This information is meant for the group of cooperating Kung Fu-teachers who support me. Therefore, I would like to thank the following people for their input:

Sifu M.T. Lee	Sifu To
Sifu Klass Padberg Evenboer	Sifu Earl Blijd
Sifu Chang Chen Cheung	Sifu Cheung Wan Fai
Sifu K.S. Jie	Sifu Q.R. Zhao
Sifu Mark Horton

History

For years now, I had planned to do something with Kung Fu in order to popularize and honor it for the future. Everyone I discussed my plans with – among which, many teachers were enthusiastic about the idea, but nothing happened. In the summer of 1998, in my role as coach of the Dutch Wushu Federation [NWF; Nederlandse Wushu Federatie], I spoke to then-President Mr. Klaas Padberg about the possibility of organizing something via the federation. It became clear that the NWF lacked the funds to realize this plan, and that there were no sponsors and/or subsidies available for activities related to traditional Kung Fu. Contrary to modern Kung Fu, traditional Kung Fu is regarded as a presentation form rather than a top-sport. In light of this conversation, I came up with the idea of organizing an annual team-competition myself.

The first competitive event, the ‘Chinatown Cup’, took place in September 1999 and was set up as a trial/experiment. It was a team-competition that allowed for the schools to really draw together. Thanks to Mr. Frank Man and Mr. Kelly Lam, respectively the President and treasurer of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Amsterdam, it was possible for the competition to take place during the Chinatown Festival. This was very significant because the Cup was able to latch on to the publicity surrounding the festival. We drew a large audience, even filling the bleachers set up on the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam; home of the festival. The event was so successful that it was repeated in 2000.

On 2 June 2001, the first Dutch Traditional Chinese Kung Fu Team-Competition was held: the Guo Shu Cup. This could never have happened without Mr. Lee’s entrepreneurial savvy. After meeting with him after the Chinatown Festival, he offered me both his financial support and (business-)network. I knew that many Chinese people love traditional Kung Fu, but that they were often forced to let their work come first. As it turns out, Mr. Lee is also a great lover of Kung Fu. He had already given ample support to other initiatives, e.g. Lion Dance clubs and various Kung Fu teachers/associations. Thanks to him and a number of other sponsors, the first Guo Shu Cup was a success. Mr. Lee even provided the trophies and covered the prize-money.

Sponsors of the first Guo Shu Cup were:

• Esay-Tone Telecom (Kelly's Printing & Copy)
• Lee's International Co.
• Dun Yong
• Wah Kiu Trading Co.
• Ming Ya Bookstore
• Holwah Trading Company

Aims

The aims of the Guo Shu Cup are:

• To uphold the honor of the traditional Kung Fu;
  Traditional Kung Fu dates back to antiquity, and most of us started our training with this type of kung fu. Modern Kung Fu is derived from this tradition, but draws more attention today due to the competitive possibilities and show-elements that are ‘lacking’ in traditional Kung Fu. However, it is extremely important that the roots of Kung Fu are nurtured, and that we continue to demonstrate the beauty and efficacy of that tradition.
• To bring all the teachers together;
  When traditional Kung Fu schools come together, it is a party to be enjoyed. All schools/teachers of traditional Kung Fu are welcome to voluntarily work together and help each other as friends. The purpose is to exchange ideas; as such there is no separate ‘Guo Shu Group’, federation or the like.

However, money is needed; also to generate publicity. With the support of the teachers, I am able to organize the Guo Shu Cup in such a way that it either costs less, or that more funding becomes available to finance the event. Think of media-connections, or contact with interesting sponsors. Needless to say the same applies when one of the other teachers organizes an event elsewhere. Then too, we can offer support to the initiator in order to make that event a success – to our collective benefit.