The 24th Wushu, Tai Chi, Qigong, Australia (WTQA) Festival was held on 30 August in the gymnasium at Carwatha College in Noble Park. The WTQA has Institution and Individual Memberships from across Australia. There were 80 competitors from 13 Tai Chi and Wushu schools, 35 volunteers and 130 spectators participating on the day and the Celestial Tai Chi College was represented by instructors and students from 10 of its centres.
In preparation for the Festival and after weeks of practice, the big day arrived, and for some of us an even bigger day because as we arrived quite early we helped the WTQA committee set up the performance arenas and spectator seating and also stayed back at the end of the day to put everything away again. A big thank you to those who helped. The gymnasium was divided into two areas to accommodate the Tai Chi/Qigong competition and the Wushu competition which were held simultaneously.
We were greeted at the reception desk by Senior Instructor Margaret Rogers who is a member of the WTQA Committee.
The auspicious day began with the official opening ceremony consisting of speeches and the introduction of the judging panel. Part of the opening speech I have included here introducing two significant guests.
"We are privileged to have two distinguished guests from the wider Wushu and martial arts community joining us today. Firstly, Master Shao Zhao Ming, President of Kung Fu Wushu Australia and President of Kung Fu Wushu Oceania. Master Shao is a former Chinese National Open Champion and was awarded the prestigious Wu Ying title, the highest level of achievement in Kung Fu-Wushu in China. He was the Head Coach of the Australian National Wushu and Tai Chi Team and is an internationally accredited Grade A Wushu and Tai Chi judge.
We are also delighted to have with us Sifu Dana Wong, President of Kung Fu Wushu Victoria. Sifu Dana is a highly respected martial artist and instructor with many decades of experience in Chinese martial arts, particularly Wing Chun Kung Fu. He has made a significant contribution to the martial arts community here in Victoria, and his dedication as an instructor has been recognised with the Blitz Magazine Hall of Fame Kung Fu Instructor of the Year award.”
The Celestial College also had the privilege of having on the Tai Chi/ Qigong judging panel Senior Instructor Noel Schmidt.
Senior Instructor Belinda Leong was ever present being a great support and our photographer. Such an important event in our College history cannot go undocumented.
The formalities were followed by guest performances.
The spectacular Lion Dance by members of the Hung Gar Yau Shu Martial Arts School with two experienced lions, their operators moving with grace and agility to the thunderous sound of the drums and cymbals and also the two cute junior lions with their sub teen operators doing their best to move accordingly. Understandably, since baby lions are.... baby lions. So cute.
Master Peter Wu (Chen Style Tai Chi Academy) then performed a Chen style routine, this was followed by a demonstration of Pushing Hands and the power of Fa Jin.
To get everybody up and moving, everyone was invited to participate in the mass Beijing 24 performance. From the corner of my eye, I took advantage to study the movements of some of our distinguished Masters.
There were many competition performances of quite high standard. Some schools had already competed overseas. And some individual performances were so exquisite and powerful that I thought they should be competing in the Wushu arena. I wish I could go into more detail.
Some of our highlights:
Robert Harris from the Mornington centre won the individual Gold Medal for the Beijing 24 routine – congratulations. He was coached by Senior Instructor Yvonne Schmidt.
The troop from Hoppers Crossing, Amy Biagooi (Celestial Tai Chi 108 form) and Danny Tan (Beijing 24 and Celestial Tai Chi 108 forms) were impressive in their individual costumes, a break from our “College uniform” and gave equally impressive separate performances. They were coached by Instructors Rita and Graham Sullivan.
It was great to see Eileen Ting and Dennis Cheng from the Box Hill centre perform the Yang 42 sword routine which so many of us struggle to learn. Their coach was Instructor Edward Yong. It certainly takes dedication and commitment to learn and execute as they wonderfully performed synchronously on the day.
We had two group performances, the members of which in both groups were a coalition of participants from various centres which I found personally rewarding getting to know others who share the same passion.
The group Celestial College 108 Yang 1-3 form was coached by Senior Instructor Yvonne Schmidt with Brian Burrows, Steven Chan, Rob Harris, Margaret Mulhall, Sharon Niwa and Debbie Osborne performing. It was precisely executed but unfortunately we were caught on a time violation.
However, the group Qigong performance of the Health Qigong Ba Duan Jin was also flawless and received a Gold Medal. This group was coached by Instructor Christina Koh with Debra Araujo, Steven Chan, Frank Giovannetti, Len Lock, Sharon Niwa and Chris White performing – congratulations.
Well done to all the participants and congratulations to the medal winners. The College made a decent show of it! What a wonderful day of competition we all had.
Next year will be the 25th year of the WTQA Festivals. Being such it may be a big event indeed, let’s start our preparations now.
Steven Chan
Assistant Instructor
Camberwell, Doncaster
Updated: 20 September 2026
