With the passionate atmosphere of the Tokyo Olympics and the upcoming Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing, China on Sunday celebrated its 13th National Fitness Day, a tradition that calls on citizens to engage in sports activities within the framework of the country’s campaign to promote health.
National Fitness Day is a tradition that began in 2008 when China hosted the Summer Olympics.
The theme of this year’s activities focused on the Olympics, as the day coincided with the last day of the Tokyo Olympics. China itself will also host the 2022 Winter Olympics, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Across the country, a craze for the sport has gripped people of various age groups.
The Chinese government released an action plan for the period 2019-2030 in July to implement the “Healthy China” initiative and promote universal health.
As part of this action plan, people are advised to exercise at least 30 minutes of sport three or more times a week. Depending on the plan, it is recommended that a person walk 6,000-10,000 steps each day.
Could kung fu enter the Olympics?
Prior to National Fitness Day, August 7 marked the fourth World Wushu / Kung Fu Day.
This year, the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), the global governing body of wushu, said that this holiday belongs to the global wushu community and that the theme for World Wushu / Kung-Fu Day 2021 is “Wushu : health and the future ”. She also encouraged participation in the day online around the world, Xinhua reported on Saturday.
World Wushu / Kung Fu Day, a worldwide celebration of wushu / kung fu, is celebrated annually on the first Saturday that falls on or after August 8.
Calls for the inclusion of wushu in the Olympics have been around for a long time, and the discussion took place on the Chinese internet during the Tokyo Olympics.
“Japanese judo and karate as well as Korean taekwondo have all been included in the Summer Olympics, wushu should be too,” said a Chinese Weibo user.
In Tokyo, Japan won nine gold medals in judo competitions out of the 12 in total.
The Olympics promoted new sports, such as skateboarding, surfing and rock climbing, and break dancing will be added to the list of competitions during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nowadays, there are around 120 million wushu practitioners in the world. Wushu also meets the standards of the International Olympic Committee to become an official event of the Summer Olympics, the China News Service said.
In January 2020, wushu, which includes among other things tai chi – which was inscribed in the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO in December 2020 -, became an official event of the Dakar Youth Olympic Games 2026.
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