Festival of fighting promises good show

The KungFu Channel will bring real-life Chinese kung fu to Kenya with a festival on Nov 5 to celebrate the company's fifth anniversary of its entry into the market in 2011, according to Li Lu, editor of the channel.

The event, dubbed the KungFu Festival, will include several well-known local singers, including Gloria Muliro, Timmy T. Dat, Jua Cali and Ugandan singer Jose Chameleon, and will be held at Kenyatta International Convention Center in Nairobi.

"The purpose of the event is to appreciate our loyal audiences and to allow people in Kenya to see and feel the charm of Chinese kung fu," Li said.

Students from the Confucius Institute in Nairobi will kick off the event at noon with traditional Chinese dragon and lion dances, along with African songs and dances.

A birthday cake will be shared, followed by the kung fu performance by a group from Beijing, Li said.

StarTimes invited 10 Chinese kung fu masters to perform. Among them, Li Guozhi will demonstrate qigong, traditionally viewed as a balance of life energy.

He will break a steel spear with his throat, and steel plates using his forehead. And he says he will throw a sewing needle through a sheet of glass to burst a balloon.

The Shaolin KungFu Wushu Association of Kenya will also perform. The association has six clubs, each with 30 to 40 students.

Before the event, StarTimes announced it will choose 10 local kung fu practitioners to compete against each other at the event.

Winners will be invited to study kung fu at an international school in Beijing.

The event will conclude with a performance by Chameleon, the brand ambassador of the StarTimes in Uganda.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/21/2016 page29)