Taekwondo Fever in China's Yinchuan
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-24 09:59

"Hey!.. Ah!"-- a group of young people are training hard under their coach's instructions in the Lakeside Taekwondo Gymnasium of Yinchuan.

Taekwondo is the latest fashion of gymnastic exercise in Yinchuan city, capital of Ning Xia Hui Autonomous Region in west of China.

Since the Lakeside Taekwondo Gymnasium was founded on 10 January, 2003, the number of people who came to learn taekwondo has jumped from 37 to more than 500. The aggregate enrollment has reached about 1,000 people in the past two year.

Among those Taekwondo fans, the youngest is only over 4 years old, while the oldest is 47 years old. They come from all walks ofsociety, ranging from students, teachers to public servants and businessmen.

"After learning taekwondo, I feel like a big man!" said Wang Jing, a 8-year-old boy from Beiyuan Primary School, with confidence. He has studied taekwondo for one year. His mother said that Wang Jing is not only physically stronger, but also less effeminate.

Mo Jing, a teacher from No 15 Middle School of Yinchuan, hasher own reason for loving taekwondo. She said in her letter to the Lakeside Gymnasium, "Through learning taekwondo, my mind is completely relaxed, my will is extremely annealed, and my body is maximally excercised."

Besides Lakeside Gymnasium, there are 11 taekwondo gymnasiums in Yinchuan city, according to Ma Ziyuan, director of the Lakeside Gymnasium and the first Chairman of Yinchuan Taekwondo Association.

Taekwondo origins from the Korean Peninsula and has a history over 1,000 years. Taekwondo, which became an official sport for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, attracts people by its elegant fighting action and special function of actual combat.

In many people's eyes, taekwondo is a kind of sports with sever comptition, just as Wushu, wrestle and judo, but it has madeitself as one of the most appealling and popular exercises like Yuga.

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