Asian Crane Tai Chi Heads to the World Cup

Asian Crane Tai Chi of Plymouth will become team competitors with Full Circle Tai Chi and Qi Gong of Worcester at the Tai Chi Chuan World Federation World Cup Tournament held in Taipei, Taiwan, on October 28 and 29.

Fang Chih Lee, master of Asian Crane, is the team’s leader. She’s also coaching the Tai Chi hand-set forms. Karim-Ben Saunders, master of Full Circle, will compete and coach the push-hands team members. Asian Crane members are Sherry Malone, Kathy Demers, David Titelbaum, and Peter Blair. Joining them from Full Circle are Tim Freemen and Anthony Casella.

Ten thousand participants will perform in the opening ceremony of the most prestigious Tai Chi tournament in the world. The hand-set events will have 1,338 contestants while the push hands contenders will number 200. Before the covid pandemic, the World Cup came every other year. The 2023 event will be the first since 2018.

Centered among Taipei’s massive sports complex, Taipei Arena will host simultaneous contests. Push-hands features one-on-one contact with competitors using strategic skills more than strength to cause their opponents to lose their balance. Hand-set contenders perform their chosen Tai Chi form before a panel of seven judges who score their precision and grace within a required timed period.

Over the two days, 162 teams representing 20 countries will compete in their categories and age brackets, vying for gold, silver, and bronze medals. Asian Crane has attended the World Federation’s World Cup three times and brought home multiple awards each year. Full Circle joined them for the first time in 2018 and also won multiple medals. Expectations are high.