On the morning of November 16, the 2019 Shanghai Collegiate Taekwondo Championships began in the Gymnasium of the Songjiang Campus of Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance. The competition was hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, undertaken by the Shanghai Collegiate Athletic Association (SCAA) and our University, and co-organized by the Taekwondo Branch of the SCAA. At 9:00 AM on the 17th, the opening ceremony was held inthe Gymnasium of the Songjiang Campus. Xue Mingyang (President of the SCAA), Zhao Rongshan (Vice President of SLU), Huang Feng (from the Sports, Hygiene, Arts and Sciences Department of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission), Gao Xiaodong (Director of the Shanghai Boxing and Taekwondo Management Center), Wang Caixing (Chairman of the Shanghai Taekwondo Association), Ren Kelai (Deputy Secretary General of the SCAA), Gu Cheng’e (Deputy Secretary General of the SCAA), and other directors of the sports sections of various universities in Shanghai attended the opening ceremony. Zhao Rongshan delivered a welcome speech, and Xue Mingyang announced the opening of the Championships.
The scheduled event lasted for 2 days (16th to 17th). The Championships had three groups--Group A (the group of general universities), Group B (the group of junior colleges and higher vocational schools), and Group C (the group of high-level competitors) and multiple athletic heavy weight classes (including men’s and women’s; 8 for each). There were several competitions, such as Pumsae grade and Dan grade competitions. In addition, there were new breaking events (high-altitude, distance, and spinning breaking events) and taekwondo dance events. Students from 23 universities including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, East China University of Science and Technology, and Donghua University participated in the Championships with nearly 600 total competitors in the events.
Not only did the athletes challenged strong competitors and struggled hard on the arenas, but they also learned from each other’s skills off the arenas. On the stage of the Shanghai Collegiate Taekwondo Championships, students from all colleges and universities fully demonstrated their excellence in the competitions. In this Championships, our Taekwondo team won 9 gold medals, 8 silver medals, 5 bronze medals, and the first prize based on the total score.
The Shanghai Collegiate Taekwondo Championships has been held in our university on a yearly basis since 2013. Characterized by a wide range of competition events and a large amount of student competitors, it has become a taekwondo festival for university/college students in Shanghai. For many years, our University has been committed to the promotion of Taekwondo events in schools and universities around Shanghai. This sport is also becoming increasingly popular among students. Our University has the “Tao” culture of Taekwondo with the “Xin” (faithfulness) in our University motto, and gradually formed a unique cultural connotation of “Xin-Tao” fusion. Through the Championships, the Taekwondo spirit of “sense of propriety, justice, honesty, and honor”, “endurance and patience”, and “keeping on fighting despite of all setbacks” have been spread through the events; the culture of “starting and ending with propriety” takes root in students’ minds, allowing them to learn humility, tolerance, courtesy, honoring teachers and esteeming truth, and integrity in sports.
(Photos Provided by Fu Xiaoyu)
