Chinese martial arts and the Olympics: Analysing the policy of the International Wushu Federation

Abstract

The International Wushu Federation (IWUF) has been striving to get wushu (Chinese martial arts) into the Olympics for over three decades. As these efforts have not been successful to date, a study was set up to identify and evaluate the IWUF’s underlying ‘Olympic policy’ assumptions. A theory-based evaluation approach was used which was based on data collected through 20 semi-structured interviews including senior IWUF officials, coaches, national federation officers and scholars. Findings suggest that the IWUF’s Olympic policy is characterised by a number of implementation and theory failures. Regarding the former is the unequal continental breakdown of board members, overrepresentation of Chinese nationals in specific positions and the use of mostly Chinese social media. And the latter, among other things, relates to simultaneously trying to enrich the cultural diversity of the Olympic programme by introducing a traditional Chinese sport, as well as detraditionalising the sport in an attempt to comply more with Olympic standards and facilitating comparison between performances. Results also showed that different perspectives exist among respondents with regard to China’s dominance in the Olympic policy of the IWUF. It is suggested to use specific policy analysis theories to further investigate this aspect.