(L-R) National wushu coach Li Hui, Ismi Bismi, Calvin Ang, Isa Bismi and Lu Guan pose with their International Wushu Federation judging certificates and badges at the Multipurpose Hall of the Menglait Sports Complex yesterday. The Bismi twins, Ang and Lu completed a week-long course in Beijing last month to become the first certified international wushu coaches in Brunei. Picture: BT/Jason Thomas
Sultanate welcomes back its first batch of international judges 4 WFBD members received certificates from International Wushu Federation last month.
Brunei now has its own qualified wushu judges after four members of the Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (WFBD) received their certificates from the International Wushu Federation last month.
Calvin Ang, Lu Guan and twins Isa Bismi and Ismi Bismi were sent to Beijing for the 2010 International Wushu Judge Examination Course from Aug 18-25. All four passed and are now eligible to arbitrate international wushu events, giving the Sultanate its first batch of international judges in the sport.
Making a name for itself after regularly returning with medals from international tournaments, WFBD's decision to send the four judges to the Chinese capital has given the association, which was formed in 2003, even more reason to cheer.
The move to get qualified local judges is also in line with the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council's (BNOC) goal to increase the number of technical officials for subjective sports, with the BNOC president His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah a strong proponent of having more technical officials (jury, referees and judges) to help prevent bias refereeing.
"Now when we send our athletes abroad we can request to have a judge tag along," said Ang, who is also WFBD's deputy secretary-general.
"The trip (to Beijing) was funded by the Department of Youth and Sports and we are very fortunate since this is the first time that it has sent us to such a trip (for technical officials). It was good exposure for us because we could mingle with other judges and get their point of view.
"Of course, we also knew that His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah supports having more local technical officials in subjective sports," he said when met during the national team's training at the Menglait Sports Complex yesterday.
Held once every four years, the examination attracted more than 250 participants from 87 countries.
There were three components to the week-long course: routine tests, written and video examinations.
The routine tests asked the participants to perform, while in the video tests they had to identify mistakes and specify the right number of point deductions after watching performances on video clips.
"The video tests were alright but the written tests were harder because we had to memorise the rules and regulations as well as the codes," said Ang.
"If an exponent performs a kick we don't write down what kick that is but what code number," he explained, adding that they would have to resit for the course in four years' time.
Prior to leaving for Beijing the WFBD invited two international judges to Brunei to conduct a course for the quartet and give them a breakdown of the fundamentals.
"Hopefully over the years we can get more judges to come to Brunei to provide us with their insight," said Ang.
"In the next few years we want to organise competitions in Brunei, and if we do that we would like to have local judges participating.
"We only sent four participants to Beijing because we wanted to see what it's like first. Those of us that went are mostly older than the rest," he added.
The Bismi twins are among those who have won medals for the national team, tasting success during last December's 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos among other tournaments.
Currently training throughout the fasting month of Ramadhan, the team are preparing for next month's 4th World Traditional Wushu Championships in Hubei, China.
They also hope to fly the flag for Brunei at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in November and the 3rd World Junior Wushu Championships in Singapore in December.
National wushu coach Li Hui told The Brunei Times during an interview last month that plans were also underway to start with the selection for the SEA Games in Indonesia next year.
A select few will also be given the opportunity to train in Guangzhou, China, in October for about a month or two.
Among WFBD's recent achievements including winning silver and bronze at last year's SEA Games. They also won bronze at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam last October and two bronze medals at the Asia Youth Wushu Championship in Macau last June.
The 3rd World Traditional Wushu Championships in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China, saw them return with two gold, three silver and four bronze medals in October 2008.
Courtesy from Brunei Times
