It was indeed a magnificent display by the 1,000 performers from the Wushu contingent at Chingay Parade 2015! The hard work and commitments of the trainers and performers finally paid off after months of planning and rehearsals! The Wushu contingent was led by former MediaCorp artiste & World Wushu Champion, Mr. Vincent Ng (Chairman & Main Choreographer) and Martial House Managing Director, Mr. Leo Wen Yeow (Vice Chairman). Martial House Coach, Wan GuangYao Eric, was also one of the Assistant Choreographers for the contingent. Without the active participation of Wushu practitioners across Singapore, the Wushu contingent would not have deliver such an impactful performance! Credit goes to the People’s Association (PA) for providing such a platform to unite the different Wushu associations & schools together to work towards a common goal! If you missed the exciting Chingay performance, fret not as MediaCorp Channel 8 will be broadcasting the repeated telecast of Chingay Parade 2015 on 8 March 2015, Sunday, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. Otherwise, you may catch a glimpse of the Wushu segment below: https://youtube.com/watch?v=So4qGyfAwns This Chingay experience of the Wushu contingent definitely reminds me of the mission statement of Dewu Pugilistic Association: “Through Wushu, we will be united with friendship and brotherhood, regardless of where we came from.” Photo Credits: Martial House Coach, Wan GuangYao Eric
Events
Martial House @ SAIS CNY 2015!
It was a fun and enjoyable morning at Stamford American International School as students, parents and teachers celebrated the Chinese New Year with Martial House! There was a series of exciting performances ranging from Diabolo to Dragon Dance! The thrilling Diabolo performance was performed by Coach Soon Long and his friend, Willis! The unique feature about the performance is that the diabolos were illuminated! Following, it was the action-packed Wushu performance by: 1. Jessen Tan 2. Kingston Chua 3. Lim En Chang 4. Ng Yu Ninn 5. Koh Hao Xuan 6. Ong Pang Jan 7. Damien Teo 8. Teo Soon Long The students were then entertained by the traditional lion and dragon dance! It was definitely a tiring day for all performers as they had to perform 3 consecutive sessions, each session with 700 audiences! That’s a massive total outreach of 2,100 audiences! Martial House would like to specially thank the following people for making the event a successful one: 1. Seow Wei Kai 2. Huang De Hong 3. Jeremy Tan Also, Martial House would like to thank Stamford American International School for having us in this celebratory event!
Martial House Exchange with the Japanese
On the 5 & 6 February 2015, a group of Japanese students joined Martial House in an exchange programme. During these two days, the Japanese students got to learn more about Wushu and the Chinese Lion Dance. Their day started with a Wushu performance by five Martial House Stars: 1. Samuel Tan 2. Yap Wei Ren 3. Jasmine Tan 4. Huang De Hong 5. Kevan Cheah Following, it was a Lion Dance performance by Pho Leng Lion Dance Instruction Centre. After the performance segment, the Japanese students had an interaction session whereby they learnt basic Wushu poses and lion dance steps. The exchange programme ended with a group shot! Martial House is definitely looking forward to conduct more exchange sessions with both locals and foreigners to promote the traditional Chinese culture. If you would like to find out more about our exchange programmes, feel free to contact me via email at [email protected].
Martial House Kiddos in Action @ Delta Avenue RC!
On 27 December 2014, six of our Martial House kiddos displayed some of their kung fu moves at Delta Avenue RC Year End Block Party 2014! Our young performers include: 1. Tan Kaile 2. Lee Yan Jie, Javis 3. Leo Zhi Xuan 4. Leo Yi Long 5. Joel Ng 6. Ong Chin Loong Benjamin The event was hosted by Dr. Lily Neo, Adviser to Tanjong Pagar GRC Grassroots Organisations. This performance was particularly significant to Joel & Benjamin as it was their first time involved in a public performance! Well done! After their performance, our performers were honoured to take a group photo with Dr. Neo to conclude the night!
Martial House APEX Camp 2014
From 16 to 19 December 2014, Martial House conducted its first ever APEX Camp! With the objective of inculcating independence, teamwork, social networking skills and moral values in students, the team of coaches from Martial House has planned a series of action-packed and fun-filled activities for the young student campers throughout the 4 days! Four outstanding Martial House students – Seow Wei Kai, Tan Kairui, Cheong Neville and Loh Yan Ping, were shortlisted to be student leaders for the camp. It was a test of their leadership and communication skills as the student leaders had to lead the young campers throughout the entire camp! It was definitely a challenging task for the leaders as most the campers were hyperactive and playful! Even though it was tough and tiring, the leaders felt that the camp experience was a fruitful and memorable one! On behalf of Martial House, I would like to thank the student leaders for all their hard work, commitment and dedication! One of the camp highlights was the rock climbing and high elements challenge, whereby the campers had to overcome their fear of heights while completing the various obstacles. It was heartwarming and encouraging to see fellow campers cheering each other on when the campers were attempting to overcome each obstacle. During the rock climbing challenge, Ryane Lim was the only one who managed to reach the top of the 25m sport climbing wall – the tallest free-standing wall in Southeast Asia! None of the other campers, student leaders, or even the coaches managed to complete the climb. What’s even more impressive is that Ryane successfully reached the top not only once, but twice! Besides the regular training and outdoor activities, theory lessons were conducted for campers to better understand and appreciate the cultural values of the traditional Chinese martial art. On 19 December 2014, during the last night of the camp, family and friends were invited to watch a series of performances, specially prepared by the campers. The performances were filled with so much creativity and humour that the audiences kept laughing and smiling throughout the night! Each camper was presented with a Certificate of Completion for successfully completing the 4-day APEX Camp. Outstanding campers were also awarded with Certificates of Excellence. In no particular order of merit, the awardees for the Certificate of Excellence – Outstanding Camper Award are: 1. Wong Yin Hoi Zachary 2. Ryane Lim Yi Ren 3. Lee Fong Khin Jonas 4. Chia Kai Ming Team Dynamite was also awarded the Certificate of Excellence – Outstanding Team Award. The members include: a. Seow Wei Kai b. Shaun Teo c. Lam Jun Long Javis d. Lam Zhi Yu Mavise e. Lee Fong Khin Jonas Congratulations to all award winners! With this, Martial House APEX Camp 2014 has officially came to an end. On behalf of Martial House, I would like to thank the campers and parents for attending the camp and for giving their never-ending support. To the coaches, student leaders and helpers, Martial House Apex Camp 2014 would not have happen without you. Thank you. Below is a video montage of the camp. Hopefully, it will help retain some of the many memorable moments we have shared throughout the 4 days. https://youtube.com/watch?v=gzguKJYWXek https://youtube.com/watch?v=rgbUyFk2nmw Do look forward to a much more exciting APEX Camp in 2015!
The Last Show of Monkey Goes West
After months of hard work, it was finally the last show for Monkey Goes West on 13 December 2014. Martial House would like to congratulate Wild Rice for concluding the musical successfully! Also, Martial House would like to thank Wild Rice for the opportunity to be involved in such a massive production! Working with Wild Rice was definitely enjoyable and fun as you can see in the photo below whereby Wild Rice Founding Artistic Director, Mr. Ivan Heng is striking a comical pose with our Martial House Coaches! Budding television star, Damien Teo and Managing Director, Mr. Leo Wen Yeow, also went to Victoria Theatre to support the Martial House Stars & the casts of Monkey Goes West and they were greatly impressed by the musical! The staff and students of Martial House are definitely looking forward to work with Wild Rice again! Martial House would also like to thank the coaches and parents for their never-ending support despite the hectic rehearsal and show schedules. Not forgetting, today is Christmas. Thus, Martial House & Wushu Daze would like to wish all readers a blessed Christmas and may your wishes come true!
Martial House Stars @ Monkey Goes West
After months of practices, the Martial House Stars have finally made their performance debut on 21 November 2014, at Monkey Goes West, a production by Wild Rice! The Stars involved were: 1. Joshua Goh 2. Micah Goh 3. Devni Chamodya Kaluarachchi 4. Jonas Lee Fong Khin 5. Shannon Lee Yu En 6. Beckham Lee Yu Jie 7. Javis Lee Yan Jie 8. Douglas Leow Kee Teck 9. Ng Yu Ninn 10. Ng Yu Shinn 11. Benjamin Ong 12. Isaac Peh 13. Justin Poon Jun Jie Watch the behind the scene video of Monkey Goes West: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5LgIChJRU18 Martial House’s Artistic Consultant & Choreographer, Gordon Choy, was also involved. He took the roles of Movement Coach, Fight Choreographer & Dance Captain in the production. Martial House Coach Reann was among those who caught the first show and she commented: “It was a wild, adventurous and inspiring performance! I love how the traditional Chinese story blend in with a modern touch!” The play is on from 21 November 2014 till 13 December 2014. Do not miss this massive local production by Wild Rice at Victoria Theatre! Grab your tickets from SISTIC now! Watch the trailer of Monkey Goes West below: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DebNbYOLQSI
Beatty Secondary School Wushu Overseas Training Trip to Xiamen, China
From 7 to 12 November 2014, under the guidance of Martial House Managing Director, Mr. Leo Wen Yeow and Coach Kevan Cheah, students from Beatty Secondary School went for a Wushu Overseas Training Trip at Xiamen, China! Martial House Star, Chua Xin Qi, a National Double Silver Medalist, was one of the student participants who went for the trip. Wushu Daze has conducted a short interview with her to find out more about the training experience in Xiamen! Wushu Daze: How was your overall experience in Xiamen? Xin Qi: My experience in Xiamen was awesome! It was much better than Beijing. Oops. Wushu Daze: Why? How is Xiamen different from Beijing and Singapore? Xin Qi: Xiamen is different in terms of the weather. It was much more cooling there. Training wise, it was also different as we did new 组合s (combinations of movements) which was something fresh to us. I enjoyed myself and learnt a lot! The athletes were also much friendlier compared to those in Beijing. This is probably because the kids in Beijing were younger and shy while the athletes in Xiamen were mostly in their 20s, hence they were more outgoing. Wushu Daze: Do you think that the training trip was beneficial? Xin Qi: The training there was definitely beneficial! I have learnt different ways and styles to execute and express certain actions. Wushu Daze: Does this trip inspire or motivate you to work even harder for the upcoming Inter-School Championship in 2015? Xin Qi: Definitely! I am motivated to work even harder! I am grateful for the coaches and athletes for teaching me so many new things which I can showcase in the upcoming competition! I am really looking forward to it! Wushu Daze: That’s great! So what was the most memorable part of the trip? Xin Qi: The most memorable part of the trip is the visit to “Hu Li Shan” (厦门胡里山炮台) where the performers fired the cannon which was so loud and thrilling! It was super exciting to witness the ‘live’ firing of the cannon! This is something I will not get to experience in Singapore! Wushu Daze: So, will you want to go to Xiamen again if you were given the chance to? Xin Qi: Yes! I would definitely like to visit Xiamen again! Personally, I feel that Xiamen is better than Beijing in terms of training and shopping! Really glad to know that Xin Qi enjoyed her Xiamen trip! Hopefully Martial House will conduct another trip to Xiamen in the near future so that more students are able to go and have a fruitful experience!
Martial House’s Chingay Journey Begins!
On 1 November 2014, Martial House Coaches, led by the contingent’s Assistant Choreographer & Chief Coordinator Wan GuangYao Eric, conducted the first mass practice session for Chingay at Beatty Secondary School! Below is a short video summary of what the participants did during their first practice! Really awesome! http://youtu.be/8kHjA3ietKE
Martial House would like to thank all participants for coming and for your active participation!
Hope you guys enjoyed yourselves and do look forward to the upcoming practices!
For those who wish to join Martial House for Chingay but have yet to register, do send your name, NRIC number and contact number to [email protected] via email. If you have any query, do send them to the given email address too!
Martial House Year-End Holiday Programmes
As the Year-End Holiday is approaching, the Martial House team has worked hard to put together two holiday programmes specially for our students! Firstly, back by popular demand, it is the Wushu Day Camp! After a successful run earlier in June, the coaches will be working in pairs to deliver 3 sessions of 5-day camp! As usual, coaches will specially customise the camp itinerary for the participants of each respective session so that each individual is able to fully benefit from the camp. Also, the camp size for each session will be kept small which means that there are limited vacancies! Click here to find out more! Secondly, a newly launched programme by the Martial House team, APEX Camp 2014! As the name suggest, the objective of the camp is to allow students to reach the peak of their fullest potential! A 4 Day 4 Night camp that restricts the use of mobile phones but promotes outdoor activities to instill lifelong values such as confidence, teamwork and communication! Click here to find out more! If you have any query, feel free to email to [email protected].