Taijiquan & Taijijuan, Men

The Taijiquan style of wushu is related to what in the west is known as “T’ai chi”. The competitive form is less relaxed than its famous relative, and features many difficult elements like jumps and balances. The taijijian event uses the jian (a double-edged straight sword). At the World Championships, both events are held separately, but these were combined for the Olympic exhibition.

The 2007 World Champion in taijiquan, Wu Yanan of China, was pitted against Japanese Yoshihiro Shimoda, the reigning champion in the taijijuan. They were joined in the fight for the medals by Hei Zhi Hong, a Hong Kong athlete and defending qiangshu World Champion. Wu turned out to be the better man in both disciplines, winning by a clear 0.35 point margin. Hei placed second ahead of Shimoda.