About Us

Wushu & Tai Chi Practitioners Australia Inc. (WTPA) is a not-for-profit organisation that has been known as:

1) the Australian Wushu & Tai Chi Association;

2) the Australian National Wushu & Tai Chi Association Inc (ANWTA) – registered and incorporated in 2002;

3) the Wushu & Tai Chi Practitioners Association Inc (WTPA) – changed name in 2005;

4) the Wushu & Tai Chi Practitioners Australia Inc (WTPA) – current legal name since 2011.

The association was created by the cooperative efforts of an enthusiastic group of Wushu and Tai Chi schools that saw the need for regular competitions within the Wushu and Tai Chi communities and in 1999 organised the first National Wushu & Tai Chi Championships. Due to the success of this event it was decided to run the national competition each year and move to form the association with the aim of improving standards of the sport of Wushu and Tai Chi in all states of Australia.

Wushu & Tai Chi Practitioners Australia Inc. (WTPA) has run annual nationals and state competitions since 1999 [prior to incorporation in 2003].

In 2005, WTPA entered into an agreement with AKWF and helped this organisation to raise its profile amongst practitioners due to WTPA promoting the sport and attracting new members interested in developing of the sport of Wushu.

However, in 2010, WTPA ceased its membership with AKWF that is a current NSO for the sport for a number of reasons. WTPA has been for years the largest corporate member of AKWF and was actively involved in organising annual competitions and festivals, both independently and on behalf of AKWF. The annual “Wushu and Taijiquan” competition in Melbourne has been the major annual event for the association since its inception as the Australian National Wushu and Tai Chi Association in 2002, and has been hailed as the only national Wushu & Tai Chi competition in Australia held on an annual basis for the past 13 years. Moreover, during all these years WTPA has significantly contributed to the development of the sport of Wushu in Australia by supporting and sponsoring athletes, coaches and officials; by having developed and implemented officials’ workshops and courses; educating the general public and promoting the sport by all available means.

At the 2010 Annual Championships the judge team included representatives of the International Wushu Federation.

Our People

From left:
Sifu Manel Dharmakeerthie, an International Sanshou judge, a member of the Marketing Committee of the International Wushu Federation, the Secretary General of South Asian Wushu Federation and a member of the Traditional Wushu Federation of Asia;
Master Jack Zhang, a graduate of the Capital University of Sport, China;
Tong Low, the President of the WTPA, a licensed IWUF Judge;
Han Jin Song, the principal Instructor of Taichi Austraila, a member of the Technical Committee of the IWUF (till 2009);
Lily Sun, Associate Professor of Wuhan University, China, a licensed IWUF Judge / Referee, a WTPA Committee member;
Professor Yang Li, Beijing University, China;
Liu De Ming, the founder of the WTPA;
Dr Larissa Koroleva, a member of the Traditional Wushu Committee of the IWUF (2007-2009), a licensed IWUF Judge and Coach, the principal instructor of the Australian Institute of Chinese Martial Arts, the NSW representative of WTPA;
Angelina Chung, a WTPA Committee member.