On Sept 24, at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, people burst into thunderous(雷鸣般的) cheers after China's Tong Xin finished a difficult move. For the move, she had to make a 540-degree turn. In the end, she won the women's taijiquan and taijijian all-round gold(女子太极拳太极剑全能金牌) at the sports event.
Tong Xin competes in the taijijian event at the 19th Asian Games. XINHUA
Tong's slow but strong actions with her sword(剑) showed perfectly Chinese wushu's beautiful mix of soft and hard moves. As a sport showing regional (区域的) culture, wushu was included in the Asian Games in 1990.
Apart from wushu, many other special sports from different Asian areas were also seen at the sports event, making it a party of folk cultures. Kabaddi(卡巴迪) and sepak takraw(藤球) are two examples.
Kabaddi (卡巴迪) is a folk sport from India and has a history of more than4, 000 years. As the athletic form(竞技版) of the game "eagle (老鹰) catchingchickens", kabaddi needs nothing but an area that is 13 meters long and 10meters wide.
Sepak takraw first became popular in Southeast Asia. It is similar to the traditional Chinese game of shuttlecock kicking(踢键子). Players need to use their feet, head, knees and other parts of their body to move the ball. It is also called "kick volleyball".
Although the Asian Games don't include as many countries as the Olympic Games, they have even more events, especially the ones born out of the Asian region. This makes it really unique.
