Champion Athlete on Project: Muzikademy and the Beautiful Fighting Dance
Who is that gorgeous, celebrity Wushu athlete who does the most extraordinary things? Clue. She teaches kids the Chinese martial arts or Wushu (which is scheduled to become an official Olympic Sport in 2020, replacing Wrestling on the Olympic competition calendar). She also has a project for helping musicians in our home turf by giving them a venue to train and hone their craft.
Janice Hung may be the best spokesperson for Wushu training as one of the most underrated, health and fitness regimens. Wushu by itself even doubles as a self-defense workout. In fact, Wushu may just BE the most beautiful of performance arts when you watch skilled practitioners like Janice Hung compete in international arenas. Hopefully, we get a shot at gold in the Olympics in 2020 after she gets kids with great potential out there into serious Wushu training. Aside from this, Janice is a celebrity in her own right, with many TV and modeling gigs, her own TV show on Net 25, and a jazzy music career that is coming into its own.
Image is all rights reserved to Janice Hung. Used with permission.
Getting ready for a guest appearance on the Net 25 morning show is Janice Hung, former Philippine National Team, winning athlete competing in Wushu events, now celebrity musician and a teacher of the soon-to-be Olympic Sport (2020).
An alumnus of UST, Janice represented the Philippines as part of our National Wushu Team, winning plenty of medals during her stint and bringing honor to our country. After her winning ways in Wushu competitions for the National Team, Janice put together a foundation called the Janice Hung Arts and Sports Foundation, where she herself teaches and trains kids the art of fighting: Wushu.
Janice also helps creative people achieve their dreams to be
accomplished musicians as they train and hone their arts in her foundation, a project called Muzikademy.
Celebrity model and champion athlete, Wushu Princess Janice Hung is an inspiring role model for all kids looking for strong female icons to emulate.
video is all rights reserved to Janice Hung channel and You Tube
Janice work in her foundation not only gives back to the community with Wushu training for kids but the Muzikademy side project for creative and talented musicians provides troubadors much needed professional music training, songwriting skills and a venue for performers to hone their talents and find great music careers locally or overseas.
Reach-unlimited.com is honored to interview Janice about her Arts and Sports Foundation, teaching Chinese martial arts--Wushu, her music project: Muzikademy, and her insights into the cult favorite Chinese cultural phenomenon known as WuXia films:
REACH: Hello, Janice! We saw your first episode of the Janice Hung show on Net 25 and it was amazing! We did not know about your serious music career before this and were more familiar about your storied, winning performances in international Wushu events. How was it growing up as a Wushu athlete in training and keeping the interest in music good and alive all these years?
Janice: Since I was a little girl I really loved singing and writing songs. But since I was with the National Team representing the Philippines in the Sea Games, the Asian games, the World Championships and other sport competitions, I needed to focus on Wushu training, and lost some time doing music. My music career had to take a backseat back then. But I was still able to catch up with my singing and songwriting after I moved on from athletic competitions.
Wushu is a serious, individual event and competitive sport, meaning: you are just by yourself most of the time. And one rarely has the time to do anything else but train smartly. To keep an edge over other competitors. After training, one must rest well too or burn out.
That is why when I had the chance to share the opportunity to learn wushu, as well as my journey as an athlete with everyone, I decided to establish my Arts and Sports Foundation. We aim to support and to train future champions.
To become a Champion not only in sports, but also in life. We established the foundation because I wanted this to be the home, family and support system for young athletes. And later for homegrown musicians too. Because I know how hard it is to fulfill a dream without any support or resources. Or without a good guide or mentor helping. Without someone believing in you. We believe kids can become future champions too. And music lovers can make a good career in music too.
I put up my foundation as early as now because I feel that I don't need to wait until I am famous and rich to be able to help others. I can help kids NOW. What I already have is talent and the experience competing in many arenas, that is why I want to share all I learned with kids in my foundation.
Janice Hung has an Arts and Sports Foundation for teaching young prospects, the art and sport of Wushu as a health regimen and as a competitive international sport.
video is all rights reserved to Janice Hung channel and You Tube
REACH: Storytelling is HUGE thing these days and it forms the core of everything, from marketing and product design, to teaching and learning, to music and songwriting. In your music project for the Arts Foundation: Muzikademy, you teach your students to become creative music writers and performers, and everything they need to know about performances and gigs . Please describe Muzikademy's learning environment and how people who are looking for an alternative learning program might choose to enroll in a music and song writing development course to be a more creative person, and not just a successful musician.
Janice: We don't just train our students to be successful musicians, Muzikademy also gives them a platform or a venue for showcasing their talents. During the training, we talk about vocalization, show how branding (marketing music) works, help them learn songwriting, and more! Lastly, Muzikademy gives them a bird's eye view of both the local music industry, and the regional music scene in Asia where they might succeed as talented performing Filipino musicians or as recording artists.
REACH: People think that Wushu is an exclusive performance sport for athletes trained from their formative years just like gymnastics, but we know that people CAN get into Wushu as a fitness regimen and health exercise too. What are the requirements for active people who want to get into the sport? Do they need special equipment like training mats, wood-replica weapons and the like?
How effective is Wushu as a cardiovascular and toning exercise for people who want to stay fit and learn how to fend for themselves? Are there certified teachers or schools around the Metro who offer their services as Wushu trainers?
Janice: For those among your readers who want to try and experience Wushu as a serious sport, but are not really athletic and still want to experience it as a health regimen for losing weight, Wushu 101 is perfect you!
I designed a very basic but effective, 12-minute workout that anyone can do. It is designed for everyone even if they are not buff or athletic, yet the exercises are cardio-oriented, and fat-burning to keep one fit. The Wushu exercise regimen is complete: we have warm-up exercises, stretching exercises, a nice, fighting skill workout routine, then a cool down regimen, to round out our session. No equipment is needed to train for this basic Wushu workout: like dance workout regimens, the participants just wear comfortable clothes and shoes and enjoy themselves. No need to really have weapons to train, but you can get those too for the more advanced levels.
Image is all rights reserved to Janice Hung. Used with permission.
As part of her show on Net 25, Janice Hung shows basic wushu warm- up and workout routines for health and fitness buffs looking for a good exercise regimen. Wushu 101!
Learning Wushu, even the basic workouts, has a lot of health benefits. Not only is the sport good for cardiovascular health and toning muscles—like yoga. Wushu training also helps one improve his or her physical posture and sharpens mental faculties. Wushu helps one keep emotions under control and provides spiritual guidance as the training lets one learn zen principles.
For example, using a Wushu weapon during training can increase your ability to focus, wushu can also help you develop your self-confidence because you learn to protect yourself and your loved ones, and like all exercise regimens Wushu helps one have more dedication and discipline in everything one does.
So for those interested to learn Wushu with us, you can check out my website www.janicehung.com or add me on Facebook. You may choose to join our wushu training foundation or learn off the videos linked to my website and Facebook.
REACH: WuXia, as we understand it, is a genre for swordplay action movie genre that includes romantic characters in epic settings. Some of the most beautiful WuXia movies we've watched recently include: The Fox Lover, Chinese Ghost Story remake (Demon hunters on a quest to exorcise an abode of demon vampires), The Snow Lady and the Dark Crystal (with Bing Bing Fan from the X-Men movie), The Four (the series about the Divine Constabulary of magical fighters protecting a fragile kingdom), Journey to the West (prequel to the Monkey King starring male fan favorite Shu Qi).
What WuXia films did you grow up with that you would recommend to fans of swordplay films? Would you star in one if a local movie outfit or a Chinese film company attempted to film one with a Filipina actress?
Janice: I really love the film, Crouching Tiger. Given the chance, I would definitely love to do an action film. In fact I'm shooting some action videos to be released online on our You Tube channel, so watch out for that.
The modern Wuxia film may have been put into the spotlight by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It has become a classic, Chinese swordplay romance film and all others that followed have showcased the elements that made Wuxia films a fan-favorite for tragic romance and Kung-Fu.
Wushu is considered a Jet Li style of Chinese martial arts which harmoniously blend the mind, body and spirit. Wushu is perfect for all ages. We use several weapons like the sword, the spear, the cudgel and several special fighting equipment. Nowadays, Wushu is mostly used in Chinese action films because of its unique, authentic and cinematic style of fighting. It is beautiful to watch (the fight choreography), aside from the romance stories that make Wuxia films very appealing and entertaining.
REACH: In an off-grid situation, from one as difficult as the storm surge in the south that wiped out the Samar coast line, to an extreme situation like Mad Max--where law enforcement breaks down and people start looting everything while surviving families need to stay put and defend their homes and loved ones, what weapons would you recommend for self-defense if one were trained as a Wushu fighter? If guns were not available.
Janice: A double-bladed sword is definitely my weapon of choice. because aside from it being very sharp (lethal either way you swing) and handy, any kind of sword serves as an extension of our hands giving any fighter a huge advantage of longer reach—you hit them first before they come within striking distance. Of course this is for a self-defense situation, protecting yourself or your loved ones.
Image is all rights reserved to Janice Hung. Used with permission.
Although this might look like a show weapon than an actual weapon, Janice loves her double bladed swords. If one does not have a gun at home as a self-defense weapon, a sword might come in handy to protect your home in extreme situations.
Thank you, Janice for the chance to interview you and allow our readers to glean plenty of insights into the amazing work you are doing as a musician helping other musicians. And showing us how beautiful Chinese martial arts can be as a fitness workout and as self-defense training. Also as the most beautiful and entertaining epics in our beloved WuXia films.
Check her own website: janicehung.com for more details on her foundation for kids and on Muzikademy.
