Wisconsin Tai Chi Academy has continued to demonstrate competition winning level Tai Chi over the last two months, bringing home a total of 14 gold medals from the 2024 Presidential Wushu Cup Online Competition and the 6th Ohio International Chinese Martial Arts Championships in both in-person and online events.
WTCA Founder and Head Instructor, Ray Gates, competed in both the Presidential Wushu Cup Online Competition and in person at the 6th Ohio International Chinese Martial Arts Championships in Columbus, Ohio, winning 5 gold medal at each event for Beijing 24 Forms, Yang 40 Forms, International 42 Forms, 32 Forms Orthodox Sword and Scholar’s Dragon Phoenix Fan Forms.
“I’m excited to be involved in competition again, and pleased that I can not only be competitive, but consistent in my scoring,” said Ray. “I’m happy for the wins, however, I also know there’s work to be done if I want to be competitive at higher levels.”
Also competing in-person at Ohio was WTCA student Kerrie Hoffman, who in her first competition won gold for her Beijing 24 Forms. Both Kerrie and Ray also qualified for the US Kung Fu Team, giving them both the opportunity to represent the USA at upcoming international championships such as the Pan-American and World Championship events being held in 2025.
“We now have three people from WTCA who have qualified for the US Team,” said Ray, referring also to Benedetta Bonacci, the first WTCA student to qualify for the US Team at the 2023 US Challenge competition. “That’s an enormous achievement in our first 12 months of sending people to competition. It would be great to get more members to qualify, and see some of our members representing the US and WTCA in future events.”
Assistant Instructor Amber Glass, also competing for the first time in the Ohio online competition, won gold for both Beijing 24 Forms and Yang 40 Forms, while student Benedetta Bonacci also took gold in her category for Yang 40 Forms.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my students,” said Ray. “They have all represented themselves, our school, and their Tai Chi extremely well. They are giving all of us the opportunity to make our Tai Chi known to the greater wushu community, and people are starting to notice!”
“My hope is our continued success will encourage more students to consider competition, and more people, especially younger people, to see Tai Chi not just as a recreational or healthy activity, but as a way to remain involved in competitive sport across the lifespan.”
