It gives us great pride to announce that one of our students has recently competed in the 2025 Golden States International Wushu (Online) Championships and been awarded three gold medals for her performances.

Benedetta Bonacci successfully entered and won gold for her performances in Beijing (Yang) 24 Forms, Yang 40 Forms, and 32 Forms Orthodox (Yang) Sword (Jian).

Benedetta has previously won gold for her performances at other competitions for 24 Forms and 40 Forms, however this competition represents her first attempt at 32 Forms Sword.

“I was pretty happy…” she said. “I actually said ‘wow’ out loud!”

Benedetta has been a student of Wisconsin Tai Chi Academy for over four years and has recently taken on the role of Assistant Instructor, with the aim of one day becoming a full Instructor.

“I’m very proud of Benedetta’s achievements,” said WTCA Founder and Head Instructor, Sifu Ray Gates. “She’s a great example of what can be achieved if people want to get involved in competition-level Tai Chi. I’d love to have more students try it! It’s a lot of fun!”

WTCA has entered its first team event in the upcoming National Senior Games in July, and hopes that the continued success of its students will encourage more students to try competition, and more people to start learning Tai Chi.

“It’s one of the few things that you can start at any age and continue throughout your entire life,” said Sifu Ray. “It’s always great to see older people competing, but we want to get more younger people involved too! Especially with wushu set to feature at the 2026 Youth Olympics!”

WTCA is a member of the United States of America Wushu Kungfu Federation and currently has three members who have qualified for the national US Team.