Want to see splits and high kicks and second-guess your own flexibility? One glance at Stanford Wushu Club checks off all these boxes.

Wushu is a performance-based Chinese martial art stylized by acrobatic jumps and kicks. There are different styles like Taijiquan, Southern Fist and Long Fist, as well as weapons like staff and broadsword, which are all practiced by members of the Stanford Wushu Club. 

After its formation in 1997 and the COVID-19 shutdowns on campus, Judy Liu ’26 re-established the club in 2023. 

A typical practice session involves warm-up exercises for joints and dynamic exercises for agility and speed. The club is entirely coached by students, including Liu.

“I want to create a space where it’s okay to try something new for the first time and then do it well, and then in the meantime, get a full body workout and get some cultural aspects from that as well,” Liu said.

Stanford Wushu Club travels to compete in collegiate tournaments, including the Annual Collegiate Wushu Tournament hosted at UCLA last spring. But club members maintain a balance between competition aspirations and creating a welcoming community.

“Wushu to me is a family, where we all train hard and compete hard, but also goof off and can be ourselves,” club member Nathan Hidajat ’25 said.

Members like Sophia Wang ’26 and Catherine Yue ’27 had no prior experience with wushu before joining the club. FestiFall performances and cultural connection motivated both to try out the sport. 

Wang mentioned that joining the club was physically intense at first, but the supportive coaches and team bonding encouraged her to continue. As she grew in the sport, the performative aspects of wushu appealed to her — Wang personally likes competing in the Southern Fist style. 

“You’re making faces in some of the movements and then shouting,” Wang said. “It’s more intense, and it requires a lot more strength and aggressiveness, which I thought was pretty cool to do.” 

Wushu’s roots in Chinese culture played a large role in both Yue and Wang’s decision to pick up the sport.

“I grew up watching [the 1986 Chinese TV show] ‘Journey to the West,’ which features a lot of wushu,” Yue said. “Though I was not the most active person before coming to college, I wanted to try a new physical activity, and I also wanted to be like [the show’s main character] Sun Wukong.”

Now, Yue mainly enjoys the sport for its physical aspect and the satisfaction of incremental self-improvement.

“Every week is really meaningful to me, because I know my starting-off baseline is perhaps not so good, but trying to improve every week is a really motivating factor,” she said.

Wang also grew up watching kung fu movies, and wushu’s cultural connection still excites her.

“Wushu definitely has roots in these ancient ‘shen hua’ or fantasy tales, and I get to connect with the coolness of ancient Chinese culture,” Wang said.

Both believe that anyone can try out the sport, regardless of cultural background.

“Wushu is a very translatable sport,” Yue said. “A lot of members who join, if they haven’t partaken in some other martial art like Taekwondo, have partaken in some other sports like dance, so many of the skills are transferable.”

Pursuing the sport can fulfill various goals — fitness motivated or not — according to Wang.

“It’s just a very well-rounded sport — you can join the sport to become more fit. You can do it for the cultural side, or do it for the mindset and the tranquility side,” Wang said. “But I think it definitely is kind of underappreciated, and I think it would be really cool if people just try it out.”

In the future, Liu envisions hosting a joint practice at Stanford among different collegiate wushu teams including teams at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and San José State University.

“Because I’m already a junior, I hope that after I leave, there will still be a community here for people to do wushu, because the wushu community is big out there,” Liu said.

In the meantime, Stanford Wushu Club will continue to host team practices and perform around campus. In September, they performed at President Jon Levin ’94’s post-inauguration celebration. Liu is optimistic that wushu’s public performances will help bring the club into the spotlight.

“When we do wushu, when we perform, we reach into ourselves and we bring out our self confidence,” Liu said. “And I think that, along with our skills and our showcase, attracted a lot of people to come watch us.”