The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Wushu exponent Danish adapting well to Ramadan Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:47 AM PDT PROMISING wushu exponent Danish Lukman, who took up the Chinese martial art two years ago, has been showing his hunger to master the combative skills. However, Danish, 10, a St John 1 pupil, has reserved his appetite only for his mother Amelia Tajul Arus' home-cooked meals. Although Danish dislikes seafood, Amelia said it was easy to satisfy him with his undemanding choices such as egg omelette, chicken curry kurma and pasta as well as his all-time favourite hot Milo drink. "He was a big eater before he started taking up wushu. In recent years, he has been controlling his diet to stay in better shape. We only offer him fast food treats occasionally," she added. During Ramadan, Danish has lowered his frequency of training as opposed to his regular four times a week sessions. "He started to fast when he was in Year One. This year, he was down with a bad bout of flu and felt the fatigue in the second week of fasting. He also had to make adjustments to attend tuition classes. "We hardly see him stay put because he could not refrain from entertaining himself with his own kungfu moves. When he is alone, he will be simulating the act of throwing punches and attempting the kicks playfully," said Amelia, adding that it would be a low-key Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration for her three children because they were still mourning the recent demise of their great-grandmother. They have also engaged the services of trainer Chan Sook Yee to give Danish the personal attention at home once a week starting from last year. Danish's devotion in perfecting his moves especially in the pattern events paid dividends at the recent Sixth National Wushudao Open championships in Kuala Lumpur. The in-form pink belt holder won four out of the eight demonstration events in the boys' primary school section. He captured four gold medals in the wushudao four, wushudao five, combo four and combo six contests and added a bronze in his weight category from the sparring. Considering Danish only returned with a haul of 3-1-1 from last season's outing, his cheeky expression in combining the steady stances and forceful blows was a perfect image of his joy in completing the impressive triumphs recently. Amelia recalled that they were concerned when Danish asked for permission to learn wushu when he was in Year Two. "His fascination for kungfu grew when he saw the renowned characters in the art starring in various movies. He even watched several of the movies in Chinese language without the English subtitles. "Initially, we were worried because we had the impression that kung-fu was about handling dangerous traditional weapons. We even suggested other forms of martial arts but he rejected our proposals. Then, we sought advice from my sister-in-law and she assured us that it was safe for him to pursue wushu at a young age," she added. In the boy's primary school below 32kg sparring at the recent meet, Danish came in third when he lost to the eventual champion Lee Kah Chun. Danish said he was determined to put up more courageous fighting displays in the discipline that requires physical contact. "Previously, I was too gentle in taking on the opponents. I am trying to overcome my fear and show more aggression," said Danish, adding that he was also aiming to earn his black belt soon. Two of Danish's siblings — Daniel Lutfi, six and Elly Nur Khaleeda, 16, - have also developed the interest to share the similar passion in acquiring the knowledge in wushu. |
| Former artistic gymnast Nabihah receives Principal’s Gold Medal Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:45 AM PDT ARTISTIC gymnast Nabihah Ali was recently adjudged as one of the top students of the matriculation programme at the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS). The 20-year-old Nabihah, who hails from Malacca, was awarded the Principal's Gold Medal for her excellent results in the matriculation programme. She will be pursuing a health sports science degree course at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang. Nabihah said she was looking forward to continuing her studies. "I have retired from gymnastics but had helped some youngsters in Kuala Lumpur last year. Winning the Principal's Gold Medal is certainly motivating,'' said Nabihah after receiving the award from BJSS principal Marina Chin. Sports commentator Datuk Rahim Razali was the guest of honour and shared his experience with the recipients. Nabihah said Rahim congratulated her for excelling in both studies and sports. "He also encouraged me to complete my studies,'' said Nabihah. The petite Nabihah has been involved in gymnastics since she was eight. She had represented Malaysia in the 2005 and 2007 SEA Games and 2006 Commonwealth Games. In the SEA Games, she was a member of Malaysia's bronze medal winning team. Besides Nabihah, athlete Katrina Wong was also awarded the Prinicpal's gold award. Six other students — Siti Noor Hafiza Zainordin, Ho Xiao Hui, Jonathan Wong Guangie, Yew Sook Ting, Mohamad Faris Mohamad Yusof and Nur Hidayah Abdul Wahid — were also presented with special awards. BJSS vice-principal Suhaimi Sun Abdullah said they were proud with the excellent results achieved by their students. "They have been active in their respective sports and studies. We hope to see them earning their degrees,'' said Suhaimi. THE GRADUATES Karate: G. Nagatheeban, K. Teagarajan, Ng Chin Jiun, M. Mathivani Archery: Azizul Azri Abdul Azis. Hockey: Farid Idham Mohd Affandi, Harvinder Singh, Mohamad Hairi Abdul Rahman, Siti Noor Hafiza Zainordin, Ahmad Termidzi Ismail, Mohd Safiuddin Sahrom. Football: Mohd Syahid Zaidon. Mohamad Faris Mohamad Yusof, Athletics: Ng Gha Yee, S. Kannathasan, Katrina Wong Suen Nee, Muhammad Hakimi Ismail, Shahrin Salamat, Norliyana Kamaruddin, Zabidi Ahmad, Cycling: Nurul Ahmar Badruzzaman, Lawn Bowl: Dhiya Shamin Samsudin, Ku Nur Hazirah Ku Yaacob Gymnastics: Nabihah Ali, Chan Sau Wah, Nur Hidayah Abdul Wahid Volleyball: Wong Fei Tien, Ho Xiao Hui, Yew Sook Ting, Bowling: Hee Kar Yen, Johnathan Chan Tian Sheng Swimming: Leung Chii Lin, Boxing: Muhammad Ali Abdul Karim Shooting: Jonathan Wong Guanjie, Nabilah Ashazra Azlan, Muhammad Hassanul Adzhar Mohd Badrin, Norizahamalina Ramli Badminton: Ng Sin Zou Taekwondo: Noor Idayu Remey, Noraslinda Mohamed Johari, Fencing: Yu Peng Kean Weight lifting: Azizah Fadzil |
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