Tania Sakanaka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, athlete, martial artist |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's Wushu Taolu | ||
Representing  Brazil | ||
| World Wushu Championships | ||
 | 2015 Jakarta | Baguazhang |
Dr Tania Sakanaka is a sports science academic and a Brazilian taijiquan athlete. [1] [2] At the 2015 World Wushu Championships, she became the inaugural world champion in women's baguazhang. [3]
Dr Sakanaka was born in Brazil to Hawaiian mother (Chinese/Japanese ancestry) and a Brazilian father (Japanese ancestry).
Tania started training in tai chi in 1995, with Prof. Marcelo Martinelli, in the extension course offered by the Faculty of Physical Education of State University of Campinas, Brazil. [2] Next, she moved to China in 2004 (the country of origin of wushu) for further training at Beijing Sport University under the supervision of masters including Li Yanjun, Zong Weijie, Hauang Kanghui and Wang Xiaona.
Tania became an athlete for the Brazilian Kungfu Wushu National Team since 2003. [2] She became a double medalist at the World Traditional Wushu Championships and a silver medalist at the 1st World Taijiquan Championships in 2014. [4] [5] [6] A year later, she competed in the 2015 World Wushu Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, and became the world champion in women's baguazhang. [7] [8] [9]
The focus of Dr Sakana's research is biomechanics. Her masters research (2009) looked at tai chi (taijiquan) pelvic rotational movement in Yang style louxiaobu, under the supervision of Prof Xu Weijun at Beijing Sport University, China. [10]
Tania completed her doctoral research titled 'Causes of variation in intrinsic ankle stiffness and the consequences for standing' from the University of Birmingham in 2017 under the supervision of Dr Martin Lakie and Dr Raymond Reynolds. [1] [11] Her PhD research has produced two peer reviewed papers so far (on 2018). [12] [13]
Following her post-doctoral work [14] at State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, She is currently working at Manchester Metropolitan University researching about biomechanism in children with cerebral palsy (on 2023).
Wushu, or Kung fu, is a hard and soft and complete martial art, as well as a full-contact combat sport. It has a long history in reference to Chinese martial arts. It was developed in 1949 in an effort to standardize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts, yet attempts to structure the various decentralized martial arts traditions date back earlier, when the Central Guoshu Institute was established at Nanking in 1928.
The World Wushu Championships (WWC) is an international sports championship hosted by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) for the sports of wushu taolu and sanda (sanshou). It has been held biennially since 1991 and is the pinnacle event of the IWUF. The World Wushu Championships also coincides with the IWUF Congress as well as with various committee meetings. This competition additionally serves as the qualification event for the Taolu World Cup and the Sanda World Cup.
Sam Masich is a taijiquan instructor, performing songwriter and filmmaker residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Berlin, Germany.
Lindswell, also known as Lindswell Kwok is an Indonesian former taijiquan athlete. She is one of the most renowned wushu taolu athletes of all time. In 2013, she was named Best Athlete by the Indonesian Olympic Committee, and received the Dharma Sports Medal, the highest sports award in Indonesia. For her achievements, Indonesian media dubbed her as the "queen of wushu".
Ng Shin Yii was a Malaysian wushu athlete. She retired at age 27 from international wushu after competing at the World Taijiquan Championships in Poland. She competed in the Taijiquan and Taijijian taolu events. Up until her retirement in 2016, she had represented Malaysia in every World Wushu Championships since 2009, winning one silver and one bronze in the 2009 and 2015 Championships respectively. She competed in the first two World Taijiquan Championships in Dujiangyan and Warsaw achieving three silver medals. At the age of 17, she won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
Dương Thúy Vi is a wushu taolu athlete from Vietnam. She is one of the most renowned Southeast Asian athletes of all time, having won numerous medals at the World Wushu Championships, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, and the Asian Wushu Championships.
Huang Junhua is a professional wushu taolu athlete from Macau. He is a two-time world champion and the second ever gold medallist for Macau at the Asian Games.
Edgar Xavier Marvelo is a wushu taolu athlete from Indonesia. He is a three-time world champion as well as a medalist at the Asian Games and the SEA Games.
The wushu (taolu) competition at the 2022 World Games took place in July 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Bill Battle Coliseum. Originally scheduled to take place in July 2021, the Games were rescheduled for July 2022 as a result of the 2020 Summer Olympics postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Geng Xiaoling is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete who represented Hong Kong. She is one of the most renowned taolu athletes of all time, having been a five-time world champion and a gold medallist at the Asian Games and the East Asian Games.
Daisuke Ichikizaki is a former wushu taolu athlete from Japan. Though many of his international victories, he has established himself as one of Japan's most renowned wushu athletes of all time.
Tomoya Okawa is a wushu taolu athlete from Japan. He is a one-time world champion, and multiple-time medalist at the World Wushu Championships and the Taolu World Cup.
Li Fai is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete from Hong Kong. She was a four-time world champion and was a medalist at the Asian Games and the East Asian Games.
Cho Seung-jae is a wushu taolu athlete from South Korea.
Tomohiro Araya is a taijiquan athlete from Japan.
Liu Xuxu is a professional wushu taolu athlete from Hong Kong. Within three renditions of the World Wushu Championships, she has already become a nine-time medalist and five-time world champion.
Nguyễn Thúy Hiền is a Vietnamese former wushu taolu athlete. She is the most renowned wushu athlete of all time, having been a seven-time world champion. Due to her numerous achievements, she was voted as the best Vietnamese female athlete of the 20th century.
Chen Zhouli is a professional wushu taolu athlete from China. He has won gold medals at the World Wushu Championships, Taolu World Cup, Asian Wushu Championships, and is a two-time gold medalist at the Asian Games. He also won the gold medal in men's taijiquan at the 2017 National Games of China and the silver medal at the 2021 National Games of China.
Nguyễn Mạnh Quyền is a former wushu taolu athlete from Vietnam. He is a triple-medalist at the World Wushu Championships and at the Southeast Asian Games. He is also a double-medalist at the Asian Games in the men's daoshu and gunshu event. In 2012, he was the Asian Champion in gunshu.
Jowen Lim Si Wei is a Singaporean wushu taolu athlete.