The internationalisation of the Chinese martial arts: an analysis of the policy of the International Wushu Federation

Wushu, the collective noun for Chinese martial arts, is one of China’s most prominent traditional sports and a significant part of its cultural heritage (Lorge, 2012; Theeboom, Zhu, & Vertonghen, 2017). Since the mid-1980s, China has made considerable efforts to internationalise the practice of Wushu, culminating in the establishment of the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) in 1990 (Brownell, 2012). Over the past three decades, the membership of IWUF has expanded from 38 members in 1990 to 160 in 2024, which seems to indicate that Wushu has entered the global sports arena. Notably, IWUF has employed ‘Wushu’ as the official term in its promotional activities rather than the term ‘Kung Fu’, which is widely used by practitioners outside China to represent the Chinese martial arts (Bowman, 2016, 2020; Frank, 2006; Judkins, 2016). However, to date, Wushu’s international development is far from a success as distinct differences in popularity remain across the globe (Theeboom et al., 2017; Zhu,
Theeboom, & Jiang, 2010). Following the success of other Asian martial arts (Judo and Taekwondo) in gaining inclusion in the Olympics, the Chinese government and IWUF have made efforts to include Wushu in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2020 Tokyo Games. However, despite several attempts, Wushu has not yet achieved its Olympic ambition. Scholars often attribute these failures to the cultural differences that exist between East and West (Chen, 2008; Ma & Liu, 2002; Qiu, 2006; Ren, 2008; Xu, 2015; Zhu et al., 2010) and Eurocentrism within the Olympic Movement (Bai, 2005; Tang & Lin, 2003; Wang & Qiu, 2006). In addition, several studies have argued that the detraditionalisation of the sport has negatively impacted its global acceptance (Meng, 2013; Qiu, Zeng, & Liu, 2010; Zheng, 2011). However, these studies overlook the critical role of IWUF’s policy-making in influencing Wushu’s international development and Olympic inclusion efforts.

Therefore, in this PhD we investigated how IWUF’s policy choices have influenced the international development and Olympic status of Wushu. Specifically, it examined how terminological decisions, policy assumptions, and strategic responses to the IOC’s Olympic programme reforms have shaped these efforts. The research is guided by three sub-questions.

(1) What is the impact of using the term ‘Wushu’ instead of the more popular term ‘Kung Fu’ on the international development of Chinese martial arts?
(2) What are the policy assumptions underlying IWUF’s Olympic policies? What is the logic behind these policy assumptions?
(3) How did IWUF respond to the IOC’s policy of Olympic programme reform?

Using a qualitative approach, we have collected data from in-depth interviews with IWUF senior officials, scholars, coaches, and other stakeholders, as well as qualitative document analysis. The findings are presented based on data that were collected through three interconnected studies.

In Study 1, we applied Stuart Hall’s Representation Theory (Hall, 1997) to examine how expert witnesses perceive the differences in meaning between both terms and the extent to which IWUF’s policies have shaped perceptions of Chinese martial arts internationally. Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews with international expert witnesses, the study revealed that ‘Kung Fu’ is associated with traditional Chinese martial arts and cultural imagination shaped by Kung Fu cinema and linked to fighting practicability and Chineseness. In contrast, ‘Wushu’ is perceived as modern, detraditionalised Chinese martial arts, shaped significantly by IWUF’s Olympic policies to align with its Olympic ambition. This distinction underscores how IWUF’s policies have struggled to resonate with the international community of traditional Chinese martial arts, which does not perceive IWUF as a representative organisation for their interests and identities.

Through Study 2 we evaluated IWUF’s policies in light of its Olympic ambition through a theory-based evaluation approach (Theory of Change, ToC), which posits that policy can be conceptualised within a ‘logic model’ which sets out how a policy should practically operate (Weiss, 1997a, 1997b). Based on 20 semi-structured interviews, in this study we developed an analytical logic model of IWUF’s policies, including policy context, inputs, activities, outputs, short-term and long-term outcomes, and impact. The results identified implementation and theory failures within IWUF’s
policies. Implementation failures include an imbalanced representation of continents on the IWUF board, China’s dominant position within the federation and the use of mostly Chinese social media. While theory failures reflected tensions between promoting Wushu as a traditional Chinese sport to enrich the Olympic Movement and detraditionalising this sport to align with the IOC’s criteria. The findings suggested that while China’s dominance has facilitated Wushu’s global promotion, it has also posed challenges to its broader acceptance as an international sport.

The IOC initiated the programme reforms in 2001 to ensure the long-term success of the Games in response to the challenges of ‘gigantism’ (the increasing cost, scale, and complexity of the Games) (Chappelet, 2014). In Study 3 we therefore investigated IWUF’s policy responses to the IOC’s programme reforms using the legitimacy framework proposed by Strittmatter et al. (2018). The findings reveal that the IOC prioritises the commercial appeal, global popularity, and youth engagement of new sports to ensure the Games’ attractiveness to host cities. IWUF has employed both ‘substantive’ strategies (e.g., technical evolution and strengthening international communication) and ‘symbolic’ strategies (e.g., promoting youth participation, emphasising traditional Wushu and collaborating with the traditional Wushu community). However, these efforts failed to convince the IOC that adding Wushu would enhance the appeal of the Olympic programme.

Findings from these three studies identified the challenges to IWUF’s Olympic ambition. One relates to the issue of how to keep cultural integrity in the pursuit of Wushu’s Olympic inclusion in regard to Olympic homogenisation and prolympism. We have argued that the IOC’s governance model empowers the IOC to reshape the identities of sports while resulting in the imbalance between cultural globalisation and cultural diversity within the Olympic programme. Furthermore, China’s dominance in Wushu has significantly promoted the development of IWUF, but it has also hindered
IWUF’s ability to function as a truly international federation. The IOC’s discourse power on the Olympic inclusion has influenced the sportisation of Wushu to align with the IOC’s requirements. The power dynamics among IWUF, the IOC, and China have shaped the unique policy discourse surrounding IWUF’s efforts.