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bunch of kiddies aged about four were doing the splits on a cozy Saturday afternoon, facing the wall of the Senayan Soccer Stadium's fourth entrance. Their parents were watching.

"I drove Kelly around Senayan Stadium a year ago, stopping at whatever spot he asked me to stop. There were a lot of activities in the area, marching bands, skateboarding, capoeira and many others. He chose to stop here, and just sat watching other kids for about an hour. I tried to enroll him, but they wouldn't accept him because he was only three. This is his first day here and you can see he's awfully happy about it," said Umar, a 40-year-old parent who insisted that wushu was his four-year-old son Kelly's activity, not his.

These little children, about 30 of them, were in the beginner's group, while the remaining hundreds were divided into different groups bearing different colored belts. Varying in age although most in their teens, they were wearing silky blue uniforms with Chinese calligraphy on the back, which read Ying Xin Wu Shu Guan or Sasana Wushu Inti Bayangan (Essence of Shadow Wushu Dojo).

"The dojo *martial arts school* only accepted children aged five and above at first. But in most cases, their little brothers would envy them. At one time, parents urged us to allow slightly younger children to join, hence the little kiddies you see," said Shinta Purwaningtyas, a national wushu athlete responsible for their training.

The little kids were by no means slacking off. They were in fact practicing wushu down to the most undesirable poses known to man. In fact, Shinta's methodology in teaching is strict and demanding, although the kids seem to love her, or love doing the things she instructs them to do.

Clad in black, she was one among a dozen trainers leading the students that afternoon. Most of them have competed at the national level, while some of them have had the honor of defending the country in world championships.

Sasana Wushu Inti Bayangan was first established in February 1998. Ahmad Rivai, a former wushu athlete, left for China back in 1993. His purpose was to pursue a higher mastery of the martial art for two years. Upon his return, what started from regular practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday in Senayan transformed into one of the biggest wushu dojo in the nation besides Rajawali Sakti, Harmony, Phoenix and Naga Mas.

"I would practice with other athletes here with a spear or sword, or doing moves in those days. Passersby would come to watch, thinking it was kung fu or kun dao. Back then, the majority of martial arts movies aired by local TV stations starred the likes of Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, hence the assumption. But only wushu uses long or short swords, spears and whip chains. So this curiosity is really what started it all," said Ahmad Rivai to The Jakarta Post.

He said there was widespread misunderstanding about the term kung fu, in that the term literally means "something acquired through years of training" or skill in China. "Even if you're a master chef, what you actually do is kung fu. What they are referring to is probably kun dao, the martial art".

"And do not think that by establishing a dojo, I am a master in wushu and capable of doing every move. There are so many disciplines in wushu and each of them requires specific training," he humbly said.

In the dojo's advancements, Rivai created the belt system, adopting it from karate "because it's almost impossible to stick to the original wushu advancements from China".

Three levels of age are applied in China: Beginners for children, intermediate for teens and advanced for elderly masters.

"Wushu is an established martial art in China, and the schools are funded by the government. So children from an early age practice the art intensively, with two days of the week being for primary education and the remaining days being for practicing wushu. Imagine that type of system applied here where people practice the art only on weekends," he said.

"There are many belts, and students can only advance one level higher after a year through a belt test. When they're at the final stages, or the final two belts, the tests are divided into eight advancing periods with eight tests in total," Shinta explained, adding that these tests are usually carried out over days at an out of town location with internal competitions plus medals to motivate children and give them time to focus.

Artists like Nicholas Saputra, Agnes Monica and Sherina often join practice sessions, opening the chance for young athletes to enter the entertainment industry in addition to being regular players in the lion dance during Lunar New Year celebrations at different venues. The athletes may get a shot to appear in TV programs, such as those dedicated to gifted children or even the Gong Show.

Shinta, for example, has played in different music videos and commercials with wushu in it. While both Sherina and Agnes have used wushu practitioners in the background of both show and clips. After that Sherina told Titi DJ and the story goes on.

"Instead of regular dancers, they want to have wushu practitioners jumping up and down in the background now," said Rivai jokingly. Shinta added that the martial art itself has grown to include plenty of jumping poses in recent years. "Wushu continues to evolve. New forms, sets of styles and techniques are continuously invented in China. This makes the development of wushu in China our benchmark," explained Rivai.

Rivai, who is often called Ipai by fellow Chinese, will leave for Beijing this week to look for a native Chinese master to train students of his dojo.

"What we lack in the world of wushu in Indonesia is government support, in which it is up to each dojo's initiative to really advance. One method is hiring a wushu master from China," he said, adding that different dojo in Surabaya and Yogyakarta had hired Chinese masters for years.

"It can be costly though, with rates ranging from US$1,500 to $2,000 per month for high level masters," he said.

Another initiative is to send potential athletes to Shaolin Temple in China, for which Inti Bayangan often receives invitations. "We've sent plenty - including young ones - over the years, ranging from two weeks to three months".

He believes that wushu helps strengthen the bonds between Indonesia and China, and the rest of the world. "Our wushu is not inferior. We won 10 gold medals in the eighth Hong Kong Wushu International Championship, competing with wushu practitioners from all around the world, from as young as 2.5 to 82 years old. The third World Wushu Championship winner in 2006 was in fact an Indonesian athlete."

To celebrate China and Indonesia's 60 years of diplomatic relations, Indonesia Wushu Association intends to invite Chinese wushu masters from Shaolin Temple to perform at the upcoming National Wushu Championship from June 27 through July 2 and Open Tournament on July 24 through 26, all in GOR Pertamina in Simprug.

Sasana Inti Bayangan has opened a number of branches in Jakarta, namely at the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) headquarters in South Jakarta and Alam Sutra in Bintaro. It currently has up to 500 to 600 students in total.

"Even those practicing in Senayan come from faraway places like Bekasi and Tangerang, as there's no branch in their area just yet. People's recognition of the martial art is growing."