USM, PENANG, March 2017 – Having a passion for the martial arts has helped Nurafiqah Hamzah, a third-year student from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to overcome her feelings of embarrassment and to join her Chinese friends in their practice of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Nurafiqah 23, who hails from Kampung Pulau Igan in Mukah, Sarawak is the sole Malay Shaolin practitioner at USM.

“I have been involved with Shaolin for the past one year, and initially I was a bit shy in wanting to know more about the art form, what more when joining a group,” said Nurafiqah.

“However, as I was deeply interested in the art form, I pushed myself to attend training sessions with a friend, and until now I am still with the team,” added Nurafiqah who also took part in the ‘Malam Kung Fu USM ke-40’ (40th USM Kung Fu Night) programme, as well as doing a solo performance of the ‘Jiu Jie Bian’ routine, also known as the ‘9-chain whip’.”

“I like the ‘9-chain whip’ routine as it is my specialty, probably due to my physical size, weighing at 36 kilogrammes, making it easy for me,” added the undergraduate in Education (TESOL), from the USM School of Educational Studies.”

“I wish for more students to join in this martial arts activity as well as to fill their time with various activities that would bring benefit. As of now, there are only 8 individuals who are involved in the weekly Shaolin training.”

“Come and train with us every Wednesday-Friday evening, from 5.00 – 7.00 at the Dataran Bintang, USM.”

Shaolin is one of the five styles practiced at the USM Kung Fu Club other than Wushu, Taiji, Drum and Dragon & Lion. Shaolin is a type of Kung Fu which originated from Northern China and the technique requires the members to analyse the movements and adapt them into fighting techniques that would be practical in actual fights.

Text: Nor Rafizah Md Zain / Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharuddin