West Windsor resident Alex Ni, a recent Community Middle School graduate, will be heading to Bulgaria in late September to compete in the 6th World Junior Wushu (contemporary martial arts) Championships, representing the United States.
The World Junior Wushu Championships is the official world championships for junior athletes. It takes place biennially and features the highest competitive level within the junior division of the sport. The competition is divided into three age groups — Group A for 16-18 years old, Group B for 13-15 years old, and Group C for 12 years old and under. Each country can send up to two boys and two girls from each age group (for a grand total of 12) to the competition. This year’s competition will be held in Bulgaria from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
Ni, 14, has been a passionate martial artist since age six. In 2014, he successfully made the US national team in Traditional martial arts and competed in the Traditional Championships held in China, winning a gold and a silver medal in his age group.
For the past year, he has focused his training in contemporary martial arts and regularly travels to Virginia for intensive training. During the national team trials held in San Jose, Calif. from July 9-10, Ni captured the top team spot in his age group from a field of 42 boys of the highest level in the nation. This level of success is a testimony of his uncommon talent, great passion, strong self-discipline, unwavering determination, and tireless efforts.
Ni has regularly performed in his school and district talent shows, in senior and rehab centers, Plainsboro Founders Day, and Chinese New Year celebrations. He won a bronze grand prize in the NYC Sinovision Talent show with his martial arts performance in 2015, and he has also performed in Lincoln Center earlier this year.
In the Junior Championships in Bulgaria, he will be competing in fist, straight sword, and spear forms.
