What do you think of when you think of martial arts? There's so many different types right? "But If you like watching Chinese movies with people jumping over walls, doing splits, kicking bullets, then wushu is the way to go!" That is what my friend Dennis Ta always tells me.

For a while now I have always wanted to take on wushu because there is so much more to it. It is about honor and holds certain values and standards that typical sports do not present.

What is wushu? Wushu is Chinese martial arts. To simply put it, it is similar to gymnastics. In wushu, one performs a routine and gets scored by judges. The minimum routine is 1 minute and 20 seconds.

My friend, Dennis is very passionate and dedicated athlete. He got started wushu at age 8. "I chose to do martial arts because I was inspired by the TV show power rangers. I've been doing wushu for 11 years and have had the honor of representing America for wushu in the wushu world games tournament in Beijing 2008."

Dennis says, "The best part about wushu is knowing that 'perfect' wushu does not exist. It gives me motivation to train harder to reach a new level every passing day."

To stay fit he regularly attends the gym for some a good workout, and for some light weight training. "I try to maintain healthy eating habits." And he stays away from foods lacking nutritional value such as fast food, and junk food.

His advice to fellow wushu practitioners?

"Well my coach always tells me this, 'faster, higher, stronger.'He also says the more flexible you are the better. The more coordinated you are the better."

Like anything in life, everyone begins at a different level, but you never know how far you can go until you try it. Wushu is definitely something worthwhile to add to your new years resolution.

-Elizabeth "Lizzie" Nguyen