School: Victoria Academy
    Douliou, Yunlin, Taiwan

10 students, ages 13-14 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 23, 2010. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Classes and Teachers: Tr Henry, Tr Jay, Tr Alice, Alan, Roger, Rene, Julie, Jack, Melody, Peter, Vera, Cindy, Ina

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.victoria.ylc.edu.tw

1. Description of Our Community

The aboriginal Pengpu people of the Sailei tribe were the first settlers of Siluo. They were followed by Chinese immigrants and also the Dutch. Chinese immigrants called it Siluo, except for the people from Luoyang, Fujian Province, who used the name Luoyang in commemoration of their homeland. Siluo is situated in the northern tip of Yunlin County, its border to Changhua County demarked by the Jhuoshuei River. It is adjacent to Cihtong Township in the east, Erlun Township in the west, and Huwei Township in the south. It is one of the major towns of the great alluvial plain of Jhuoshuei River, having an area of 4,993 hectares. There are many remarkable things that assert Siluo as one of the most important cultural places in Taiwan. Among others, Siluo has farm products like soybean sauce and Siluo rice, and precious cultural traditions like the Cikan martial arts and puppet shows. Victoria Academy and Siluo Township are both progeny of Yunlin County, making them part of the same closely united entity. As such, we are bound by the responsibility to promote its local traditions and culture.

2. Summary of Our Project

We chose to use Yunlin in our title “True Martial Arts of Yunlin” to emphasize the place of origin of the cultural heritage of Siluo Cikan martial arts, which is our main research subject. We are happy to have the opportunity via this exciting platform, the Cyberfair, to introduce and disseminate our local culture to people around the world. We attempt to demonstrate the real state-of-mind of Cikan students through their daily lives and contributions to society, and to help rectify the wrongful notion put on by action movies that violence is not only intrinsic to, but also the goal, of martial arts. We adopted very straightforward means to do research, such as field surveys, interviews, and actually practicing martial arts to gain a first hand experience of a martial artist’s lifestyle. Our research categories and their goals are: 1. The Name of Cikan: To trace back the origins of the name of Cikan and its traditions, and to understand them from a geographical standpoint. 2. Over One Hundred Years of Ancestry: To identify how Cikan developed in different periods in order to form an accurate historical perspective. 3. Martial Artists’ Profiles: To identify the true martial artists’ way of life from a multi-dimensional outlook, and compare it to the new generation’s values and ideals from an ethnologic point of view. 4. Kung-fu: To combine the best martial arts from all sects and show the excellence and appeal of Taiwanese traditional martial arts. 5. Cultural Essence: To introduce Cikan related culture, tradition, and its unique charm. 6. The Cikan Heritage: A record of how our community ambassadors devoted themselves to the study of Cikan culture and the interesting process of promoting what they learned to the community at large, including sharing their experiences with their teachers and fellow students.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The Cikan lineage of martial arts has been around for a very long time and we faced many challenges in the course of our research. Our main sources of information were the internet, books, and interviews. While it is true that accessing information and contacting people has become easier, many of these easily accessible sources are in fact of specious in nature. Therefore, we had to be careful to refer only to legitimate documents and bona fide experts. Fortunately, we received help from the CEO if Cikan Martial Arts Culture Foundation and other genuine martial artists.

In trying to gain an authentic understanding of Cikan, we decided to commit to its practice. Though we exercise regularly, our work-outs are usually not as demanding as what Cikan-style martial artist are used to. It was not easy to get used to it, but we decided to try our best while not having unrealistic expectations. We received much needed help and encouragement from Principal Huang Zhenchong and Master Li Luocun, to whom we are grateful for their guidance. We continued to improve and gain confidence as we trained during special after school sessions. It is important to note that we are constantly busy with school work and after school activities such as cram schools, most of us being busy for over 12 hours a day. Consequently, participating in the Cyberfair was challenging enough just due to time constrains.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Understanding the sensationalism intrinsic in martial arts movies we focused on the genuine, unpretentious training that Cikan is known for. After a lot of hard work, we began to notice the beauty of a simple and ordinary life. In struggling with the blurry line between mediocrity and contentment we realized that hard work, ethical conduct, and compassion truly pave the road to a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. This humble, yet effective and time tested approach gives us the down-to-earth outlook on life that is the essence of martial arts. Our progress and achievements don’t come from text books, but rather from pragmatic teachings handed down from master to student for many generations.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

The primal vitality of martial arts is based on fitness activities. We decided to dig deeper on native life through multiple interviews and field surveys. We hoped we could restore the essence and humane equipment of martial arts. Therefore, by means of taking martial arts lessons to practice and get to know it, we experienced this traditional spirit from history and social life. It’s not just a subject, but a sum of our life, a seed which was planted since the pioneering age, and the root is hidden in the soil of Taiwan still.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

We used the internet, telephones, books, newspapers, recording devices, digital and film cameras, scanner, printer, laptops, and portable hard drives. As far as software, we sued FrontPage2000, Dreamweaver3.0, PhotoImpact7.0, and Golden wave 3.0

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

We interviewed in person to get more contact with those masters, and have been sharing our experience with our whole school by promoting PE activities to practice martial arts and strengthen our bodies. We also held some events with the theme of Cikan Inheritance with such titles as “Little Martial Artists”, “Inviting Principal Huang Zhenchong for Speech”, “Martial Arts Show at School Fair”, and “School Anniversary and Sports Day Presentation”, in order to boost the communication and understanding between two generations and cultures. We took our role as Cikan martial arts ambassadors seriously and worked hard to reach the general public. Hopefully we can continue to help with the promotion of martial arts culture.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

We’ve experienced martial arts, but what we’ve learned is quite superficial. Most of us had never studied martial arts before, so the amount of physical work was a bit of a shock. In addition to physical labor, our mentally perception totally changed. We no longer take kung-fu as being nothing more than cool postures, and supernatural abilities. As a result, our team and our whole school have learned what real traditional martial arts are, and regard traditional culture more seriously. This has been our greatest accomplishment.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We’d like thank to a lot of people from our neighborhood and school as they offered a lot of help in various forms including, but not limited to, teaching us martial arts. Many masters had to turn us down because they were too busy. Fortunately, Principal Huang Zhenchong and Master Li Luocun were available to us. They came to our school to teach martial arts on multiple occasions so we could have our school experience the benefits of martial arts, and so we must pay our highest respects to them. We wanted to enrich our project, so we asked the masters, school’s library, and information center to help with videotaping, taking pictures, and offering private photo collections. We are very grateful. Master Li Mingzhe, Liao Liangyuan, and Liao Juneda helped us a lot with our web page. Each time we had problems, we asked for their advice. They even made time to come to our school to discuss and help us understand the true meaning of martial arts. They are like the fathers of our project, and they bring us confidence and pride.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We never thought there could be so many awesome martial artists hidden in those common, ordinary farm village houses! We never thought those men who wander in the streets with a hoe on their shoulder were actually respected, yet humble masters of the Cikan lineage! We learned a great lesson about were our attention lies. It is not good to always look at ourselves, we must discover the world outside, experience various cultures and different life styles. We must realize that most things have good and bad sides. Besides, being arrogant is a lot like a blind man who leans against a wall imagining that it's the border to the end of the world.