[1] A young Japanese woman has impressed social media with photos of herself dressed in cute girlie styles while performing Chinese martial arts moves. The woman known as Inami is in her 30s and lives in Yokohama, a Japanese city south of Tokyo. She has 140,000 followers on one social media platform and runs a martial arts school.
[2] Inami often poses in classic Chinese martial arts stances while dressed in cute clothing. Sometimes, she performs with crescent blades or spears. She also posts video tutorials about how to perform simple martial arts moves.
[3] Inami said she began learning Chinese martial arts in Primary Three. She said she was a gaming addict when she was little and was bad at actual sports. However, one day in kindergarten, she told her mother she wanted to study Chinese martial arts. Her parents signed her up for karate classes, but she did not like them.
[4] Then, a classmate who was studying under one of the best Chinese martial arts masters in Japan transferred to her primary school, and she joined that class. She immediately knew that the discipline was her “destiny”.
[5] Inami won the All-Japan Martial Arts Tai Chi Championship’s comprehensive tai chi category five times. She came second in the sword category. She now teaches martial arts, specialising in tai chi. The centuries-old practice requires slow, deliberate movements and body awareness. She said the advantage of tai chi is that people can participate regardless of age.
[6] Inami said she wanted to encourage people who lack self-confidence like she once did. “We often look at characters with special skills in games and animations and think to ourselves that we can never achieve those. But with martial arts, it is possible. Anyone can do it,” Inami said.
[7] She also wants to spread martial arts to more people in the world. She hopes to change the view some people have that kung fu is about “making strange noises and weird poses”. Inami added that she wants to try more choreography in future, blending martial arts moves with dancing.
Source: South China Morning Post, June 7
Questions
1. According to paragraph 2, some of the ... Inami performs involve using crescent blades and spears.
A. martial arts stances
B. martial arts moves
C. clothes
D. weapons
2. What kind of classes did Inami’s parents first enrol her in, according to paragraph 3?
3. What does the “discipline” in paragraph 4 refer to?
4. In which category did Inami come second at the All-Japan Martial Arts Tai Chi Championship, according to paragraph 5?
5. Tai chi is a Chinese martial art that has … for hundreds of years.
A. exist
B. exists
C. existed
D. existing
6. Match the following words with their opposites. (4 marks)
Answers
1. D
2. karate classes
3. Chinese martial arts
4. sword category
5. C
6. (i) b; (ii) d; (iii) c; (iii) a
