Nelly Rovira, an advanced student with TAICHITODAY, won 13 gold medals and three grand champion trophies at the USA Shaolin Open & Traditional Kung Fu Team Trials held Oct. 25-27 in Houston, TX, putting her in position to be considered for a spot on the US team for future international competitions.
She competed in 14 events at the trials, winning three gold medals in Kung Fu Forms, three in Shaolin Forms, and seven in Taichi Forms, as well as the grand champion title for women in her age group in each category:
Traditional Kung Fu:
Snake Fist Form - gold medal
Tiger Fist Form - gold medal
Kung Fu Fan Form - gold medal
Traditional Shaolin:
Damo Jia - Straight Sword Form - gold medal
Xiao Hong Quan - Little Red Cannon - gold medal
Luohan Quan - gold medal
Taiji Quan:
Chen 18 - gold medal
Yang 24 - no medal
Yang Sword 32 - gold medal
Competition 42 Form - gold medal
42 Sword - gold medal
Fan Form - gold medal
Chen Xinjia Yi Lu - gold medal
Chen Contemporary Sword - gold medal
The recent competition in Houston was an individual and a team qualifier event where athletes will be selected to represent the United States and compete in three major international kung fu events. They are:
10th World Kungfu Championships in Emeishan, China
2025 Pan American Wushu Kung Fu Championships in Cancun, Mexico
2025 Shaolin World Games in Denfeng Henan Province, China
To be considered for selection to represent the US in these upcoming events, athletes had to perform as an advanced competitor in the trials, compete in at least three events, and win gold in at least two of them. Given her wins there, Nelly knows she is a candidate for a spot on the US team; she said she is waiting for official notification of her status as a team member.
Nelly is also in contention for a spot on the 25-member team to represent the Northern Hemisphere (Canada, USA, Mexico) in the Shaolin World Games.
Nelly said only two people competed in all three categories at the trials, herself and another gentleman. She said she often gets asked, “Why do you do it? Why so many categories? Why so many events?” She said she does it because it’s a personal challenge.
“The real competition is in your mind,” she said, “Can I perform? Will I forget? Can my body take it? The mind is the true source of strength.”
Other athletes at the trials said they noticed she was relaxed, telling her, “You're smiling; you're having fun; you are in your zone." She said they could see, “I was just in my moment of relaxation of the mind, focused and definitely enjoying each expression of the forms. I was not tense at all, and I just forgot about the competition.
“I was having fun, exploring on the competition carpet and thinking about how I could a send healthy message to all watching that taichi, kung fu and Shaolin all take you to a healthy lifestyle and a new way of self-discovery and self-expression,” she said.
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