Hundreds of international wushu athletes are putting on a special show during a separate wushu tournament running concurrently with the Olympics in a bid to get the game considered for eventual Olympic inclusion.

This event, being held during the last four days of the Beijing Games, is the first time wushu has been so close to the Olympics since its debut as a demonstration sport in the 1936 Berlin Games.

"To be able to host the tournament is a great honor that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted to China and an essential step to further promote the Chinese martial arts on the international stage," said Wang Xiaolin, secretary-general of the International Wushu Federation (IWUF).

For the 128 athletes from 43 countries and regions, all of whom qualified from last year's World Wushu Championships, the ongoing tournament is a grand gathering of international wushu practitioners.

"I quite cherish this opportunity to come to the country where wushu originated and exchange our understanding on the historic martial arts with a profound ethical nature," said Israeli athlete Natalya Gerevitz, who participates in the broadsword and stave event.

"For me, it is not very important if wushu is an official medal sport or not. I am here simply because I love wushu," said the girl who started learning the Chinese martial art 10 years ago.

For 26-year-old Andrzej Topczewki of Poland, the tournament is more like a cultural experience. "I don't care about my final ranking in this tournament as long as I am not the last one.

"Believe it or not, after practicing wushu for more than 10 years, the idea of harmony naturally comes to my mind."

Andrzej has spent the past three years learning from various wushu masters in north China's Henan and Shanxi province.

For the past 10 years there have been debates over how to develop wushu in the future.

"The present athletic wushu put too much emphasis on the difficulty of the move. It is not conducive to retaining the original taste of the Chinese martial arts," Andriej told China Daily.

"If this is the direction of wushu's future development, I would rather wushu not be included in the Olympic program," he said.

Chinese taiji world champion Wu Yanan does not agree with Andriej.

"At present, the Olympics is definitely the best stage in the world to promote a sport.

"If you take a look at the development of judo and taekwondo after its Olympic registration, you will see the importance of wushu's Olympic involvement."

The 22-year-old world champion believes pursuing difficulty does not deviate from wushu's original ideal, but is an essential trait of athletic wushu.

"In traditional wushu, achieving graceful moves is the main goal, but athletic wushu as a competition sport adds athleticism to its core value. I believe this is progress on the basis of traditional wushu."

Wu also explained that difficulty is only one of the scoring aspects in athletic wushu, Judges also take athletes' technical quality and overall performance into consideration.

IWUF secretary-general Wang Xiaolin believes athletic wushu has roots in traditional Chinese martial arts, and making adjustments to its competition rules was necessary in its bid to join the Olympic program.