Wushu World Championships: Ashleigh Wykes on going from 'average Joe' to international success

Wushu athlete Ashleigh Wykes won a silver medal at the British Championship in 2022 and is looking to add to her collection at the World Wushu Championships in Dallas, Texas, this month

When Ashleigh Wykes began her journey into the world of martial arts she was a self-proclaimed "average Joe" who could "barely touch her toes".

But a decade later she is an international medal winner, and later this month will compete at her second World Championship of 2023.

"At the beginning I remember being in a lot of pain trying to improve my flexibility," Wykes told BBC Sport.

"Every session my teacher made sure we had a good stretch and that was hard."

The 29-year-old, from Aylesbury, would soon go on to explore other disciplines in the sport and delve into the world of Wushu.

The off-shoot of kung fu, which is both a demonstration and combat sport, can be seen in popular Hollywood films like Kill Bill, Kung Fu Panda, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Everything Everywhere all at Once.

"Wushu incudes gymnastics, power, co-ordination, with both hand techniques and weapons training," added Wykes.

"When I first started the sport I had no fitness or flexibility, I really was an average Joe, and I could barely touch my toes.

"The process has taught me it doesn't really matter where you're starting from, with the right approach and the right people around you - and some perseverance -anything is possible."

'A massive high'

Wykes dedicates as much time as possible to her sport and has been training hard to perfect her craft.

She trains at every opportunity in local gyms and training centres, in both Southampton and London, plus in her garden and work car park on lunch breaks.

This spring the full-time mental health therapist tried out for the Great Britain squad, who were putting together a team for the Traditional Kung-Fu World Championship in China, and the World Wushu Championships in Dallas.

Wykes impressed and was selected for both teams: "I am just over the moon to have the opportunity to compete on the world stage," she said.

"It has been a long-term goal for a while and I found out that I had been selected on my way home from the trials and it just hit me, it had finally happened, I was on a massive high."

Wykes would return from the major event in China with a pair of medals and is now preparing for her second major in Dallas, starting on 16 November: "This event will be a really high standard," she added.

"We are going to be up against full-time professional athletes from all over the world and I'm doing two events, one weapon and one hand.

"I'm just going to do the best performance I can and minimise any mistakes, deductions and maximise my performance score - it will be really inspiring to be a part of."

'Kung-fu spirit'

While there has been a boom in interest in mixed martial arts [MMA] in recent years, thanks to the likes of UFC and Bellator, Wushu remains on the fringes of the sport.

Great Britain Wushu head coach Mike Donoghue says it is still pretty niche: "Here in the UK, Wushu is far from a developed sport and it is absolutely in within the minority class of sports.

"There are very few clubs around the country at the moment, but I would say over the last two or three years it has started to gain a bit of traction.

"But we do have some very dedicated practitioners and there are some very, very good and experienced athletes on the national Wushu team, who have won world titles and gold medals.

"So we are not new to this, we have some pedigree, but we are a way off the likes of karate, judo and taekwondo, which have Olympic status."

Wushu might not be a household sport just yet but it is trending in the right direction and has been included in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar as a medal event for the first time.

"It is amazing," added Donoghue.

"We are so looking forward to that competition, it's going to be awesome."

Until then, Wykes, Donoghue and the Great Britain squad are focusing on the 2023 World Championship in Dallas and bringing home more medals to inspire others back home.

For Wykes, her participation in the sport goes way beyond the mat: "Wushu is really inclusive because you are able to start at a level that suits you," she said.

"The sport has taught me to believe in myself no matter what you think the odds are.

"It has a really fun community too, so people should just go and try it out, you'll be surprised - you just might have a kung-fu spirit in you."