Changing Winds

This New Year is starting out with abrupt changes in fortune and fate.......right after all the Lion Dancing we did...the bronchitis bug caught up with me.....cough so hard my ribs hurt....not pleasant at all........then I loose my book bag....its got two tablets in it, two check, books my camera, and a paycheck.......boy was that ever a headache.....but the interesting thing happens after I change my accounts and passwords.....someone finds my bag and returns it.........and get this, with almost everything intact! 

Speaking of intact....Yau Gung Moon is still the Lion Dance Bay Area Champ at the 2nd Golden Gate Fields Lion Dance Competition.  The event was sponsored jointly by KTSF and Golden Gate Fields.  Sifu Tat Wong again invited me to act as one of the judges for this event.  Some very good performances, while Yau Gung Moon won handily...the other participating groups raised the level of the competition...soon they will be really good competition.  Hung sing under Sifu Dino did a great job but fell during their jumps, and would have score much higher, otherwise everyone was pretty close.  This year everyone tried to mesh in the difficulties with a lion story...and that's traditonally what lion dancing is suppose to depict, not just do incredible jumps!  so great job everyone!  Of course keeping in theme with the Year of the Snake....the event started out on a beautiful day....then suddenly near the end the temperature dropped a good 15-20 degrees.....and I was freezing.....which didn't help the fact I was just recovering from my bronchitis.  You might wonder if I didn't take more pictures,,,,,which I did but for some reason all my other pictures when I up loaded them...they are all upside dowm.....Huh????  Except for the winner!?

Yau Gung Moon used a good combination of traditional props and difficult jump...to create a simple but challenging puzzle.

On a sadder note.....I am most saddened by the passing of one of my Cal Wushu students from generation 6...Betty....you will be missed I hope that you have found the peace that you were seeking.  Loosing a student is like a parent loosing a child...you wonder if you could have done more.....life is short, embrace it, fight every day to enjoy it, and bask in its wonder......we have but one life, always make the most of it!