Lions of the SF Wushu Team

Just added some pictures of some of our new lions for this year.  Lion Dancing is over 1500 years old and began as a folk dance connected to harvest......later was used for celebrations and eventually became part of Martial Arts training.  Each participant in the Lion Dance is suppose to be an expert in wushu and able to handle any weapon and if necessary use the lion to fight with.  The tail was an expert at the 3 section cudgel......in older times the tail was actually a 3 section cudgel with a red ribbon attached to it.........the lion head had to be able to perform with a Kwan do or spear....the drummer with butterfly knives...and the Buddha with the rake,fly whisk,or fan......he was not just a funny guy........this was necessary to protect your lion in case someone challenged you, but often the elders would leave a weapon in front of the place you were going to dance....if you did not know how to perform the weapon or did a poor job you were asked to step aside and allow someone with greater skill to perform

Lions used to be made to last.  I remember my first Bak Wan Lion.........it was a silver and blue lion...colors not often seen but one I used as my trademark.  It was beautiful and really sturdy.  Bak Wan was a lion maker in Hong Kong during the 80's...he made some of the best lion heads.  Nowadays because of competition......the lion heads are flimsy made with if you are lucky with 3 layers of paper........some bamboo and a piece of aluminum....making it very light.....almost like a kite.  The old lion heads weighed upwards of 25 pounds in those days...they were meant to last and could actually made to use in a fight.  Anyway we have a couple of new lions.......Eureka and the bushy malayasian lion.........the latter was a gift from my first generation Calwushu Students....Keith and Greg...thx guys!!  Eureka...is from my other student and fabulous lion dancer Corey.....that lion is from his company Ofcourselion.com....they search for the best products for lion dancing..or if they can't find it make it themselves. Eureka is a lion made in the old tradition....good paint job ,sturdy,and unique.  The other two lions are an example of what can be done to restore old lion heads.....they were over 15 years old and in poor condition...these were redone by Jared.....he has done a great job!  He restores lions for other people now........so don't throw your old lion head away.  Eureka and the smaller lion will be featured at the opening ceremony for the CMAT competition at UC Berkeley this April.....so if you want a close look please stop by there! OK that's it for now...time to watch some anime!  bye all!!