My job is hosting a local cultural event in a few days. I looked at the itenerary, and one of the things listed is chinese dragon dancers. I've heard of lion dancing, but dragon dancing?
god of war
My job is hosting a local cultural event in a few days. I looked at the itenerary, and one of the things listed is chinese dragon dancers. I've heard of lion dancing, but dragon dancing?
i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.
-Charles Manson
I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.
- Shonie Carter
Loud City
Big long dragon chases a ball around. Similar to Lion Dancing, but done with more people.
god of war
aa friend of mine trained under a hop gar sifu named ku chi wai. He said "if your lion dancing is good, your kung fu is also good". Would that apply to dragon dancing also?
i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.
-Charles Manson
I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.
- Shonie Carter
Loud City
Not really. It's not really on the same level, athletically speaking.
Wasting Time
It can be close. Depends on the school I suppose. Wah Lum's demo team(I think they were from the Temple, but I was just a spectator) did a very athletic Dragon last year. Head jumping over the tail and what not.Originally Posted by MasterKiller
It was fun to watch, but I've seen some Lion dances that have blown me away in comparison.
Explanation of Lion Dancing vs Dragon Dancing
Itinerant practitioner
A bunch of martial artists doing a dragon dance is not the norm though. I would expect a martial arts troupe to jazz up the Dragon Dance considerably over the standard fair Dragon dance.
But, I totally agree with PQ's statement. A good Kungfu school usually has a really, and I mean really, good lion dance team. It's all there.
If your kungfu is not developed, that will show in your lion dance as well.
Lion dance is very complimentary to kungfu training. It uses a lot of footwork and builds a lot of stamina in a player and when it's on the street it's innovative and fast thinking stuff. cool to watch.
the choreographed stuff on the jongs is cool too, just not as spontaneous as street lion dance.
Dragon dance on the other hand is a community thing for the most part and the local euchre group from the Chinese senior citizens home can hold one of them and still have the right spirit in it. Run and follow the ball, side to side, walk, run around etc, etc. Not quite the same athletic skills required.
Kung Fu is good for you.
Right Hand Man
how is lion dancing supposed to equate to good martial skill?
_______________
I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there and don't want to see you everyday.
Registered User
How is breakdancing supposed to equate to good martial skill?
Besides, I imagine that's just what the sifu said to get his students to lion dance.
Right Hand Man
lol, seriously though, I've heard that said a few times. I'm just curious what it is about lion dancing that is supposed to equate to good martial arts?
_______________
I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there and don't want to see you everyday.
Unregistered User
A good lion dance team will work in syncronization, implying good timing. The head will show his upper body strength, which is developed through hard training, by rigorously shaking the head of the lion. Acrobatics are involved as well to show how nimble, flexable and dexteritous the individuals are. The tail end of the lion is responsible for leading up many of the higher end acrobatics and is also responsible for following the directions and leads of the head, showing good reaction time and reflex.
Trust me, if you see good kung fu practitioners do a lion dance and then see awfull kung fu practitioners do a lion dance, you will imediately see the difference. A good martial artist will be able to tell how good the dancers are at their martial arts by observing the body mechanics used as well as the difficulty in movements performed, in acordance with teamwork.
edit: this is just a small list of simple examples.
A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mt. Tai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the way he uses it....
~Sima Qian
Master pain, or pain will master you.
~PangQuan
"Just do your practice. Who cares if someone else's practice is not traditional, or even fake? What does that have to do with you?"
~Gene "The Crotch Master" Ching
You know you want to click me!!
Registered User
I also think you can tell who are good kung fu practioners while doing lion dancing by the deepness of there stances and transition between stances. It's not easy to stay in those low stances for extented periods of time...
Right Hand Man
makes sense to me, and what I suspected, just wanted to confirm. So it doesn't translate directly, but in theory if one is training well in the martial arts, one will probably also be good at the lion dance?
_______________
I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there and don't want to see you everyday.
Unregistered User
Precisely. Also, it can be darn tough for a lion dancers to keep their sync going and stances low while they have firecrackers blowing up at their feet.
A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mt. Tai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the way he uses it....
~Sima Qian
Master pain, or pain will master you.
~PangQuan
"Just do your practice. Who cares if someone else's practice is not traditional, or even fake? What does that have to do with you?"
~Gene "The Crotch Master" Ching
You know you want to click me!!
my legs hurt
Ive also seen some really strong lion dancers who are only decent in there martial side of training.
As far as the endurance for repetious movment, and the leg strength for the tail, then yes, it can be seen how hard somebody has been training.
Bryan Davis
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote