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Chung Tian Temple Feb 2015 - That's me in the Female Monk costume.
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It wont be long into your Kung Fu journey when you are introduced to Lion Dance. To be honest I fell in love with it almost immediately. It's actually quite a complex thing with the combination of High Intensity training, new skills, puppetry, acting, dance, music, Chinese culture, performance art and entertainment, these so much to learn and master.
I initially started as a tail, which, if you don't have super strong hip flexors its easy to fatigue in that bent over position, however for the 2015 New Year Celebrations I was trained as the Female Monk character.
The Monk characters have their own routines and generally start at the front of the Lion line. They act as sort of a guide for the lions, as extra sets of eyes pointing out people with Red envelope gifts and Lettuce locations. The Fan which is used in the routines can also help cool down the performers in the lion suits as it does get quite warm in February here in Queensland.
I did have quite a bit of fun with it though, playing the over the top female inspired by the Jacky Chan and Jet Li female performances in the old Kung Fu movies. Fluttering the fan in front of your face, over doing the hip movement and kicking up a single leg to the rear.
And hilarious to see the looks on peoples faces when I take off the mask and they realise the Female Monk has a beard.
From 2016 and 2017 I alternated from Lion Tail and Lion Head. Performances at Chung Tian Temple, 8 Street (Asian food court) at Garden City Shopping Centre and various other events, School Fetes and Markets etc.
By 2017 I had become super busy with work and unable to train, much to my despair, I still went along to the events in support of the School. (Shaolin Kung Fu Guan) and occasionally got roped into playing in the band when there was a vacancy.
2024 its so good coming back to training and especially the Lion Dance classes. My Daughter has also joined the school and started her Kung Fu Journey, and discovered her own love for lion dance. We are now training as a Team with her as the head and me as the tail. We are also building our own Hok San Lion, which I'll post on this website in the near future with all the build notes.
