|
February 12 -26 marked the two
week celebration of Chinese New Year. Martial Artistry welcomed the
Year of the Horse, by the Chinese calendar Year 4699, with two hour long shows
featuring lion dancing, dragon dancing, traditional Chinese instruments,
kung fu, wushu and acrobatics, with all proceeds used to help St. Jude in its
ongoing fight against childhood catastrophic diseases.
Below, lion dancers State
Champion Monique Cordova, Buck McCombs, State Champion Chris Baca, Lillie
Vosa and State Champion Iwin White perform the double lion welcome with Li
and Fu. |
|
 |
|
 |
(left) Steel Phoenix
team leader, Amir Shirkhorshidian, entertains the audience while the rest of
the team stretches. You haven't lived until you've heard "Big I Blues"
and "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" sung a capella by this young artist.
Guaranteed to clear the room (not to mention your sinuses)!
And you thought we only did kung fu and
wushu!
|
|
 |
|
Not everybody left though, as you can
see as Mushu (above), our 70' dragon, chases the celestial
pearl of wisdom through the crowd. |
|
 |
(Left) Ann Marie
Palmieri performs the front walk-over.
(Right) Look at
the air State Champion Robert Gomez manages to snag in the tornado kick! |
 |
|
Little Kristine Dang is always a great
crowd pleaser. At right, she balances on a bottle of "jiu" or wine. |
 |
|
 |
|
While everyone in the
West knows about the Chinese love for dragons, few know of lion dancing,
the most time-honored way to celebrate the Chinese New Year. |
|
|
Legend has it that lion
dancing originated during the Qing Dynasty, when the emperor had a dream
where a strange-looking animal saved his life. The emperor’s councilors
determined that such a bizarre creature must be a lion, an animal from the
West, which it so happened none of them had ever seen. Thus the emperor’s
dream animal became a symbol of protection and good luck throughout China.
Lion dancing is done to frighten away evil influences
and bring good fortune.
|
|
Although
there are many types of lion dances, the most important lion dance of the
Chinese New Year is the Choy Ching, or the getting of the green.
Money is hidden inside a head of lettuce, and the lion must climb to great
heights to reach it. Feeding green to the lion is said to ensure good luck
for the year. At
right is our newest lion, Li. Li means powerful or strong.
Note the lion's head in relationship to the lights and ceiling. That
ceiling is 20' up, so you may imagine how impressive this stunt looks in
person! |
 |
|
 |
Shades of Billy Jack!
Beginners Ann Marie Palmieri and Albert Vera soar on
the jump split front kick. |
|
State Champion Nancy
Nguyen and Team Leader Amir Shirkhorshidian perform Hua Zai Feng Jian,
or Blossoms on the Wind Straight Sword. This modern wushu
routine always brings the crowd to their feet, and earned Amir the
nickname "Li Mu Bai", from the famous character in the kung fu flick
CROUCHING TIGER/HIDDEN DRAGON. |
 |
|
|
Helping
kids was what this show was all about. Our beneficiary, St.
Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, was founded by the
late entertainer, Danny Thomas. The hospital is an internationally
recognized biomedical research center dedicated to finding cures for
catastrophic diseases of childhood. All St. Jude patients are treated
regardless of race, religion, or ability to pay.
Assistant Instructor
Robert Gomez came up with the idea of auctioning off Sifu's hair color to
benefit St. Jude's. They had already raised over $100 when Assistant
Instructor Chris Baca and Steel Phoenix team member Iwin White agreed to
pitch in an additional $50.00 if Sifu would add another color to the voted
upon hot pink. At left is Sifu, brushing her glorious pink and purple
tresses - well worth it to add over $175 to this very worthy cause!
|
|
Many fine folks contributed to making
this fund raiser a huge success. The hand-carved dragon from
Indonesia, at right, is an excellent example. Valued at $300.00 and
donated by Wanderlust, it was won by Suzette Driggers. Other prizes
included two half-hour massages by Dianne Davis of Tao Massage (610-6800),
a $25.00 gift certificate from Blue Eagle Bookstore in Scottsdale Village
at Eubank north of Candelaria, an acupuncture treatment by Ray Mazon, DOM
at 1821 Carlisle NE, a beautiful handmade stained glass candle sleeve by
Stained Glass by Suzette (255-0048), and two gift baskets by Martial
Artistry kung fu / wushu student, Shereen Jegtvig. |
 |
 |
We'd also
like to thank Sam's Club at Eubank and Copper. We'd have never had
such great crowds had they not graciously consented to allow us to sell
tickets at the store. We know they will be proud and pleased to hear
that, with their help, we raised over $3,000.00 for St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital with this event. |
|
The show was not without its snafus, however, as you can see at right.
Jonah Donnarumma's monkey staff broke while he was just pushing up to the
top of his side kick. This sequence of photos tells the story.
Jonah was okay, and the crowd loved what a great sport he was about this
unfortunate turn of events. |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Beginners (from left to
right) State Champion Toby Baca, Ann Marie Palmieri and Lillie Vosa strut
their stuff in the kung fu weapons form He Shan, or Crane Fan. |
|
State Champions Chris Baca and Iwin White face off in the three tip lance
vs. monk spade fighting set. |
 |
|
 |
You can see the crowd wince
as these team members perform a rise kick and fall into side splits.
From left to right these are State Champion Nancy Nguyen, Erich Vera and
Albert Vera. |
|
Many special guests attended this event
to help make it not only a financial success, but an emotional one.
At the left of the photo (right) is Sifu Frank Rivera, head
instructor of the Chin-Wu Athletic Association. Our school was
honored by the presence of himself and his students. Two of them,
the McCarthy brothers, made out like bandits in the door prize drawings.
Another special visitor was Mei-Mei the
Sugar Glider (center, in Sifu's hand). Those of you
that keep tabs on this website know her as Kiwi and Kujo's daughter.
The sign on Sifu's back says, "My
mean students did this to me!" |
 |
|
 |
(Left) State
Champion James Cole and Nicole Neff perform the tornado into a fall from
nanquan. (Right)
Jason Padilla and State Champion Robert Gomez levitate the front
kick. |
 |
|
 |
|
(above) Li
accepts lucky money, while the demo team signs autographs for their many
new fans. Questions? Comments?
Email Martial Artistry
|