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Thursday January 2, 2003 Martial Artistry's Team Steel Phoenix opened the New Year with a bang at this kung fu, wushu and lion dancing exhibition, which, although it was a mid-week, mid-day gig, netted almost a full team -- thanks to winter break! (below: Kip Barkhurst as the Naughty Monk takes a fall, while Li, our Southern Chinese Lion -- played by Team Leader and Gold Medallist Diana Ma and Instructor's Aide James Esparza -- looks on, appalled.) |
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As always, we had a great deal of fun, and the
Manzano Mesa facility is getting to be a familiar and comfortable venue for
us: nice folks, plenty of room, indoors (yea!). We've been performing
our Chinese martial arts show there since
we were booked for the Grand Opening back in August. (right: Team Leader Amir Shirkhorshidian takes to the air as he nails a wushu tornado kicks with staff.) |
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This was such an interesting shot, I just had to include it. Though he appears to be levitating, Jonah Donnarumma is actually descending from a fully vertical side kick atop the staff -- a standard kung fu monkey staff move. Nothing is on the ground here, because, although Jonah is still airborne, he is already beginning his next technique. With moves like this, its no surprise that Jonah is qualified for the Nationals with this wushu monkey staff routine. | ||
| Martial Artistry wushu students sure are at home in the air, especially the Team Steel Phoenix crew. Here, Instructor's Aide Johnathan Padilla cuts with his sabre, or dao, as he completes a wushu butterfly kick. |
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(left) These two make an
impressive sight, as flags fly and light flashes from naked steel in the
kung fu wind and fire wheels set. Reserve National Champion Monique
Cordova and Junior Instructor's Aide Danielle Stender are shown here putting
the "WOO!" in wushu.
(right) Ann Marie Palmieri and Danielle Stender snicker at "Naughty Monk" Kip Barkhurt's comeuppance in the Choy Ching Lion Dance. That's what you get for teasing a Chinese lion... |
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Senior Student Amir Shirkhorshidian leans back
and thrusts with the straight sword, or jian. This is a kung fu
evasion and counter-attack -- also very cool to watch. Now, if we could
just get Amir to point those toes and get his sword finger wrist straight
and palm up... FYI, Amir (aka Li Mu Bai) qualified for the Nationals in April with this wushu routine. |
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Hoody-Hoo! You just never know
WHAT you're going to see on this website! However,
it is a safe bet that if you catch one of Martial Artistry's Team Steel
Phoenix's kung fu and wushu exhibitions, you will, at some point, see Jonah
Donnarumma's underwear. The team actually has a pool set up to wager on what pair he'll flash at any given show. Lillie Vosa won the pool this time with her guess of green plaid. Alas, I lost $5 betting that Power Puff Girls would turn up. I don't understand it. He used to wear them all the time, since his Barney ones got torn at that July 4th show... Hmmm. Maybe its time to reactivate the dressing room spy-cam... |
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PATOOIE! Who
wants to chew on a hat when someone's dangling lettuce in front of you?
(below) Junior Instructor's Aide Danielle Stender and Albert Vera are ready to rumble in the kung fu warfan set. |
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| And now for the educational part of our program: Aerial Evaluation 101! For those of you unfamiliar with this popular wushu technique, an aerial is a cartwheel with no hands. It is typically used to kick an opponent who is pursuing from behind. After the kick, the wushu player can then easily either continue in the direction they were already traveling, or turn and face their pursuer, following up with another technique, if necessary. | |||
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(right) This was just a wonky
show for aerial cartwheels. Everyone seemed to be having an off day,
which is actually what makes this so educational. I'm not sure what happened to Nicole Neff here. She's low, with knees bent and feet far too close together. Not a typical aerial for this girl... |
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(right) Ann Marie Palmieri has good spread here, but she, too, is very low, with her right knee bent. That means she's going to have a difficult time landing comfortably on her feet and upright. |
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(right) Junior
Instructor's Aide Alex Daniels shows excellent form in her lower body, with
legs very straight and widely extended. Unfortunately, she's
awfully low and a bit too bent forward from the hips. Still, her form
is otherwise so good she lands the skill easily.
(lower left) Albert Vera shows good height, but some knee bend, and too much bend at the hips.
(lower right) Serious Air from Instructor's Aide Jonah Donnarumma, but -- oh! -- those knees! He's also got a wild little twist on those hips. |
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The effect of Diana Ma's leadership is instantly
apparent when viewing any of Martial Artistry's Team Steel Phoenix's shows.
From Piao Liang's coquettish "Ain't I beautiful; gimme what I want or
else." attitude, to young Li's macho prancing, to baby Haoqi's
(who came on line this Chinese New Year) unbridled orneriness, the lions are
alive, and the mix of personalities electric. (right) Can't you just see the little gears turning in Li's head as he watches that naughty monk? |
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It's not easy to breathe life into a construct of
paper mache' and cloth, but our lion dance team trains hard. Little
known fact: except for the designated drummer, each of the members of
the team must learn every routine for each lion,
as well as be able to play drums, cymbals and gong for every
set. And, if that isn't enough, Diana Ma, Kip Barkhurst, Brian Baker, James Esparza, Naomi Tsukuda-Doering, Robert (aka Erich) Vera, Dominique Dexter are gearing up to play a competition dragon dancing set, with Kyra Gryphon having to learn a whole new drumming routine for the dragon! |
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(left) Look at the height at
which Team Leader Amir Shirkhorshidian appears to hang in the air.
This shot was taken just before he kicked out into splits -- and landed in
them. Wushu straight sword is so much fun! (below, center) Kristine Dang and Junior Instructor's Aide Alex Daniels conclude the wushu technique wheeling arm. This technique breaks a choke hold from behind, counter attacks with multiple strikes, and finishes with a take down. |
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| (right) When he's not flashing his boxers, Instructor's Aide Jonah Donnarumma likes to show off his belly button... |
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(left) Our color coordinated Ann Marie Palmieri thrusts in crane stance with the kung fu three tip lance. That's gonna leave a mark... | ||
| (right) Team Leader Amir Shirkhorshidian shows outstanding form as he kicks and strikes in the Young Tiger Boxing form. Modern wushu tiger routines are a blast. |
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(left) Gold Medallist Diana Ma and Instructor's Aide James Esparza execute a roll with Li, our yellow lion. It's a real trick to somersault a full 360 to your feet while keeping control of a huge bamboo and paper mache' head (a solid bump will smash the expensive thing to smithereens). The tail is no picnic either: you've got to keep a grip on your partner as well as the cloth body of the lion. He's still gotta look real when you stand up... | ||
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(right) Jonah Donnarumma
spins atop his monkey staff.
(below, left) Kristine Dang blocks with the kung fu warfan in cat stance.
(below, right) Amir Shirkhorshidian snags some sky and whirlwinds into a tornado kick. |
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(left) Albert Vera is such a great sport about helping us explode all those silly expectations about warfan. A skip and a sashay, and then suddenly -- all business. Sure, it's cool to look at, but the fighting applications are very apparent in this kung fu form derived from the White Lotus system.
(below, left) Portrait of a Very Bad Lion.
(below, right) Ooo! Ooo! Gimme-gimme-gimme! Li really wants that lettuce! |
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(right) Instructor's Aide
Jonah Donnarumma leaps over the monkey staff. Like another popular
kung fu system, Drunken Fist, Monkey also relies a great deal on surprise
and deception for its effectiveness.
(below, left) Another shot of Jonah Donnarumma, this time fully horizontal in the butterfly twist.
(below, right) Reserve National Champion Monique Cordova prepares to take on her opponent in the aspect of dragon. |
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(below) Skyward kick with sole. That's Monique Cordova on the far right, just starting her downward descent after pulling her foot behind her head. On the far left is Junior Instructor's Aide Alex Daniels, about halfway through her fall. Kristine Dang has already landed and prepares to strike and block with palms. In the background, Johnathan Padilla, Albert Vera, James Esparza and Brian Baker smile and nod... |
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| (below) The conclusion of another successful kung fu, wushu and lion dancing exhibition with Martial Artistry's Team Steel Phoenix. Youngsters get special "Fu Bucks" so they can feed the lions "lucky money" to ensure a prosperous year. | |||
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Questions? Comments?
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