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Saturday July 20, 2002
This was the first year for what will no doubt become an annual tradition: The Dunk Tank! "We're SURE most people will want to soak Mr. Bishop and Mr. Johnson", Sifu said confidently, "to remind them to repent their evilness at last year's picnic. Or maybe you'd like to go gunning for senior student Mr. Shirkhorshidian. Or pick on that short guy, Mr. Baca. How about that instructor with the smart mouth, Ms. Cordova? Or that sneaky, sly fellow, Mr. Padilla? And Ms. Ma and Ms. Shubert -- they definitely need a good soaking. Mr. Donnarumma could use a soothing dip -- he'll have to shut up under water! Oh, and those college boys, Mr. Parsons and Mr. Esparza (secretly, they think they're better than you, and Mr. Esparza is going to be a doctor -- get revenge for all those childhood inoculations!). Ms. Gryphon should be spared, unless of course she fails to bring more rice cakes and mango sauce, in which case, may I suggest the optional piranha fish (only an extra $10 donation!). I'm sure you all agree that Mr. Cole and all his American Eagle clothing should be soaked, shrunk and left to mildew. And don't forget Mr. Dennis Baca -- the newbie must be hazed!!!! These are just suggestions, because of COURSE you don't want to dunk your most venerable Sifu, who loves and nurtures you and COULD FAIL YOU ON YOUR NEXT SASH TEST WERE SHE TO GET WET AND CRANKY!!!" (below, our poster for the event) |
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The park at Kirtland Air Force Base was gorgeous.
As always, Joey and Rebecca Bishop put the whole thing together, from
booking the park, to renting the equipment, to making emergency popsicle and
drink runs. They were the first to come, the last to leave, and were
so busy making this whole thing possible throughout that I don't think
either of them got a chance to eat or play. Of course, it has been suggested that Joey got so thoroughly soaked and humiliated by "The Squirtinator" last year, that he was doing whatever he could to avoid to avoid her formidable arsenal. You decide... Joey is the rather bald fellow in the white T, standing directly behind the dunk tank in this photo below. In the background, you can see the orange stripes of one of our two moon jumps. Getting two moon jumps sounded like a great idea at the time. Ha-ha. Unfortunately, it was a bit too much for the park's electrical system. The breakers blew, right in the middle of the exhibition by Martial Artistry's own Team Steel Phoenix. Since it just made the crowd cheer all the louder as the show continued, without music or a mike, we're considering adding an electrical system breakdown to all of our kung fu and wushu shows. |
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Just kidding. Here are some photos from the kung fu, wushu, and lion dancing exhibition we held at the picnic. (right) Alex Daniels nearly splits in mid-air during her aerial cartwheel. |
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Fu and Li were on hand to entertain everyone with Southern lion dancing. Poor old Fu (the flower-faced lion on the left). This was one of his last shows. After six years of hard service, he was getting to look pretty ratty. He went from Fu Van Gogh to No Ears Fu and then, about a month after this photo, took a spill that cracked apart his bamboo superstructure, separating the upper half of his head from the lower. He's now Skeleton Fu, and looks really creepy sitting on Sifu's desk, awaiting a total reconstruction. |
| Still, ears or no, Fu is the older and therefore the dominant lion in our little circle. Here he displays his superiority over Li, our younger, somewhat more mischievous yellow lion. |
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Here, our lions "stack". This is where the person playing the head leaps onto the person playing the tail. Lion dance players can stack on the thighs, the hips, the chest, even the shoulders or head -- the latter usually is sat upon as a prelude to standing upon the shoulders. This is a thigh stack, below. |
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At left, the lions charge to drive away the mythical "nian": the beast that in legend terrorized a village and got the whole lion dance legend started (click here for details on several lion dance legends). |
| Li assumes a playful posture. A good lion dance team can make the lion seem to be a living, breathing creature. |
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The roll is a fun and audience-pleasing trick,
but a bit had to capture with a still camera. It's just one of those
things that you have to see in motion. At left is Li about halfway through a roll. |
| Alas, this was the last kung fu and wushu exhibition for Iwin White, whose job takes him elsewhere. We'll miss fun stuff like his dive roll over other team members (at right, with Alex Daniels) . . . |
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. . . and his continuous classical tornado kicks . . . |
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. . . and his monk spade routines. We'll miss you, Iwin! Don't forget to email! |
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Ms. Shubert is about to get what she deserves as she taunts the crowd from the dunk tank. Her son, student Matthew Shubert, soon became the most feared of all the pitchers, as he became the most successful dunker in the entire school, seldom missing a throw. |
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We had a bit more difficulty convincing Mr. Padilla to take a seat. He was one of the quickest to be dunked, when a certain somebody (I'm not mentioning any names, so that Monique Cordova may remain forever anonymous) slapped a five into Sifu's hand, marched up and without missing a beat slammed down the mechanism that dropped Mr. Padilla directly into the deep. |
| Now, for some reason, Mr. Padilla found this very . . . invigorating. Yes, that's it. Invigorating. He was so invigorated, in fact, that he made it his mission to see to it every Martial Artistry kung fu instructor and wushu exhibition team member did their time in the tank. Not everyone went along quietly, as you can see here when Mr. Padilla finds Iwin White hiding beneath a table in the food pavilion. Bad Iwin! |
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Oh, the shame! See the poor student, at
right, so embarrassed that the other students would actually consider
dunking his wise, kind, gentle Sifu. He is so sad... What's worse is, Matthew Shubert is stepping up to the plate... |
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Hey! What are you clapping about!?! That was your Sifu that just fell in to water! It is only funny when other people fall in the water! Boy, are you gonna get it. Especially that Danielle. Ms. Stender just looks way too happy. Perhaps she will be happy to be a green sash for the rest of her natural life. Ha! Ha! |
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We don't call it the "Wet & Wild Picnic" for nothing! The huge squirt arena provides lots of soaking wet amusement. |
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Poor Mr. S. Every year, Amir finds himself
surrounded and out-gunned. Of course, he might at least have the
option of running away, were he to pull his pants up so his crotch wasn't at
his knees...
Below, in the background, left, is the other moon jump, a dinosaur for the kids. There were just so many fun diversions, it was hard to decide what to do next. Unless you were Joey Bishop, who mostly just chose "cower from The Squirtinator". |
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| The adults got quite the ferocious volleyball game going... | |
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Our guests numbered in the hundreds. Eating, laughing, playing were the order of the day. Even our dragon pinata looks happy. |
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| Yes, indeed: our students certainly got a kick out of that pinata. While the youngsters got to whack the goodie-holding dragon with a stick, our more "mature" students had to attempt to kick a moving, dodging target! This made for some rather amusing moments . . . |
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Overall, it was a very fun and satisfying day.
Alas, it will be the last Wet & Wild Picnic organized by Rebecca and Joey,
as the Bishop clan has orders: to ICELAND! Kinda hard to have fun with
a dunk tank in Iceland... But Joey, Rebecca, Alexis, Taylor and Morgan
will be back to rejoin our kung fu family in a couple years... We'll
miss you, guys! And here's a glorious end to a glorious day, the sunset and stormy view from Sifu's mountain home... |
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Questions? Comments?
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