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Monday, September 9, 2002 Septembers are crazy for Steel Phoenix, Martial Artistry's outrageously successful kung fu, wushu, lion and dragon dancing exhibition team. We were all exhausted, but still managed to convince a small but dedicated group to perform for just one more day in a row, for Walmart's Grand Opening event. Yes, a small group. A really small group. An eensy-weensy group. In all, Danielle Stender, Chris Baca, Nick Montoya, Johnathan Padilla, Lan Nguyen and James Cole (below), Michael Panto and James Esparza playing the lion, Li, Nancy Nguyen on drum, and Dorothy Stender and Sifu on sound and announcing, respectively. |
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| I guess we could count the cart person, and make it an even dozen . . . | |
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| Although we got off to a rough start (Set up here -- no wait! There! No! Not there, in that spot! What?!? Who told you to set up in that spot? I want you to set up in this spot. Wait! No! Nevermind . . .), and the blazing temperatures didn't help (though the birdbath bottles did), we still put on a fun little show. Besides, who can complain when Blue Bunny Ice Cream is feeding you free samples of their delicious orange creamsicles? And, for some of the less experienced members of the troupe, it was a great opportunity to shine solo for a change. | |
| Johnathan Padilla and National Champion Lan Nguyen thrust with sabre in bow stance. |
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National Champion Chris Baca leaps with his three tip lance in a kung fu weapons routine. That is a honkin' big lance! Is it heavy? You bet! |
| Danielle Stender pushes with palm in cat stance in the Crane Fan routine. |
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James Cole and National Champion Chris Baca strike with double tiger's paws in Nianqingde Hu Quan or Young Tiger Boxing, on of the wushu animal sets taught to Martial Artistry intermediate level students. |
| James Cole performs a modern wushu straight sword routine. |
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Johnathan Padilla executes a butterfly kick. |
| Li, our Southern Chinese lion, dozes peacefully as National Champion Chris Baca, as the Naughty Monk, leaps for his bottle in the Drunken Lion Dance. |
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Nick Montoya strikes behind with the shuang bishou, or double daggers. |
| National Champion Chris Baca and Assistant Instructor James Cole land the flying lotus kick in splits. |
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James Cole blocks an attack in crane stance during the Four Cloud Double Head Spear set, a wushu weapons routine. |
| Michael Panto and James Esparza in a lion stack. These poor guys were exhausted by then end of the much-shortened show, after having to do three dances in that hot costume with scarcely a break in between. They did a great job, though, and rightly took a lot of pride in just how much they were able to endure. |
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Nick Montoya backfists in bow stance in the traditional kung fu form, Kung Lik Kuen. |
| National Champion Chris Baca performs with one of the more unusual kung fu weapons, the Yuan Yang Tidao, or Mandarin Duck Razors. |
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Li, played by Instructor's Aides Michael Panto and James "Sparky" Esparza, sneaks up on our unsuspecting monk, played by Danielle Stender, in the Choy Ching. |
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Instructor's Aide James Cole salutes with straight sword. |
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Johnathan Padilla wheelarms into a takedown in a modern wushu changquan or long fist set. |
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Our devoted little group. |
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Questions? Comments?
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