Martial Artistry: Chinese Kung Fu, Wushu, Dragon and Lion Dance Exhibition Team Members, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Lion and Dragon Dancing A wushuguan's (kung fu training hall) pride and joy are its lion and dragon dancers. The skill and strength of the kung fu school's Chinese lion dancers are a testament to the vitality of the school, and show the school has proper respect for the old Chinese wushu history and traditions.
Our 70 Foot Long Dragon Mushu Unlike his Western counterpart, the Chinese dragon is a good natured and benign creature. The Chinese dragon has the head of a camel, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a bull, the antlers of a deer, the body of a snake, the scales of a carp, the talons of an eagle, the paws of a tiger, and, strangely enough, the belly of a clam. This unusual amalgamation came about some six to seven thousand years ago, when China was embroiled in tribal conflict. These tribes were totemic, using animals to represent and identify the different warring factions. Conquering tribes would add part of the animal of the vanquished tribe to their own totem. Eventually, this evolved into the mystical dragon, which represents the very best of China, and is considered to be the highest of beasts. We searched for this big fella for three years. No wushuguan should be without one! He was worth the wait, but one thing we hadn't figured on was how in the world we were going to haul around seventy feet of Chinese dragon. See the bottom of this page for the solution.	Our Senior Lion Fu Fu, whose name means "Prosperity", was Martial Artistry's very first lion. Originally a long-tailed, flower-faced lion, he appeared on television often as our school ambassador. Time took its toll on our mighty senior lion, however, and he was shelved for several years awaiting refurbishment. Ten thousand thanks to Dorothy Stender and Diana Ma for making Fu the sparkly, splendid beast he now is!
Our Yellow Male Lion Li Legends abound about the origin of the lion dance. One states that the lion dance is thousands of years old, dating back to the Han Dynasty (205 B.C. to 220 A.D). Long ago, a monster appeared in China. This horrific beast terrorized villages and ate men and livestock. The monster was called Nian, which sounds like the Chinese word for “year”. Neither the fox nor the tiger could fight the Nian effectively and in despair the people asked the lion for help. The lion shook his mane, rushed towards the creature and wounded it. The Nian fled, but announced that it would return and seek revenge. True to its threat, a year later, the Nian returned. This time the lion could not help the villagers. He was too busy guarding the emperor’s gate. So the villagers decided to do the job themselves. Out of bamboo and cloth, they produced an image of the lion. Two men crawled inside it and approached the Nian. The false 'lion' pranced and roared and the monster fled again. This is why lions always dance during the Chinese New Year and other auspicious occasions, such as grand openings and weddings. They are frightening away evil. But only for a year!	Our Flower-Faced Female Lion Piao Liang Another lion dance legend involves two major characters from Chinese mythology: the Jade Emperor, who was the king of the gods (the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon) and Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. In this legend, the Lion King, a trickster character much like the Southwest's own Coyote, decided to play a prank on the Jade Emperor. He thought it would be fun to feign an injury and, when the Jade Emperor would try to help him, he would scare him. Unfortunately, the Jade Emperor didn't share the Lion King's sense of humor. Enraged, he killed the Lion King by chopping off his head. Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, felt sorry for the Lion King. She tied his severed head to a long colorful ribbon and brought him back to life. The Lion King was so grateful, he promised to never play jokes again and would instead devote his life to helping others. Guan Yin, impressed by his sincerity, gave him a horn to fight with and a reflective nose to scare off demons. When we received Piao Liang on February 28, 2002, none of us were sure what to expect. Would it be a boy or a girl? What would we name it? You see, lions sort of name themselves - some immediately, like Fu, whose name means "Prosperity" or "Fortune". Some, like Li, whose name means "Strength", may take over half a year. Piao Liang was named from the moment we took her out of her shipping crate. "Pretty-pretty-pretty!" Sifu exclaimed. Piao Liang. In Chinese: Pretty.
Our Adorable Baby Lion Haoqi Without a doubt our most popular lion, little Haoqi instantly stole everyone's heart. His name means "Full of Curiosity" - a trait that often gets him into trouble, much to the delight of our audiences! Some say lion dancing originated during the Qing Dynasty, when the emperor had a dream where a strange-looking animal saved his life. His councilors determined that the creature must be a lion, a legendary animal from the west. Since none of them had ever seen a lion before, it became a strange mixture of dragon, phoenix, dog and tiger. Having saved the emperor’s life, this dream animal became a symbol of protection and good luck throughout China. Lion dancing is done by kung fu schools for auspicious occasions, such as Chinese New Year, to frighten away evil spirits. Feeding the lion money is said to bring good luck. Money is often hidden in a head of lettuce or bok choy, and the lion typically has to climb to great heights to reach it.	Our Flower-Faced Green Male Lion Kai Kai means "open" or "to bloom". He is the first of the six lions donated to the school by Patricia to be refurbished. His maiden performance was November 17, 2007, at New Mexico Tech. There are two different types of lions, Northern and Southern. Kai is a Southern "flower-faced" lion. His long white beard symbolizes maturity, wisdom, calmness and peace. His green body symbolizes friendship. Northern lions have long fur, usually orange or gold, and carved wooden faces. They typically appear in pairs, often balancing on huge spheres or chasing a jeweled ball, like a dogs playing with a toy. Sometimes they are accompanied by a mischievous baby lion.
Head Coach Kayne Sirocco LaTrans La Vieja Bruja. Say no more . . .	Thirteenth Level Phoenix Diana Ma This martial arts gold medalist and instructor has pushed our crew to new and exciting heights in both high-end lion type acrobatics and in developing an engaging personalities for all our ten lions, including our newly refurbished senior lion, Fu. Along with her lion dance duties, Ms. Ma wows the crowd in her Nan quan (Southern Boxing), mandarin duck knives, jian (straight sword), tang lang quan (Northern praying mantis) snake fist (shi quan) and Nan dao (Southern broadsword) kung fu routines and is especially noted for her spirited jian (straight sword) vs. shuangtou qiang (double head spear) fighting set.
Fourteenth Level Phoenix Danielle Stender Awesome in both her lion dance and wushu / kung fu routines, Ms. Stender can be found in any of the lion dance sets, as well as Southern boxing (nanquan), double head spear (shuang tou qiang), wind and fire wheels (feng huo lun), straight sword (jian), tiger boxing (hu quan), Northern dragon (long quan), double warfan (shuang shan) wushu routines and especially her straight sword (jian) vs. double head spear (shuangtou qiang) fighting set with her elder sister, Diana Ma.	Eleventh Level Phoenix - Team Leader James Esparza Our lion dancer and team doctor, he doubles as the emergency drummer, as well as his usual part in the drunken lion dance. From head, to tail, to drums, to cymbals, to headsprings, to aerial cartwheels -- this guy does it ALL! Look for him not only in the lion dances, but gun (staff), dao (broadsword), zui quan (drunken fist), sen biao (rope dart), san jie gun (three section staff), tang lang quan (praying mantis boxing) kung fu sets as well as two fighting routines - hou quan (monkey fist) vs. zui quan (drunken fist) and san jie gun (three section staff) vs. gun (staff)!
Eighth Level Phoenix Jesse Tafoya Back handsprings? Sure! Monkey staff? You got it! This kid will try (and DO) anything! Look for him in warfan (wu shan), monkey staff (hou quan gun), mantis boxing (tang lang quan) vs. snake style (shi quan) fighting set, kung lik kuen, and double broadsword (shuang dao) vs. staff (gun) fighting set	Sixth Level Phoenix Ryan McGowan Wowing the crowds with his big, big air, Mr. McGowan is also adding thrills to the wushu portion of our show with his awesome shuang bishou (double dagger), jie bian (whip chain), jian (straight sword), long quan (dragon fist), hu quan (tiger boxing) and chang quan (long fist) routines. as well as san jie gun (three section staff) vs. gun (staff) fighting sets.
Sixth Level Phoenix Katey Garcia Look for this little fireball in warfan (wu shan), hook swords (gou), mantis fist (tang lang quan) vs. snake fist (shi quan), kung lik kuen (power fist form), long fist (chang quan), double broadsword (shuang dao) vs. staff (gun), dao (saber) and Northern Shaolin sets.	Fifth Level Phoenix Delbert Trujillo This lion dancer also helps out in the kung fu portion of our show with Northern Shaolin sets and is currently studying feng huo lun (wind and fire wheels) and the shuangdao (double broadsword) vs. gun (staff) fighting set.
Fourth Level Phoenix Amanda Burroughs Amanda is our top lion dance drummer and expanding into the wushu portion of the show as she trains in three section staff (san jie gun) and the staff (gun) vs. three section staff (san jie gun) fighting routine.	Third Level Phoenix Yaoting Shelnutt Here comes trouble... Look for our littlest lion dancer in many of Haoqi's routines, as well as some Northern Shaolin sets.
Third Level Phoenix Qiu Yan Ms. Qiu performs in lion and dragon dancing, as well as Shantung Shaolin and Northern dragon (long quan) kung fu sets. She is expanding her repertoire with gou (hook swords), pudao and dao (broadsword).	Second Level Phoenix Ginny Matthews Another of our lion dancers who is starting to work her way into the kung fu sets as well! Look for her in war fan (wu shan), broadsword (dao) and Northern Shaolin kung fu sets.
Second Level Phoenix Melissa Blakely Melissa will begin to appear soon in wushan (warfan) kung fu routines.	Second Level Phoenix Ben Berling Look for Ben not only in the lion dances, but in dao (broadsword), whip chain (jie bian) and double whip chain (shuang jie bian) wushu routines as well!
Second Level Phoenix Joseph Valencia A fast learner, Joseph is most noted for his monkey boxing (hou quan) vs. drunken boxing (zui quan) wushu fighting routine, as well as rope dart.	First Level Phoenix Michael Rospopo Already appearing in lion dancing and dragon dancing as well as pudao, Michael has begun training in gou (double hook swords)
First Level Phoenix McKenzie Lattimore This one can hardly wait until the four baby lions are finished being refurbished. McKenzie's first performance with the team was on Saturday November 3, 2007 at the Healthy Lifestyles Expo.	First Level Phoenix Jericho Nagurski A hard worker and a quick study, he began appearing with Steel Phoenix almost immediately after he was recruited.
First Level Phoenix Moses Nagurski First performance: Saturday November 17, 2007 at New Mexico Tech.	First Level Phoenix Nolan Ruiz A new recruit, Nolan begins training with the team in 2008, after the December hiatus.
Sound Goddess Dorothy Stender Music, maestro!	Videographer Chad Petty
Sound Goddess Dorothy Stender Music, maestro!	Transport The Birdmobile Well, we had to had SOMEWHERE to put all that junk (Sorry, Mushu. No, you're not junk.) The real fun is watching Sifu stack up two king sized pillows, just so she can reach the pedals.