Medal of Honor Convention

Friday night there was a party in Honolulu for military medal-of-honor recipients as a part of the 2012 Medal of Honor Convention.  It featured lion dances and T was invited to go along with his Kung-Fu lion dance group.  Above, he is in (part of) his uniform just before dropping him off.  He was completely exhausted when V picked him up that night.  Up until this time he has mainly been doing the cymbals for the lion dance.  However, we found out he (for the first time) got to be part of the lion costume (inside it) out on the floor for the convention! 

Lion Dance Gig

T was invited to be a part of his KF school's lion dance team at a birthday party on Saturday.  It was another Kung Fu school's sifu's birthday and there were two lion dance teams there.  He didn't get to do the lion part but was one of the guys on the cymbals giving the lion its rhythm.  At the end someone tipped him $2.

For year's now, I've wanted each of the kids to learn, at least a bit, of a musical instrument.  I never would have guessed T's first musical instrument would be china-type clash cymbals and that his first earned income would be from a lion dance.

Lion dance practice

T is still enjoying his Kung-Fu lessons.  He now has a « little brother » in the school that is a six foot tall man in the military.  Last week he was sparring with "a huge Jamaican dude with big muscles."  V told me the « Jamaican dude » is a black-belt and has long dreadlocks.  Also, on Friday T went to his first lion dance practice.  In China lion dances are used for good luck, like at the new opening of a business, and are associated with Kung-Fu schools.  They use a lot of the same moves as Kung-Fu so it is good practice, not to mention the strength and balance involved.  There was a little kid playing the drums and T started off as the lion's « butt ».  They learned how to trade off places, roll over, etc.  Two more advanced dancers were there, they practiced things like standing the lion up on its back legs (the front guy jumps backwards onto, and is supported by, the guy behind him) and scratching its ear with a foot (which requires holding one leg way up and way out in a pose while balancing on the other foot).   Actually this is all related to me by T and V.  I stayed home with the girls on Friday during his practice.  I don't have any pictures of him yet but below is a link to the lion dance world championships in Malaysia so you can see some of the advanced moves.