Sports or music?? I pick sports

Sports, what do I think about sports?? Hmmmm, usually people will think of football, badminton, squash or golf. For me, I think of lion dance, yes, lion dance. Some people might ask why do I say lion dance, it can’t be a sport, can it? Well, lion dance is a sport and is already internationally recognized; let me tell you a little bit more about lion dance. You see, lion dancing is not as simple as you might think it is. The fact is, you have to be in tip top physical shape to be able to perform it; lion dancing involves a lot of strength, stamina and cardio strength as the lion performers are required to jump poles which are ten to fifteen feet high with a base length of twenty, thirty, forty and even fifty feet!!! Imagine carrying a two kilo lion head and jumping from start to the end and back again, It really takes super human strength or a lot of practice. Now, I am not trying to boast or anything, but in my opinion, people don’t really understand this beautiful art form and don’t really give much credit to the performers.

Let me talk about the history and origins of lion dancing. Based on folklore in ancient china, a monster called “nian” appeared and started terrorizing a farming village and its villagers. Everyone was afraid and dare not step out of their houses, seeing the problem at hand; a young villager comes up with a plan. He gets all the villagers together and starts making a lion head out of colorful paper and cloth and waits for the creature to appear. When it finally appears, the villagers use the lion head accompanied by loud drums, cymbals, firecrackers and gongs to make loud noises. Seeing the weird paper lion, and startled by the loud noise, the creature flees the village and never to return again. This is where lion dancing evolved from.

Now, let me talk about the types of lions in the lion dancing world. Basically, there are two types of lions; the northern lion and the southern lion. Now, what’s the difference between the two lions?? Let me explain, the northern lion; also known as “Beijing lion” has a thick long bushy coat. Whereas the northern lion has a shorter coat compared to its southern counterpart. Another difference between these two lions is the style of dancing and stances. The northern lion has fewer moves and stances compared to the southern lion and mainly consist of spins and twirls on top of table. Another thing about northern lion is that there is a female and also a male lion. There is also a lion tamer; a person who has a wushu background, that follows the two lions.

Southern Lions

The southern lion however, has more emotion, moves, stances and tricks. The Southern lion dance consists of traditional ground performances and also high pole performances. Besides that, this style also emphasizes on the lion’s expressions and emotions. The southern lion does not have female or male lions but is grouped in to the futshan and hoksan lion. The differences between the lions can be easily spotted. The futshan lion has a curved mouth and fierce looking whereas the hoksan lion has a flat mouth and has a more timid look. Now, other than the looks, the futshan and hoksan lion has their own style and dancing, let me elaborate more on that.

Now, let’s start with the futshan lion. The futshan style requires much more strength compared to the hoksan style. The reason for this is because the futshan has a fiercer look and therefore requires big movements to completely bring out the lion’s emotion. The hoksan style on the other hand, does not require big movements to bring out the lion’s emotions.

Hoksan Lion

Futshan Lion