On May 25, 2024, Chau Luen Athletics joined the Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club to celebrate their 50th anniversary in Victoria, B.C. As kung fu “cousins”, our relation goes back three generations of martial arts.
Here’s how we celebrated their landmark achievement with some of our lion dance and kung fu performances, including a special performance involving a lot of beer.
Meeting our kung fu cousins in Victoria
After making the long trip down to Victoria from our home in Vancouver’s Chinatown, we arrived at Our Lady of Fatima Church and were immediately greeted by Sifu Daniel Low. Seconds later, a long line of martial arts masters (“sifus”) and students from all over B.C. made their way over to us.
As one of the most respected kung fu practitioners in all of B.C. with over 50 years of experience, our Sigung Peter Wong is quite well-known within the kung fu community. He introduced us to some of the other well-regarded students from his decades of teaching. It was nice getting to know other dedicated students and making some lifelong connections.
The connection between Chau Luen Athletics and the Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club
Chau Luen’s senior leadership and Sifu Wong Sheung have a long history dating back decades. Sifu Wong Sheung was a friend and colleague of both SiTaiGung Wong Ha well as Sigung Peter Wong.
Though we study different styles (Chau Luen Athletics is a Choy Lee Fut club, Wong Sheung Kung Fu is a Hung Fut club), they share some similarities in style. The two styles, as well as our Sifus, and can be considered as related, like “cousins”, if you will.
In terms of history, Sigung Peter Wong personally assisted Sifu Wong Sheung on six different occasions, namely lion dances and kung fu demonstrations.
Our grand entrance and paying our respects to their altar
Of course, no kung fu party would be complete without a grand entrance. We sent some of our most talented lion dancers and percussionists to greet the Wong Sheung lions and explore the new space. Our lions gracefully made their way to their altar, bowing in respect to the late Wong Sheung.
After making our way back towards the entrance and interacting with the host’s lions, we finished up and headed in for a fun night of festivities.
Performing kung fu and lion dance in front of some of the most highly regarded practitioners in B.C.
After hearing speeches from some of the most respected sifus in the region (including some from Prince Rupert, Edmonton, and Seattle), we were treated to an elaborate buffet feast while enjoying hours of kung fu and lion dance performances.
Each club sent its best performers for a high-flying performance. Over a dozen advanced sets were performed by sifus and practitioners with decades of experience.
To represent Chau Luen Athletics and Choy Lee Fut as a whole, three of our disciples showed off their forms in front of hundreds of people in attendance.
Kyle Hui performed “Ba Gua Long” (八卦郎拳)
Andrew Wong performed “Mui Faa Daan Dou” (梅花單刀)
Gueshly Masson performed "Sap Zi Zit Fu" (十字截虎拳)
Debuting our new lion dance scrolls
One of the most anticipated parts of the performance was our lion dance performance. Our Fut San (佛山) style of lion dance draws from traditional Choy Lee Fut kung fu, and we were eager to show it off.
“It was an amazing opportunity to perform”, said Steven Der, one of our veteran lion dance performers.
I was proud to represent our club and it was really an honour to perform in front of what’s really a who’s who in the Pacific Northwest kung fu community. Even though I’ve been practicing lion dance for a long time, it’s humbling to see some highly experienced performers show their skills, as well as the different styles of lion dance from the other schools.
During our lion dance, we unveiled our two new lion dance scrolls: 國泰民安 (a prosperous country inhabited by people who live in peace) and 風調雨順 (good weather to bring prosperous harvests). These were presented to the senior members of the Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club and some other special community members, including noted community leader and philanthropist Richard K. Wong.
A special choy cheng (with more beer!)
Choy Cheng is when lions snatch, chew, and throw lettuce as part of a performance, but these performances don’t always have to be about leafy greens. There are sometimes special cheng that are arranged as puzzles using all types of creative props, like water basins, benches, or even live crabs, to challenge the lion dancers to ‘solve’ the cheng to prove their abilities – all in good fun, of course!
This time, the choy cheng was one that was really fit for a celebration – each lion was challenged to chug a few cans of beer. Lined up in a winding river pattern, dozens of cans of Phillips Blue Buck Ale were lined up alongside red envelopes to test our lions’ booze tolerance. This cheng represented the lion’s journey, as it travelled down the river, stopping at tea shops along the way to its destination to greet the Buddha at the gates of Heaven.
Kyle and Gueshly, who had already had a full day of kung fu and three other lion dances on the same day, somehow had enough energy left in the tank to excitedly volunteer for this.
The two wowed the audience by downing multiple beers and showing off a “drunken lion” performance that our club rarely gets to perform. As every club was able to send at least one lion into the mix, it was a fun way to see some of the more creative aspects of lion dances that differ from the standard wedding lion dance routines that we normally do.
A special kung fu and lion dance trip to remember
Though the Chau Luen lion dance team performs all around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, we rarely venture out to places like Vancouver Island, save for special events like this.
It was an honour to be invited to celebrate Wong Sheung’s 50th anniversary and to perform our similar lion dance and kung fu styles in front of these highly regarded martial arts clubs.
We hope to perform with all of these talented martial artists again in the future!
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