e first step is finally taken

today can be considered a milestone in my 舞狮 career.

(decided to use Chinese for some of e terms coz i realised some things cant be expressed in English, esp w regards to such Chinese material)

it's been almost 4 years since i was under e tutelage of anyone in this arena. when i graduated from 南初国术团 in May 2004, it was e last time i was a disciple. of course, u may argue, 一日为师 终生为父. i will never forget tt. Loy Kee Fatt is always my 师父. but being under someone, in the present tense, was a thing of e past. after May 2004, im officially a graduate of the troupe. essentially tt means i dun report to tt 师父 of mine anymore. me n e few active alumni still go to him for advice n knowledge, but it's on an ad-hoc basis. we dun even follow his strict regime anymore, not like he insists. we go back to help out w e 师弟师妹 regularly, but we're on our own. we go out n meet more people. we learn more things than he can provide us within e troupe. we got to know other 师父 (whom are usually referred to as 教练 as they're not related to us), n learn more, n improvise e different aspects of e various 门派. but it was all on an unofficial basis.

so tt's e problem. we slack off in e foundation skills. when we're under a tough n disciplined environment, we were noobs. when we go out into e world, we lose e discipline unfortunately. technically we may have improved thru e years, from more exposure n experience. but it's a combination of both tt brings out e best in us.

i was nervous. today wasnt just any other usual training. adrian convinced a 3rd-generation master, 黄师父 from 鹤山会馆, to become our 师父, 顾问, n choreographer to help w our virgin attempt at the Nationals (全国舞狮锦标). this 前辈 is in his 60s, n belongs to the last generation of old-school masters who are equally, n proficiently so, adept at 舞狮, 武术, n many other Chinese cultural elements. from the 4th-generation onwards, like my original 师父, practitioners become more specialised, n also less inclined towards e 传统， v much due to e advent of 舞龙 n 跳桩. w so many troupes springin up, many ridiculously, e standards n adherence dropped. procedures of representative practises like 采青 became distorted n tradition went downhill. even e Nationals lost its soul n judges now look out more for death-defying stunts than 狮形 n 含义. 黄师父 has been in this circle since e year Singapore became independent. he's seen all e shifts. he should know. he's so senior tt he has even retired as a judge for e Nationals. today, he advises many troupes, some highly reputable. w his experience he has moulded champion teams. he has taught people how to become champions, but he hasnt lost his religious following of e traditional. he draws a clear line between competition requirements n e practises. w e former, he has moved w e times, but w e latter, he's still stubbornly adamant, which is a good thing. he is extremely glad we're an interested bunch, n arnt some idling delinquents, tt's why he's willing to pass on his knowledge n help us without conditions.

it's a milestone bcoz it's been a long time since i was so regimental. i was ramrod straight while he talked to us. we were in awe of his presence. we stood around him like he's a giant. well, he is, figuratively. we greeted him 师父, n later bade farewell to him w e classic 解散 salute. we're of different schools of e art. he's a master in 鹤山派狮, while we're cross-trained in his niche n 佛鹤派狮, so we had to adapt to him. this is of course not easy. when we reached e moment to show him what we've got, we went silent. this was it. jiajun went 1st as he's our choice of 狮头 for e competition. i could see he moved up a level from his usual performance, as he had to display his best. but still he was put down, bcoz jiajun isnt drilled in the foundations like we were, so he is bound to be lacking. adrian volunteered himself next, to break e ice in a way, bcoz he had trained under 黄师父 at 鹤山会馆 before. he also displayed his best, n was considerably up to his standards. n when 黄师父 asked who's e drummer, i felt a nervy tinge up my spine as they pointed at me. i was a much better drummer some years back, when i practised consistently. but e me today is just stable n nothing spectacular. so i went up to e drum n did my thing. haven felt so nervous in a long time, not even w public performances, bcoz a master was eyeing me now. lucky in 鹤山鼓典 a traditional approach is favored, so i could still revert to it being once trained in traditional 南鼓.

i was all prepared to 扎马 or practise 狮形 for hours today, which is back-breakin for rusty practitioners like us. he did mention a faithfulness to 马步, but today was just an introduction, n he left in a little more than an hour.

back to basics. what more to come in e comin months leadin to e Nationals. but im exhilarated to be gettin in touch w these forgotten things again. they'll only make me better. it is our greatest honor to learn from him. in practice n theory, he has literacy not many others have anymore.