Dragon Boat fires up Manayunk

Despite threatening skies, the Heavens cleared for a special occasion at the Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant on July 8. Government and business officials from the People’s Republic of China came to Manayunk to present the six dragon boats and paddles as a gift to the Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America.

“Couple of months ago, an individual had an idea to combine one passion with another passion. We’ve got a longtime dragon boater…Arnie Chassen, who has been a devout Scout for years, and he had a vision to combine these two passions together and we’re here today,” said Michael Blundetto, Team USA Dragon Boat coach. 

This event marks the first time the BSA will incorporate the ancient Chinese sport into its youth program. A dragon boat is a human-powered boat traditionally made of teak wood to various designs and sizes. These boats are made of fiberglass. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of folk ritual, it emerged in modern times as an international "sport" in Hong Kong in 1976. For competition events, dragon boats are generally rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. At other times the decorative regalia is usually removed, although the drum often remains aboard for training purposes.

The standard crew complement of a contemporary dragon boat is around 22, comprising 20 paddlers in pairs facing toward the bow of the boat, 1 drummer or caller at the bow facing toward the paddlers, and 1 sweep or helmsman at the rear of the boat. Dragon boats vary in length and crew size will vary accordingly, from small dragon boats with 10 paddlers, up to the massive traditional boats which have upwards of 50 paddlers, plus drummer and sweep.

Philadelphia hosted the International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships in 2001 and since then has established an annual festival, with over 150 teams participating in 2008 and 154 teams in 2009. The Philadelphia festival is held on the Schuylkill River, and attracts teams from all over the east coast. The Canadian company, Great White North, come every year to act as the Steers Person on the boat.

“It is a great honor for me to be here on the 100^th Anniversary of Boy Scouts [of America] and to make contribution to the development of Boy Scouts,” said Zhongyi Luo, through an interpretor.

Luo is chairman and president Dalian Qianlong Aquatic Sports Development Company Ltd, which manufactured and donated the dragon boats.

“Youth is the future of our country and personally, my trip here today is to promote the teamwork spirit of Boy Scouts who work hard together. We would like the Boy Scouts to know about traditional Chinese culture and promote the mutual development of all human beings,” said Luo.

The dragon plays the most venerated role within the Chinese mythological tradition. Dragons are traditionally believed to be the rulers of rivers and seas and dominate the clouds and the rains of heaven. There are earth dragons, mountain dragons and sky or celestial dragons. Dragon boat racing traditionally coincides with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month (varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Summer Solstice occurs around 21 June and is the reason why Chinese refer to their festival as "Duan Wu". Both the sun and the dragon are considered to be male. The moon and the mythical phoenix are considered to be female. The sun and the dragon are at their most potent during this time of the year, so cause for observing this through ritual celebrations such as dragon boat racing. It is also the time of farming year when rice seedlings must be transplanted in their paddy fields, for wet rice cultivation to take place.

Another ritual called “Awakening of the Dragon” involves a Daoist priest dotting the bulging eyes of the carved dragon head attached to the boat, in the sense of ending its slumber and re-energising its spirit or qi (pronounced: chee). At festivals today, a VIP can be invited to step forward to touch the eyes on a dragon boat head with a brush dipped in red paint in order to reanimate the creature's bold spirit for hearty racing.

For this important ceremony, the Scouts, along with dignitaries, dotted the eyes of their dragonboats.

“Our Scouts will never forget you generosity, Mr. Luo and anticipate over the next couple years that thousands of Scouts will be introduced to a new sport which isn’t a new sport at all,” said Thomas Harrington, Cradle of Liberty Council executive director.

Another great announcement has also been made at this event. Manayunk, which hugs the banks of the Schuykill River, has become an increasingly popular destination for water sports enthusiasts. The dock at the Manayunk Brewery and the Manayunk Dragon Boat Racing team prove that. It was announced that Manayunk will now be the official northeaster United States’ training site for Dragon Boat racing by United States Canoeing and Kayaking and Dragon Boat USA. Over the weekend, the US National Team will be having high-intensity training here in Manayunk for the World Champions this August in Hungary.

“This is a major coup for Manayunk and a wonderful result of our long-term efforts to promote Manayunk’s prive river-front location to aquatic sports enthusiasts and tourists alike,” said Jane Lipton, executive director of the Manayunk Development Corporation, in a press release. “We are deeply indebted to the People’s Republic of China and Dalian Qianlong Aquatic Sports Association Sports Development Company for making this incredibly generous gift to the Boy Scouts possible. Mike Blundetto and Arnold Chassen also deserve our thanks for their tireless efforts to make this milestone event a reality. Dragon Boat racing has truly arrived and Manayunk is proud to be the regional focal point of this beautiful and ancient sport.”

For more on Boy Scouts of American, Cradle of Liberty Council, log on to www.colbsa.org/ For more on the Manayunk Dragon Boat Racing Team, log on to www.manayunkdbracing.org/ For more on Manayunk, log on to www.manayunk.com. For more on the Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant, log on to www.manayunkbrewery.com.

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You can follow Bernard J. Scally on Twitter at twitter.com/MrBScally