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Nam Yang at Buckingham Palace

Tuesday 8th November 2005

Nam Yang Lions & Dragons at Buckingham Palace:

Traditional Welcome for President Hu Jintao of China

Celebrity performances are always a great way of raising the profile of martial arts in the U.K and celebrity parties don't get much bigger than a state banquet for the president of China, hosted by HRH the Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace!

Clearly events like this constitute a coming together of East and West. Martial arts are beyond doubt the best example of Eastern culture being adopted and valued in the West so it is great to see martial arts groups being invited to demonstrate their skills to celebrate such occasions.

Lion and dragon dances are traditionally performed only by kung fu groups and bring luck and prosperity. They are a must to welcome celebrities and V.I.P.s.

Nam Yang Pugilistic Association is becoming well recognised as one of Britain's foremost kung fu groups with a continually expanding portfolio of celebrity performances including Prince Edward, Ken Hom, Fern Britain/Philip Shoefield, Ken Livingstone and Gloria Huniford to name but a few. Nam Yang always perform at the big Chinese New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square, displaying Chinese martial arts and Chi Kung as well as lion and dragon dance.

The events outside the palace kicked off with a parade down the Mall by two dragons - one on either side - supported by the association's lions and banners. This was actually featured on 'Have I Got News For You' although the presenter had problems reading the word 'Pugilistic'. And we thought that they were all supposed to be clever on that programme!

The main performance took place on a rather posh looking grassy area just in front of the palace. It lasted a full hour with lions and dragons alternating over that time. Five lions or two dragons performed at any one time to traditional music played on drum, cymbals and gong. During this time president Hu arrived with the royals, as did the numerous guests for the state banquet - mostly politicians and ambassadors, although it was impossible to get close to them because of extremely tight police security measures. In fact the performance was originally scheduled for late morning as president Hu and the Queen travelled from Houseguards Parade, down the Mall to the palace in the royal coach. Fortunately someone had the sense to realise that if dragons panicked the horses drawing the royal coach, a major diplomatic incident might ensue!

The event was sponsored by the London Chinatown association who work closely with the Chinese Embassy to promote Chinese culture and interests in the U.K. They generously laid on a Chinese banquet for the performers after the event, many of whom had travelled in from Nam Yang martial arts groups as far a field as Marlborough, Portsmouth and Brighton.

Iain Armstrong, two times world kung fu champion and head of Nam Yang U.K branch explained the significance of activities such as this, 'Lion and Dragon dances are taken extremely seriously in the traditional Chinese martial arts community. To be the group chosen to perform for the President of China is a huge honour. Absolutely massive! We take our lions and dragons extremely seriously. Each is inbued with it's own spirit in an eye dotting ceremony -some details of which we do not reveal. They bring great luck and energy , you might call it 'lucky chi'. Performances like this stir up great energy and some of this energy sticks with the lions and dragons - making them extra lucky - and with our club. So we should do really well in the near future!'

To see Nam Yang perform live, why not attend the Chinese New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square on January 29th 2006. The action will start late morning with a parade down Charing Cross Road. The big dragon dance usually takes place shortly after midday. The whole event is free, so you can't loose!

• Chinese New Year 2006 photos - click here
• To contact Nam Yang direct call 01372725918

                             Photography by Sara Crow