The Dragon Breathes Fire Again

By Author: Danny Ackley
Total Articles: 1
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Drums will beat while paddles loss ahead as numerous athletes building hundred teams meet in Hong Kong for the 2012 Tuen Ng Festival, more popularly referred to as Dragon Boat Festival. The festival is a commemoration of Chinese martyr Qu Yuan who drowned himself as outcry in opposition to corruption in ancient China. The attempt to salvage him entailed locals to beat drums and slap the water to scare the fish far from his body. Such is the legendary beginning of the festival which usually today re-ensues on July 2 and then carries on from July 4 to 8. Co-organized by the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Tuen Ng Festival is actually a get together of the ancient folk ritual turned modern global sport of dragon boatracing. The activity was recognized as an official worldwide competition in the 1976 incarnation of the Tuen Ng Festival. (Don't like it? RANT! Loving it? RAVE! Sharing your thoughts has never been this fun!) Way back in 2011, and basically for the past half-decade already, the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) team, more fondly known as the Dragon Warriors, created news ...
... as they brought home five gold medals from the 2011 International Dragon Boat World Championship (IDBWC) in Tampa, USA. Such acheivement is actually a continuation from the team's gold medal-claiming performances in the 2009 Prague, Czech Republic, and 2007 Sydney, Australia IDBWC. Regardless of their achievements, however, the Dragon Warriors are yet another highlighter of the lack of national support for sport teams. Dragon boatracing as a sport only clinched mainstram widely recognized in the Philippines because of the loyality of sports reporter Diane Castillejo. This one thing, in spite of the quantity of medals the team has garnered for the country compared to the national football or even basketball squads. Furthermore, the team itself is in the middle of a political struggle: the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) halted funding for the Dragon Warriors since the PDBF decided to remain independent rather than becoming placed under the PSC-sponsored Philippine Canoe and Kayak Federation. The International Olympic Committee released a memorandum that dragon boatracing ought to be under the canoe and kayak umbrella. But as history has proven, resolve has defined Filipino athletes toward their triumphs. This year's Dragon Boat Festival is no different as the Philippines' best dragon boat racers all aim to reinforce the renown of the nation as a dragon boatracing powerhouse. Part of the Philippine contingent is the EYP Cebu Dragons, the only corporate-sponsored team. The team is going to be contending in the men's 200m, 500m, and 2000m longboat races. Enjoin us here in Juice.ph as we entwine the beating of our hearts with their drums and as we push all together towards the finish line.