San Francisco’s Rainbow Koi Team- a wide ranging team consisting of many colors, encompasses of homosexuals, transgender and the straight alike. As it appears, the team is as unique as its name, harbouring still the same strong bond of a dragon boating team. The team was put together with Gay Asian Pacific Alliance along with the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community last 2004. Michael Ellis was its first coach, along with Jean Danao as its first captain.

Rainbow Koi became San Francisco’s Rainbow Koi dragon boat team last 2004 when they were discovered by a 10 year veteran coach Jeniffer Eng at their novice race at Lake Merced, San Francisco. On its second season, the team became a part of the Recreational Division. With it’s motto: “Fierce and Fabulous!” the team was able to bring home a silver medal in 2006 at the first out games in Montreal, Canada. They later snatched a gold medal at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival in the Rec C Division.

On its 4th season as a dragon boat team, the team’s goal this year: ‘to have fun’ later evolved into ‘to win’. Of course, now that they have paddled hard and got the gold, the team is reportedly saying that they would still aim for gold all the way.
The team’s mission is also almost close with its motto. With the goal to liven up and increase the involvement of LGBT athletes in this fast-growing sport: dragon boating. This only proves that the team’s fighting spirit could not get dampened by anything. Apart from having fun, the team is letting their ‘fellow brothers and sisters’ have the opportunity to be their selves once in a while without gaining the occasional ‘raised eyebrows’ from other people.

As the team glides in the waters of Bay Area, San Francisco Rainbow Koi is looking forward on a much stronger team while being fierce and fabulous all the way with recruiting more members.

Kirby Mark who has been paddling for a few years made some compilation of guidelines and pointers to the dragon boat strokes to improve your technique. Lots of paddlers give thanks to Kirby Mark for assembling this useful information for them.

This comprehensive information has been based on the many aspects of Dragon Boat and Outrigger training and racing with documentation readily available for sports like canoeing, kayaking and for general fitness. This post is a bit focused on Outrigger Canoeing or Dragon Boating. The overall objective is to define the general training principles for similar sports that you can relate to a precise scheme to efficiently improve and enhance paddling performance.

The optimum paddling style creates a big controversy circulating around Hong Kong which implied more ambiguity. Dragon Boat technique usually originates from the most forms of paddling like kayaking, marathon canoeing, outrigger or rowing. The C1 canoeing is most closely related to dragon boating or outrigger canoeing which contains similar pattern of movement according to the large amount of research data which made available on this particular stroke for useful comparison.

A good paddling technique is base on the emphasis on the forward stroke wherein you apply power in the water in front of your body. Though this technique may sound so simple, you still need to learn complex series of movements to effectively execute the required movements for this kind of stroke. You basically need to understand the components of different stroke technique to analyze accurately your paddling style.

Here are the four phases in the forward stroke:

• The Catch means anchoring the blade
• The Compression which is the power phase
• The Finish means of getting out of the water
• The Recovery means of getting forward to a ready position

Variations in one or in every phase of stroke are resulted from the characteristics on the different style or from person to person depending on his body size and stature which can give the team an advantage on the different physical curbs of each sit position. It is also important that one must understands that as the stroke rating increases and stroke length decreases, the style changes.

To achieve a perfect and complete stroke one must be seen as a cooperative product of its parts performed in unified motion. Understanding the components of each stroke intimately and how it will affect your performance is what the paddlers must possess. It will be easier to analyze the different technique if you isolate yourself from the disposition of the paddle in relation to the boat and tracking key reference points on your body such as wrist, elbow and the shoulder.

There are a lot of things to see in Dragon Boat races and the most thrilling part of the festival is the crowd of people that are there to witness and participate in the event. Generally, Dragon Boats are brilliantly painted and decorated with some shades of Chinese old ancient tradition. It varies from 40 to 100 feet in length, including their heads which shaped-like a hearty dragons, while the firm end has a flaking tail. It has the capability to handle 80 powered rowers including drummer and a flag-catcher. Before the start of the festival, a dragon goes through a certain ritual called “brought to life”. This is done by painting the eyes in a sanctified ceremony. Races have no definite numbers of boats that wants to participate and compete, with the winner being the first team to grab a flag at the end of the course. Once a year, dragon races are held all over China, Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries around the globe.

Zong zi is a glutinous rice ball, wrapped in corn leaves with fillings which are the traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival. The fillings can be steamed beans, egg, fruits, dates, sweet potato, mushrooms, walnuts, meat, or a combination of them.
Another part of the Double Fifth Day is the timing: at the beginning of summer, when infections are possible to strike, talisman is being worn by the people to dissuade evil spirits. At the doorsteps, you can find Zhong Kui’s picture, an evil spirits protector. During these days, adults can taste Xiong Huang Wine, while children can bring scented silk pouches, because they believe that these acts can avert evil. Some people believe that balancing a rare egg on its end at exactly noon on Double Fifth Day will bring you prosperity for the whole year.

Indeed, Dragon Boat Festival is filled with excitement and thrill. Not to mention the reflection of Chinese traditions and cultures that are so wealthy and interesting revealed through this festival.

Be sure to continue to checkout my dragonboat blog regularily for the latest Dragonboat news.

This year competition was a bit watered down because most of the top teams were not in attendance as they were in Penang, Malaysia for the 2008 6th World Club Crew Championships and as a result some of the teams that were not usually belong in the A Division category was subsequently ranked as such in this regatta.

The 2008 Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta also presents special races such as the Women’s Division, Men’s Division, Out of Town Race and many more to name it few. Each team really performed to their best to win the race. But some teams were not very happy about their performance. They were not prepared and focused due to some unpleasant circumstances like one paddler may end up not paddling and some paddlers did not hear the referee gives the signal to go.

The referee in this kind of race gives a very little time between the time when he says paddle up! (meaning that you need to get your paddle ready to race) from the time he says Go! And when some of the paddlers were not ready, the team start will be affected and subsequently will not perform as well as they should be.
Weeks before the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta, participating teams were pushing themselves to do well during their practice to ensure their victory. Some of the coaches were moving around his paddlers around the boat to know when the paddlers do well in front as well as the back of the boat. This strategy makes the paddlers to become versatile and more valuable. The coach could not only switch the paddlers from front to back rather he can also interchange it form left to right sides of the boat.

In the second race, calling your boat Finish is a little bit risky. The cox or the coach should know his team very well. If they call finish too early, their boat can tire out and subsequently will have nothing left to finish the race. The third and fourth race in the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta was interesting as they were the Financial Cup as well as the Out of Town Race. The distances in each race in this competition is 500 meter but not on Financial Cup and Out of Town Cup which is only 250 meters distance. There are specific strategies used for each type of race. For the 250 meters race, it is very much sprinting the entire time as the distance is short because there really isn’t enough time for transition. However, in 500 meter race you can really feel the difference between the Start, the Transition and the Finish.

In this competition, you really need to be ready mentally and physically during the race and your goal is to race and beat your opponents regardless on the external forces that you can’t control.

For more information, visit: http://www.azdba.com/Festival/festival_index.htm

Dates: March 28/29, 2009
Venue: Tempe Town Lake

The festival is held between the 5th – 7th June 2009.
Venue is at the Man made lake of Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Jon Taylor

13th October 1952 – 17th December 2008

The problem with trying to recognise the remarkable and extraordinary contribution of Jon Taylor when he was in the room, was that he was a man who prided himself on his ordinariness and his achievements as being too humble to deserve much fanfare. His passing away from illness, and his final farewell in December, has given the Australian and international dragon boating community an opportunity to finally speak freely and without interruption about the tremendous debt we owe Jon, and about the tenacity and vision of a man
which has moulded our sport and community.

Jon Taylor spent most of the last two decades as a central figure in NSW and Australian dragon boating. When he stepped aside as President at the AusDBF April 2008 AGM, he left an organisation that had grown a sport from being obscure and novel, into one that oversaw a successful, vibrant sporting community all paddlers were proud to be part of. His final act as President was to announce the awarding of AusDBF’s first life memberships to three people who had been in the trenches with Jon for many difficult and testing years, as they rebuilt and rejuvenated the sport – AusDBF’s first President Trevor Huggard, Ray Leung from Sydney, and Les Williams from Canberra. A couple of days later as the 2008 Australian dragon boat championships came to a close, I recognised how hard it would be to fill his shoes, but that – thankfully – his work and efforts meant the Federation’s and sport’s future was one of endless positive possibilities. To acknowledge that, the new AusDBF board’s first official action was to be the awarding of life membership to Jon. The crowd cheered and applauded (lasting that little bit too long for Jon’s liking) and then anyone who had known Jon nodded their heads in agreement that it was a well-deserved honour.

The AusDBF Board woke the next morning to an email from Jon highlighting the various rules and processes surrounding the awarding of life membership. It was not something to just announce as we liked, but there was in fact a time and a place and a way to do these things properly. He was already a life member of Sydney Tsunami and DBNSW, but if he was going to pick up the trifecta, it was damn-well going to happen right!

Jon’s humility and probity may have won that battle, but AusDBF’s presentation of a unique award acknowledging his contribution to the sport, when the three life members received their plaques, meant we finally won the war to put him in the spotlight for a few minutes and say ‘thank you’. At the 2009 Australian Championships in Caloundra, AusDBF will bestow one more tribute to Jon, creating a new award to be known as the “Jon Taylor Memorial Award” . This will be a perpetual award and presented annually at the AusDBF National Championships to a deserving recipient who has unselfishly contributed to the development of the Sport in Australia.

Jon Taylor – universally known as JT – made sure that he and AusDBF became victims of their own success. As dragon boating has grown and developed, and our membership numbers swelled to previously unimaginable levels, most of us have simply become accustomed to seeing the sport serviced by new boats, large clubs, and colourful and successful regattas. Everyone is now benefitting from JT’s vision and relentless work, but few can remember the ‘bad ol’ days’ when paddlers were secondary to profit. Those who were around in the early 90s witnessed JT’s efforts to transform dragon boating into competitive sport, and ensure the needs and desires of paddlers became the priority for administrators. At a time when dragon boat racing was essentially a business opportunity for a handful of people, who had all the money and resources, and operating in a closed-shop environment, this was seen by many as biting off way more than you could chew. But JT chewed it. He came to the sport through his involvement with the Barclay’s corporate crew, which competed at Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival. He became the crew’s President and coach, and raised the Lord Mayor’s Trophy above his head, following great back to back wins in 1994 and 1995. After winning the trophy twice, the crew moved to the ’sports’ division and raced under the Barclays banner for a couple more years. When the sponsorship ceased, the club we now know as Sydney Tsunami was formed. While he went about guiding Tsunami on the water, he was also busy coordinating and organising political battles on behalf of the paddlers with the sport’s previous organisers – at both state and national levels. Eventually, this lead to the formation of DBNSW Inc. with JT as the first President. The Tilbury Hotel in Woolloomooloo played host to a number of ‘secret squirrel’ meetings, where a cunning plan to purchase four Geelong-built dragons boats was hatched. JT was joined by four others who wanted ‘in’ on the covert operations – George Louie from Dragon Sports Association, Grant Brewer from Mavericks, Darren Ma (aka Stevenson) from the Pacific Dragons and Steven Davidson, JT had a vision and goal and he never let go of that vision. He was driven and full of passionate energy.

Jon was central to Dragon Boat Racing in Australia and he put many years of energy and passion into sharing his vision of growth of Dragon Boating in Australia and the world.”

Among his legacies are the large and colourful events we now take for granted on our calendar. In 1998 JT helped resurrect the Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Festival at Sydney’s Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour. It is the biggest dragon boat event in the southern hemisphere and showcases our sport to thousands upon thousands of spectators. The newly formed Oceania Dragon Boat Federation – an organisation that will promote and build the sport throughout our region – was put into play by JT. His work with New Zealand in particular, and our other regional neighbours has ensured development and opportunities for years to come.

His crowning achievement though, is undoubtedly Australia’s hosting of the 2007 IDBF World Dragon Boat Championships. JT was instrumental in having the Worlds awarded to Australia, where the green and gold crews bagged a record haul of medals at Penrith’s Olympic rowing course. By then, he was well into his battle with the cancers that were destroying and overcoming his once broad, muscular body. While his struggle was visible to every paddler and spectator and his health poor, there was not a chance he would miss a moment of Australian dragon boat racing’s finest moments, or diminish JT’s pride and pleasure in the Australian crews’ performances.

In November 2006, Jon was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He undertook all the treatment and fought courageously. By the time of the Worlds he was presenting as having beaten his nemesis and was on the mend. Officials and dragon boaters from across the country and around the world saw him bravely continue to lead our sport, but it was heart wrenching for them to watch on while JT sacrificed his comfort in order to continue chairing the regular meetings during his treatments. But for those who knew JT, this was a hallmark of his courage and determination, and a clear demonstration to all he was determined to carry on, and ensure the sport progressed and every paddler could make the most of the landmark event.
As 2008 came, JT’s health seemed to improve, and he began to resemble his old self physically and emotionally. But he was to again be struck by poor health, and surgery was required for a brain tumour. JT’s determination was again on display as he dusted himself off and continued to throw himself into giving to the sport and the paddlers he loved so much. He seemed to recover well and spent some time at AusDBF’s Strategic Planning weekend – determined to contribute and guide right to the end.

JT and his partner Anne were about to head to Hong Kong to watch his beloved Wallabies in November’s Bledisloe Cup clash, when his health took another turn for the worse. A blocked bile duct and a tumour near his liver meant immediate hospitalisation and treatment, and although doctors tried several procedures even Jon’s famous fight and courage could not stop the dreadful disease.

JT spent much of his last few weeks in his red AusDBF hoodie top – a dragon boater to the end – and saying final farewells to so many paddling friends he had helped and inspired over the years. He told close friends that his wish was for his final journey to the afterlife to be on a golden dragon boat, taking him to the next world. Finally, he passed away peacefully with his loved ones around him at 4.55am on December 17th . The mourning and dark feeling of loss that has gripped so many in the dragon boat community reflects the impact JT had on paddlers around the country and throughout the international dragon boat community. As news of his passing filtered out, the messages of condolences came flooding in.

The constant theme was recognising the great loss we suffered, and the collective debt we owed for his vision, dreams and ambitions for the sport, which drove him until they were realised. His loss is immense, but the celebration of his life will take place every time Australian Championships are contested, and whenever a green and gold crew takes to the water to battle against other IDBF teams. Whenever someone picks up a paddle for the first time this summer, they are in their own way ensuring JT’s legacy of a national sport run for the benefit of paddlers, continues to be realised. English historian and historical philosopher Arnold Toynbee once noted that “it is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.”

The Australian dragon boating community can be grateful that our longest serving President – Jon Taylor – had ambitions and goals, and lived that principle. We will long remember him as the father of our modern sport in this country.

JT – thank you, and good bye.

Kel Watt
AusDBF President

Engine Room
This is the middle of the boat. The paddlers here must have the determination and endurance to continue to apply the pressure up front.

Terminators
These are the last 3 rows of the DB, these rows must have strong front end grips to keep the pressure on the fast water passing by. (Water towards the back of the boat is very fast from all of the paddlers in front of you. It is very easy to paddle back here so it is very important that you push yourself to apply the pressure at all times.

Front end grip
This is when you’re over the head hand pushes forward. This applies pressure to the water against the paddle.

4-keys to your stroke

1. The Catch: When your paddle enters the water. (exhale breathing begins)
2. Compression: when your legs, abs, back pull you in a sitting up position
causing the paddle to be pulled toward your hip. (exhale finishes)
3. Exit: This is when you exit the paddle out of the water. (inhale begins)
4. Recovery: When you turn the waist bringing your paddle forward to begina new stroke finishing with the catch of new water. (exhale ends)

After many years Qua Yuan learned about a planned invasion of his kingdom and his love for his country and his distress in knowing that it would be destroyed led him to commit suicide. Once his followers heard that he planned to drown himself in the local river, they raced down to it in an attempt to save him. His followers formed groups and jumped into boats. Banging loudly on drums and splashing their paddles around in order to deter the fish from eating his corpse, they searched up and down the river but never found him.

Thus, a sport emerged where a boat full of men raced to the sounds of drums in order to keep the beat. Every year on the date of his death, a race is held in this same river to commemorate Qua Yuan’s death.

Dragon boating is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. It’s easy to participate in, requiring minimal resources and skills. It is truly a team sport and includes teams at all levels of competition. On the water, dragon boating is a widely colourful and loud sport.

Some teams that emphasize stroke rate might put their strongest members in the front to set the stroke rate for the team. Others that emphasize the mechanical science of propulsion put their strongest members in the back to deal with water resistance. There are also those who theorize on the centre of gravity of the boat and the best lineup to lower the centre of gravity. Whatever the lineup, there is a rationale for it. Yet, basic execution, including flawless strokes and synchrony, is the most important part of competitive dragon boating.

A dragon boat race course could be 200m, 500m or longer. The question we ask is how much endurance and strength your teammates have? This is a key factor to determining whether your team can sustain multiple heats and beat a close rival at the right moment putting you in the final race. This is where physical conditioning plays a role in addition to on-water practice. Your team also needs to carefully plan the conditioning exercises not only to build your strength and cardiovascular capacity but also stimulate the muscle movements, breathing pattern and heart rates during a race. In the weeks leading to a race, it is important to tailor your exercises to your team stroke energy. Common stroke strategies begin with a launch sequence.

The launch sequence generally includes a couple of short strokes (normal sweep range), followed by 3 or 4 regular strokes and then by a series of ultra fast, short strokes.

After this launch sequence, some common stroke series used in races are:-
1) Incrementing stroke speed every 25-30 seconds
2) Alternating slow and fast strokes
3) Keeping stroke speed constant but varying the pressure applied to the paddles every 15-20 strokes. For instance, alternate 20 regular strokes with 20 high-pressured strokes
4) A combination of the (2) and (3) as above.

Many teams also have a finish series. which is a series of ultra fast strokes in the last 50-100 metres.

In the next few days I will break down each sequence in more detail and explain the technical background behind why these are important for a race.