Category Archives: Gung Haggis dragon boat team information

Joy Kogawa, “honourary drummer” for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat team.

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Media
alert:



June 9th, 2006


Joy Kogawa,”honourary drummer” for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House
dragon boat team.
  




You are invited to a special Gung Haggis
Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat team activity and dragon boat
practice.



It is also a photo opportunity with our honourary drummer,
Joy Kogawa.  Take a picture with Joy and the team on a dragon boat. For 2006, Gung
Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team added Kogawa House to its name to help promote
awarness for the Save Kogawa House campaign.  In 2005, the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team recieved the Hon. David Lam Multicultural Award for being the team that “best respresented the multicultural spirit” of the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival.


Joy Kogawa OC, OBC, is one
of Canada's most important literary figures.  Her award winning novel,
Obasan, introduced many Canadians to the challenging experiences of the
internment of Japanese Canadians during WW2.  Obasan was the 2005 choice
for One Book One Vancouver, by the Vancouver Public Library.  Her
children's novel “Naomi's Road” was adapted in 2005 into an opera, by the
Vancouver Opera. 



Joy Kogawa's childhood home, was recently saved
from demolition and purchased by The Land Conservancy of BC.  The GHFCKH
dragon boat team is committed to raising awareness and funds for the
preservation of historic Joy Kogawa House, and to help create a national
literary landmark for Canada.  Joy will recieve her Order of BC on June
22nd. 


June 23rd – Gung Haggis Fat JOY KOGAWA HOUSE fundraiser dinner:

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat
team helps to host a fundraiser for Kogawa House at Flamingo Chinese
Restaurant.  3489 Fraser St., 6pm reception, 7pm dinner.  This dinner
will celebrate Joy's Order of BC, purchase of Kogawa House by TLC, and present
the inaugural Gung Haggis Fat Choy intercultural arts achievement award to
Vancouver Opera for their production of “Naomi's
Road.”



Sunday, June 11, 2006

10:30am

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens:  The Gung Haggis team coach Todd Wong leads a tour to introduce concepts
of harmony and balance, yin and yang.  Paddler Steven Wong will lead a Tai
Chi / Qi Gong exercise following.



12 noon
Dragon boat dumplings and Dim Sum:

We go for dim sum and have
traditional dragon boat sticky rice dumplings wrapped in tea leaves. 
Floata Restaurant.  50 Keefer Street. 



1pm

Dragon boat
practice and paddling:

meet at “Dragon Zone” – the green trailer building,
just a few steps south of Science World, above the Aqua Bus/ False Creek
Ferries.  This is where the dragon boat dock is.



Photo
opportunity:  Joy Kogawa and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon
boat team.



We will have a 30 minute warm-up and dragon boat
history introduction, followed by a 20 minute dragon boat paddle.  Return
Joy and special guests off on the dock, then continue for an additional 60
minutes for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat team
practice.



Cheers, Todd

604-240-7090

Save Kogawa House committee and campaign
www.kogawahouse.com
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team
www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/GungHaggisdragonboatteaminformation
The Land Conservancy of BC
www.conservancy.bc.ca

ADBF regatta: Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat team hits the water!

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Another successful and fun day of dragon boat racing for the Gung
Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House team!  We raced at the Sunday
afternoon sessions of the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival regatta.  It
is a good warm-up for the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival which will take
place in two weeks.

Race #1
a warm up…  getting use to the format, lots of distractions during
marshalling and out on the water.  6 boats in a heat.  This pace may
have been our best rate. 
Lots of caterpiller paddling… people were paddling out of time.  We lost some steam in the middel.

Race #2
much better…  we slowed down the pace, and we had much better
timing.  People got paddles deeper.  We nailed the start on this race,
and the boat really took off.  We lost our steam during the middle, but
we surged with strength for a good finish, passing a boat in the
process.

Race # 3
We brought the pace up a bit for the
starts, but we didn't slow down for the transition to race pace.  But
everybody body kept up with the fast pace for most of it. 
Unfortunately a faster pace doesn't allow for a longer reach, so
paddlers missed some strokes, and we fell behind the team beside us. 
We will work on our endurance this week.  But again… a good finish…
People really respond to the calls for “More”

We finished 4th or 5th – very close in our final race.  We
demonstrated we have good power, but weak endurance.  We look
forward to making improvements for the ADBF races in two weeks.

It was wonderful seeing people enjoy themselves, ask questions about
dragon boat racing, bring food…  and making suggestions. 
Paddlers will giving newbies, tips on how to paddle.  New rookies
were asking for assistance as well as questions.  The team
cohesion is developing very nicely.

Queenie, Marian, Gurmeet and Teresa were the dragon boat initiates of the day.

We had a different drummer in each race! 
We had a different set of lead strokes for each race.
We had two different steers people.
Some people paddled different sides for different races.
Everybody raced at least 2X – we rotated almost everybody. 

Thank you everybody for being so flexible and adapting to each
situation.  It really prepares us for possible circumstances on ADBF
weekend.

Deb is now certified for steering races at ADBF, giving us safe straight passage down the race course + before and after.

Natalie came to race with us during her “lunch hour” from work…. 
Julie came to race with us as soon as she could after her Polynesian
dance classes – Great dedication to the team.

From now to ADBF,
we will focus on specific race strategies and seat positions, as well
as finding out what worked best for you on Reggata weekend. 


Rotating paddlers…
We rotate everybody – except key positions to develop consistency.
If you sat out the first race – it was because we wanted to ensure that
you were in our race finals – because we value your experience and
strength.  Newer and less experienced paddlers were rotated out during
the last race.

We feel that rotating everybody is fair for
everybody.  If you did not rotate out during the regatta – expect to be
rotated out during race weekend.

See you Tuesday…  6pm  @ Dragon Zone.

Gung Haggis dragon boat team at ADBF regatta

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Gung Haggis dragon boat team at ADBF regatta

This Sunday our Gung Haggis Fat Choy Kogawa House dragon boat team is racing at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival Regatta for 3 races.  The ADBF regatta has 4 sessions.  Saturday morning, Saturdary afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon.  GHFC KH races Sunday afternoon.

So…. No practice on Sunday at 1pm…  the regatta IS our practice

Please
meet at 11:30am – We will set up a tent, get organized, run our
warmups, do some visualization training, and be ready to be marshalled
by 12:30pm.

We will also watch the final races for the morning regatta, which will finish by 12 noon.

Our first race is 1pm.
This means we must be ready to marshall by 12:30pm, on the boats early and on the water by 12:45pm.

if we finish 1-3 we go to heat #6 semi-final

if we finish 4-6 we go to heat #5 semi-final

we could end up in A final at 3:45
B final at 3:30
C final at 3:15
D final at 3:00

My guess is that we will end up in C final or B final.

Some
of the teams we are racing have NOT done any races at all yet.  Some of
the teams have strong and powerful or younger paddlers.  Some are very
experienced like the Laoyam Eagles – a junior team from Pemberton – but
raced in both youth and Competitive division.  They also went to 1991
World Championships.

Should be fun….
don't have a weather forcast for Sunday yet – but the sun should come out for the weekend.

I will form race rosters for each race so that we can rotate all of our available paddlers.

Gung Haggis team goes bowling….

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Our friday night beginner / technique practice got transformed into a canoe and bowling night.  I coached some new paddlers and taught them canoeing, while working on technique work with some other paddlers on the docked dragon boats.  This way they could practice “resistance training” while I helped to shape their paddling technique, and their body movements.

We had a great time bowling on Friday night at Grandview lanes.
15 dragon boat team members came out.  The strongest paddlers weren't the best bowlers.  And our rookie paddler Wendy who had never bowled before got 3 or 4 strikes with her unique intuitive style.

So… no Asian Heritage month events for Friday night – but we created our own events socializing, talking about head tax issues, Joy Kogawa House, intercultural dating, ethnic food.  Then afterwards, 7 of us went to Havana Restaurant on Commerical Drive for yam fries and sangria.

Tacoma Dragon Boat Association loves us…. the Gung Haggis dragon boat team!

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May 27, 2006

Here's an article from our paddle buddies in Tacoma – Check out the Tacoma Dragon Boat Association.

Babes and Chix make International Debut at Vancouver Regatta
By Janice Brevik

Vancouver, Canada — Under questionable skies at the Dragon Zone (venue
near the Science Dome at former Expo site) in Vancouver, Canada, the
Babes with Blades and Chix with Stix made their international debut at
the 9th Annual False Creek Women’s Regatta.  This is the fourth
year a TDBA crew has participated in the annual False Creek Women’s
fundraiser regatta.  Clad in Hawaiian attire complete with
stunning red lips (provided by Ann Martin) the Tacoma teams with their
Canadian teammates had a great day of racing, eating, and talking
story.  All that kept the rain at bay for the entire day.

The Babes, with first-time captain Ann Martin, started the action very
well with a first place win in their heat with a time of 2:49:74. 
Not to be outdone, the Chix, captained by another first-time captain,
Diane Wetzel, followed suit in their heat, also with a first place time
of 2:49:61.

As luck would have it, the two first place wins had the Babes and Chix
opposite each other in heat two.  The Chix placed first again with
a time of 240:15 and the Babes a close third with a time of
2:41:75.  It was a very close race with the three boats inches
apart.  A great finish watching—for spectators-not those in the
boats.

The third and final heat garnered the Babes with another first place
win with a time of 2:37:87.  The Chix placed third in their final
heat with a time of 2:43:62.  Both teams finished in the top 10 of
the 52 teams entered.  Nice job ladies!

Both boats had composite teams of experienced, novice, first-time
racers and guest paddlers from Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragonboat team
from Vancouver.  Gung Haggis also hosted us with food, water and
shelter, not to mention a healthy dose of good company and paddler
fun.  Topping the racing activities was having Todd Wong serving
as guest drummer /caller/motivational dude with the Babes.  Way to
go Todd!

Tips o’ the paddle go to Merri McHugh as our paperwork queen, Head
Coach Clem for critique of each race and tips to improve and our hosts
Gung Haggis Fat Choy—you are awesome!  A great time was had by all
and we shared the spoils of our day with luscious Canadian chocolates
provided to each team by the race organizers—after the race, of course.

Thanks to all the paddlers, coaches,  supporters and family
members that enjoyed this delightful event.  We couldn’t have done
it without you.

False Creek Women's dragon boat regatta: Gung Haggis races with Tacoma DBA

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False Creek Women's dragon boat regatta: Gung Haggis races with Tacoma DBA



“Babes w/ Blades” drummed by Todd
Wong – Gung Haggis Fat Choy paddlers join TDBA paddlers.  Lead
strokes are Merri and Jean. Kristine and Anne in row 2, 7th row Leslie
and Laurie in their 1st ever race, 10th row Sonja and Peggy, John
steers for us. – photo Stephen Mirowski



Gung Haggis paddlers did a great job racing today.  We raced with Tacoma Dragon Boat Association's two teams:  Babes with Blades, and Chix with Stix. 
We had to adjust to
different paddling styles, race calls and strategies, seat placement,
new team mates etc etc.  And our ladies did wonderfully.


Paddlers
from Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver were evenly mixed
throughout 2 teams resulting in 3 sets of paddlers with different
paddling styles, levels of experience and racing intensity.  
GHFC paddlers use a traditional 6-16 start compared with TDBA's 4-20
start.  Our paddlers followed the TDBA lead strokes and style,
with greater success in each race.

Special
thank you to TDBA team, TDBA Coach Clem, and TDBA event organizer Merri
for inviting us to join them.  I have known TDBA since 2001, and we
have often paddled together at events in Seattle WA, Kent WA, Penticton
BC + mens and womens races last year in Vancouver.




Oops! “Chix w/ Stix” with dreaded
caterpiller paddle.  And they still finished 1st in their first
two races, demonstrating strong power on the team with potential timing
– photo Stephen Mirowski.


Race 1 was “Omigod – what is happening!” 
Different calls, strategies – slight panic.  And both boats still won
their races – despite caterpillering all the way to the finish line.



Race 2 was “Okay…. this is different…” 
as we tried to adapt to the Tacoma style, minimize caterpiller, and
paddle as one.  We also raced against each other
– Chix with Stix in
Lane 3 (drummed by Deb )


– Babes with Blades in Lane 1 (drummed by Todd )


Congratulations to Chix winning the race and moving up to the next higher level of competition.



Race 3 was “Let's focus and win this darn race.”


Best races of the day for each team.


Good strong long strokes.

Babes with Blades went all the
way to the finish matching Abreast in Barnet – pulling ahead slightly
at midway, then decisively with a strong early finish.

Chix with Stix had a tougher
race sandwiched between two teams who were just ahead on either side. 
Very exciting!  finishing a very close 3rd.


Very close race #22.  Chix w/ Stix drummed by Deb Martin wins, Babes w/ Blades drummed by Todd  Wong comes 3rd.



Deb and I
are really pleased that the our Gung Haggis paddlers were
able to rise to the challenge for this women's regatta.  It is
always fun getting together with TDBA.  In 2004,  they
invited Gung Haggis down to Seattle for the first everdragon boat barrel races.

Some of the
Tacoma paddlers will be going to the World Club Crew Championships in
Toronto in August.  There were also brand new
paddlers from Tacoma and Seattle who had never raced before, including
Laurie Anderson and Leslie Wait from Gung Haggis.




Thank you to our guy paddlers for showing up to support us.  Stephen
Mirowski took great pictures and displayed them on his laptop
computer.  Dan Seto arrived with a birthday cake for Laurie.  Jonas,
Steven Wong, Jim Blatherwick all cheered us on.




Rita brought her multi-layered jello, Juliet made sandwiches, Leslie
brought the pasta salad.  Peggy, Gail, Kristine, Naoko brought their
racing experience.  Jennifer, Leslie, Ann-Marie, Sonja brought their
enthusiasm.  Deb and Todd provided great drumming for each team, as
well as shopping at Costco and lugging lots of food and drinks for all
the teams members.




52 teams competed in 39 heats, racing 3 times each.
Our teams finished in race# 34 & #35, the top races for the 2nd tier teams.  Top tier teams raced in races #36 to #39.




Gung Haggis paddlers all watched the final race of the day, heat #39
featuring the top 4 teams of the regatta.  Wasabi Team Huge, False
Creek Women, North Shore Sirens and Roli Canada.  It was a very
exciting race with FC Women in the lead, with Wasabi Team Huge close
behind.  These are two of North America's premier women's teams – who
both went to the World Championships in Philadelphia in 2001, and
always compete hard against each other.



Crazy team photo with special “lips”
– Chix w/ Stix + Babes w/ Blades : paddlers from Tacoma, Seattle and
Vancouver – photo Stephen Mirowski



Sunday…. yes we have a practice – 1pm.


The men need to practice hard!  along with women who did not race on
Saturday.  Women who raced Saturday will focus on technique.  


Lots of race strategies….  as we ready our team for the June 4 ADBF regatta.




Good job Gung Haggis & TDBA !!!!