Dragon Boat Around the World - Japan

Dragon boat racing is the world's fastest growing water sport! It started in China thousands of years ago as a holiday ritual. Now, it's a modern and organized sport with teams located wherever there's enough water to float a boat. In this installment, we look at the dragon boat scene in the port city of Yokohama, Japan!

-The Minister of Newbie Happiness
 
Here's a photo from a dragon boat race that took place in Yokohama recently: http://www.japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/view/enter-the-dragon-3

Look at their faces - what do you notice? I see expressions of determination, excitement and happiness. This complex combination of feelings is not uncommon during races, and is probably the reason why the sport has become so widespread.
I'd provide more details about the race, but I can't read the festival's website: http://www.yokohama-dragon.com/
If you can tell me the names of the top three teams, I'll send you a DieselFish sticker!
-The Minister of Newbie Happiness
Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

June 23rd is Juhannuspäivä!

Aiyaa! June 23rd is Juhannuspäivä!

Fishies, we gotta celebrate!

-The Minister of Newbie Happiness

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

Congrats DieselFish! May Race Gold!

The California Dragon Boat Association’s May Race is a big deal for the Bay Area’s dragon boat scene. It’s the first race of the season for many teams, so the day is packed with opportunities. For the veteran paddlers, the May Race is a chance to shake off the cobwebs that may have accumulated during the off season. For the beginners, it’s a chance to get their feet wet in their first dragon boat race. For the coaches, it’s a chance to scope out the competition. This season’s May Race was packed with exciting developments for DieselFish. Our veteran Blue Boat paddled long and strong, and powered their way to gold medal. Our beginner Green Boat paddlers welcomed four new paddlers and continued their upward trajectory through the ranks. These are the kinds of performances that trouble the competition!
RACE HIGHLIGHTS
Here’s DieselFish Blue’s championship race. Notice how much wake the team generated near the front of the boat!
Here’s DieselFish Green’s preliminary race. Great timing, newbies!
This season’s May Race was an exciting taste of things to come! FREMONT SPRINTS, HERE WE COME!
-The Minister of Newbie Happiness

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

May New Member Alert

from: The Minister of Newbie Happiness

to: DieselFish Dragon Boat Team

subject: [DieselFish Blog] New Member Update!

[GONG! I’m going to sell the New Member Gong to take advantage of the recent uptick in industrial metal commodity prices!]

Hi Fishies:

DieselFish’s recruitment boom continues unabated! I’m pleased to report an additional five new members have joined our ranks.

*Julie Ballard is the only newbie that Coach Tiffany ever told me to work on. Probably because Julie has a lot of grit hiding underneath her pleasant demeanor. She just completed her first time trial, and managed to pull a boat through the water all by herself despite her newness to our sport.

*When Emma Choi isn’t burning the midnight oil watching Korean dramas (안녕하세요!), she’s paddling hard at BIAC. Even when it’s raining hard! Emma was referred to us by our friend Adrian, but she coincidentally went to school with our very own Christine Lee.

*Dennis Cheung decided to give paddling a try after witnessing the power and grace of our sport at last year’s Treasure Island festival. Unlike most jaded New Yorkers, Dennis is capable of showing enthusiasm, and made it a point to attend every single practice he could. From now on, to avoid confusing him with Coach Dennis Chen, we shall refer to Mr. Cheung as “New York Dennis.”

*Ellen Reichert is recent transplant from Minnesota. She moved to the Bay Area for a job, and decided to try paddling with DieselFish to meet new people and stay physically active. Did you know there’s dragon boat racing in Iowa? Ellen competed in the Dubuque Dragon Boat Festival a couple of years ago with colleagues from a Girl Scout camp.

*David Liu, like myself, is a fellow son of San Mateo. This seasoned veteran paddled for four years with Boston’s Living Root team while studying at M.I.T. He came out for a practice session with us a few years ago, but couldn’t join because he was still in school at the time. This reunion truly proves the adage that nothing good gets away.

Please welcome these new members to the DieselFish family!

-The Minister of Newbie Happiness

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

Pub Trivia Night

DieselFish is all about defying expectations! The team strives to push its limits and evolve. This burning desire has even spilled over into our social activities off the water. We’ve been playing a lot of pub trivia lately, which is surprising because trivia games test your intelligence, not your brawn. Maybe we play because we don’t like being stereotyped as a bunch of dumb jocks. Or maybe we play because we enjoy hanging out with each other over drinks, food and games. Whatever the reason, we always have a fun time. I just wish the games had more questions about ancient Chinese water sports. -The Minister of Newbie Happiness

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

Rowing Machine Philosophy

from: The Minister of Newbie Happiness
to: dieselfish team
date: Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 12:10 PM
subject: Rowing Machine Philosophy

Last night, I had a brief conversation with Dan about the team’s session with the rowing machines. We agreed that mental toughness – pushing yourself to pull harder when your arms and back are giving out – is a critical part of this workout.

This morning, it occurred to me this ability is related to mindfulness – the act of living and thriving in the present. The challenge is finding a way to acknowledge the weariness and channel it into powerful and efficient pulls.

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!

Meet the Team

Dragon boat is the ultimate team sport! Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you work with your friends to hurtle a boat through the water! Here are some of the faces you’ll meet when you show up for a free practice session with DieselFish!

-The Minister of Newbie Happiness

*NAME: Patrick Ahyow
*HOMETOWN: Irvine, CA
*RESIDES: Sunnyvale
*PROFESSION: Scientist
*HOBBIES: Volleyball, basketball, triathlons, working out, working on cars, cooking and eating, snowboarding, surfing, trying new things.
*OTHER SPORTS I PLAY: See above
*HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT DRAGON BOAT: My fraternity brother kept trying to recruit me. I finally decided to give it a shot during the summer of 2011.
*YEAR JOINED DIESELFISH: July 2011
*FAVORITE DIESELFISH MOMENT: Introducing the Dice game to DF at the 2011 Holiday Party
*FAVORITE AFTER-PRACTICE EATING SPOT: Pho after a cold night practice
*ADVICE FOR NEWCOMERS: As you first start it may be tiring or frustrating and you might be sore afterwards but don’t let that stop you. Put in the effort and the hard work, and you will be greatly rewarded.
*I PADDLE WITH DIESELFISH BECAUSE: I paddle because it’s a great workout, and I miss being on the water. I paddle with DieselFish because my teammates make all the difference. The camaraderie and sense of family amongst each other are an important part of any team sport. It also doesn't hurt that my office is down the street from BIAC.

¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•...,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º>...,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º>> .,,.•´¯`•...,,.•´¯`•..

*NAME: Faith
*HOMETOWN: Riverside
*RESIDES: Redwood City
*PROFESSION: Professional bleeding heart
*HOBBIES: Obsessing about food
*OTHER SPORTS I PLAY: Power Pilates (hugest chick crush on my teacher at the Page Mill YMCA)
*HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT DRAGON BOAT: Paddled for a month with the expat team while teaching abroad in Yilan, Taiwan
*PREVIOUS TEAMS: See above
*YEAR JOINED DIESELFISH: Oct. 2010...I remember many rainy practices that winter!
*FAVORITE DIESELFISH MOMENT: Narrowly beating the team behind us (by ~.12 seconds) to claim 5th place out of over 50 teams at the Boston Dragon Boat Festival
*FAVORITE AFTER-PRACTICE EATING SPOT: New Mongolian BBQ in Mountain View
*ADVICE FOR NEWCOMERS: Just come out! I never participated in organized sports before dragon boat; paddling with DieselFish has challenged and stretched me in more ways than I can name.
*I PADDLE WITH DIESELFISH BECAUSE: It’s all about my fellow DieselFishies. One team, one stroke.

¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•...,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º> .,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º>...,,.•´¯`•.. ¸><((((º>> .,,.•´¯`•...,,.•´¯`•..

*NAME: Ben
*HOMETOWN: Hayward
*PROFESSION: Artist in the video game industry
*HOBBIES: Publishing comics and designing toys
*OTHER SPORTS I PLAY: Basketball, rock wall climbing
*HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT DRAGON BOAT: Facebook
*YEAR JOINED DIESELFISH: 2010
*FAVORITE DIESELFISH MOMENT: Finishing first in a race in Portland rose festival in 2010 in a giant Taiwan boat
*FAVORITE AFTER-PRACTICE EATING SPOT: The kitchen at my work :P
*ADVICE FOR NEWCOMERS: Just have fun!
*I PADDLE WITH DIESELFISH BECAUSE: ... It’s fun. The feeling of being part of the “force” that is pulling the boat forward feels amazing.

Hello Internet friends! Doesn’t dragon boat racing with DieselFish sound like fun? Go to http://dieselfish.org/ now to sign up for a free practice session!