by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
People born in the year of the pig know how to enjoy life.
"Pigs are honest and genuine," martial arts student Bill Doleman said. "Sometimes, they can be over the top. If they have two beers, they will give you one."
Doleman hosted a Chinese New Year celebration on Sunday at the Chinese Cultural Center at 427 Adams St. S.E.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Fifty students from Lin's Martial Arts Academy welcomed the year of the pig by performing the Dance of the Dragon, a performance in which 10 people operate a 60-foot green, red, white and gold dragon. There was also a ribbon dance performed by female martial artists, as well as demonstrations of tai chi chuan and kung fu fighting forms.
Ryan Turner attended the celebration for the first time.
"The dragon thing was cool - the martial arts, the drumming," he said. "It was excellent."
Doleman said the pig is the final animal in the Chinese zodiac.
"If you keep the pig's characteristics in mind as you go through the year, you'll be in harmony with the year," he said.
Charles and Synthia Lin opened the center and academy in 1974 after moving to New Mexico from Taipei, Taiwan.
"At the time, there was a need for martial arts in New Mexico," Charles Lin said.
Synthia Lin said the center's celebration is small compared to ones in the East.
"In China, the celebration goes on for days," she said. "They will have 300-foot dragons."
The Lins' daughter, UNM student Tiffany Lin, has practiced martial arts at her parents' center since she was 4. Tiffany Lin performed in the ribbon dance and the finale, in which she maneuvered a large purple butterfly.
"I like all of it," she said. "We get together and try real hard to share the celebration with everybody. We are like one big family."
The festival closed with the lighting of firecrackers on a 20-foot string.
Doleman said those who participated in the celebration will have good luck.
The academy's students met once a month to practice for the celebration. Doleman said discipline is the most important aspect taught at the center.
"Some of these students have been here for years," he said. "They realize the value of bringing tradition together. You get things that have nothing to do with self-defense. That's what drives this place."
