From its cultural and spiritual origins, this race of long and narrow boats has grown highly popular and has gone beyond tradition to become a widely recognized and competitive sport. Over the past 25 years, dragon boating has grown in popularity not only in Asia but in Europe, North America, Australia and Africa as well.
In the Philippines, dragon boating is still a growing sport. Despite the medals earned in various international races, local rowing teams are still miniscule in number compared to other Asian counterparts.
I have been a dragon boater for the Metrobank Card-Boysen Drago Pilipinas Team for over a year now. Acquainted with the sport as early as my high school years, I knew how difficult it was going to be, especially with the high level of the team and the nature of the activity. In dragon boating, it’s all about synchronization, reciprocity and a feeling of camaraderie fostered among its participants.
But that wasn’t the scariest part. What I was sincerely wary of was where the sport was going to take me: Manila Bay!
Need I say another word?
Getting over the stench and the notoriety of the water for a hypochondriac fellow such as myself was dreadful. And if there’s any first qualification needed for a potential dragon boater – it’s to get over it!
And I say this after months of paddling over those waters: it’s really not that bad.
After those misimpressions were blown away, I began to appreciate and understand that it’s one thing to be looking from land out to sea, and an entirely different thing to be on the boat while staring at the calming waters. It’s a totally amazing experience. Working together as a team, cutting through the waters in a synchronized pull is hard work, but highly rewarding as well.
However, unlike any other sport, dragon boating does entail quite a number of sacrifices. First, let’s name the obvious. Training is held at the crack of dawn. So it entails waking up before the chickens do at least four times a week. And as you drag yourself out of a comfy bed, you mentally condition yourself for the rigid and grueling training that lies ahead.
The paddling technique can be learned in one training session but perfecting the form, just as with any other sport, takes a while. The equipment is simple: a boat and a paddle. That’s it. The more important requirement is that you have able boaters. It takes a dedicated and committed individual to become a dragon boat team member because the training is no joke. The combined land and water training is excruciating.
My teammates on the Metrobank Card-Boysen Drago Pilipinas Team have volumes of stories to share about this excruciating and exhilarating sport. From various walks of life – business executives, doctors, fashion designers, bankers, entrepreneurs, athletes, and military servicemen – all these people are busy professionals with scarcely any time to devote to a new sport. So it must be sheer love of dragon boating that drives them to endure all the hardships; after all, none of them are paid salaries to head out on the waters! Call it a team-building exercise, then: these individuals simply share a common goal of being able to work together for the same aspiration. The team has many years of experience and is determined to develop their paddle form to perfection.
For all of us, dragon boating has become a way of life. Could it possibly be a way of life for you, too?