lion dance and fencing

What do Chinese lion dance and fencing have in common?

These two activities have something more or less subtle in common. And this something they have in common isn't necessarily what drew me to them in the first place, but who knows?

Fencing is the one sport that I chose to participate in during high school. I was initially attracted to it because of visions of swashbuckling, which turned out not to be the case. That is because competitors are limited to staying within a strip, limiting movement to back-and-forth and not allowing the running around and about as seen in the movies. But the sport still appealed to me, even preferring the practicing and the drilling to the bouts. As opposed to the others who wanted to compete and 'fence' as soon as the very first day!

When I reached college, I had in mind to join the Chinese Students Association, attending their very first meeting that first quarter. And I had it in mind to try out for the Lion Dance team, although as it turns out, there really was no audition process - it was more inclusive and welcoming than that. I just had to make sure that they didn't require a background in martial arts, and they didn't. Strange how given my reticence and unwillingness to draw attention to myself that I decided that lion dance was something I wanted to do. Me? The performing arts?

It wasn't until years later that I started noticing what may have drawn me to participate in lion dance, and what it has in common with the sport of fencing:

both allow the anonymity of hiding behind a mask.