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 Chinese Lion Dance has a continuous history of one thousand years. The first record of performance of the earliest form of Lion Dance dates back to the early Chin and Han dynasties. The Lion Dance has deep and far reaching influence on Asian, especially the Chinese, culture and life. The Lion Dance sustains and gives meaning to the Chinese (Asian) culture and community. Lion Dancing has significant importance in consecration of temples, new buildings and businesses, the inauguration of activities, celebration of official and public recognition, festivals, and joyous occasions. The Lion Dance instills spiritual inheritance from the distant past as well as a cultural link to the long history of China.
 The Chinese Lion Dance also has its roots in the martial arts history of China, taken from the reign of Emperor Ch’ien-lung, 1736-1796, of the Ching dynasty. According to this tradition, a destructive and powerful lion came down from the mountains and menaced the people in Kwangtung province. In order to defeat the lion, several martial arts masters cooperated to train and teach the people. Under these combined efforts, the people gained ultimate victory over the lion. To commemorate this victory, they constructed a lion costume and incorporated martial arts skills into the victory dance.
Finally, the lion, considered the king of beasts, symbolizes power and good fortune. The lion is therefore considered a sacred animal that possesses special protective powers to drive away evil. The addition of drums and other percussion equipment also helps to drive away the evil spirits. For these reasons, martial artists perform the Lion Dance with a lion head to replicate the essence and spirit of the lion and percussion instruments to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck to the recipient of the Lion Dance.
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 Lion Dancing is an extracirrular activity at Jow Ga Kung Fu and an important supplement to Kung Fu training. Lion dance training and instrument playing is taught to all students showing the desire and willingness to learn. Learning both parts of the lion, head and tail, as well as the instruments ,drums, gongs, and cymbals, play an essential role to having a lively lion as well as having good kung fu.
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