Shifu’s Birthday Celebration 2015
On Feb 14th, 2015 the USA Shaolin Temple celebrated Shifu’s birthday!!
This year, Shifu’s birthday party fell on Valentine’s Day. What better day to celebrate? The demo team got ready to perform, the decorations were set in place, the drinks and food were set, and the temple guests waited for Shifu to arrive. The green tea birthday cake with green tea frosting was duly decorated with as many long candles as it could hold, and was keeping cool in the refriderator. The whispers that Shifu was on his way, started to circulate more rapidly, and soon after the elevator doors swung wide open and Shifu arrived. With a smile from ear to ear, and salutations for all, his birthday party kicked off with the usual fun, food, and kung fu.
(The cover of Shifu’s birthday book)
This year we did something very special for Shifu’s birthday. Spearheaded by Heng Pi, the temple presented Shifu with new robes for his birthday. The clasp for the robes was also designed and hand carved for the ocassion by Heng Han and Heng Po. The birthday book, was designed by Heng Po, and Ilya Murafa. The cover of the book was designed and drawn by Heng Cheng.
Cloth was donated from old and new disciples and students, near and far, with the 1 stipulation that it be material that held a close personal story. These peices of material were then sewn into the outer red robe. The inner robe was made out of a silk-linen blend and dyed using natural dyes. Heng Pi masterfully created both garments.
The clasp was executed out of wax and casted in brass, picking up the glints of color from the outer and inner robes. A dragon head was chosen as the hook, an image that flows throughout the temple, and the clasp was carved out of exotic wood.
The book is an accordion fold. It details the process of the robe and clasp construction. The back cover is leftover red robe material, and the cover was painted with the new Chinese zodiac animal- the Ram.
Guests, students, friends, and family signed the book as it also served as Shifu’s birthday card.
Amituofo Shifu!!!! Thank you for everything.
Each cloth donated was named and tagged.
Here are pictures of the pages in the book. Tools to make the clasp line up like Shaolin weapons!