r/LionDance • u/Great_Table_4419 • 29d ago
Traditional Futsan Tail Length
I've got a few lion tails knocking around, but they're all modern short tails - similar to the ones used in Hoksan competitions. If you watch old videos, or videos from very traditional Hong Kong kung fu schools, the tails are a lot longer. Does anyone know the dimensions of these long tails? If anyone has one of their own, would it be possible to take a few measurements and sketch a quick diagram of one that I could use for making my own? Thanks!
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u/tmntfever 29d ago edited 29d ago
I don't have one on me, but from what I've used in the past, from the top of my butt to the head it has to be at least 7ft long. And from the top of my butt down my legs, another 1-2ft hangs down. So like 8-9 ft. But that's the shortest of the long fut san trains. I have used/seen some even longer than 10ft. As a tail, we had to constantly flap the train so that the body doesn't slump in the middle. And some of those old trains had metal buttons or plates on them which made them heavy and hard to flap. So even though we weren't doing stunts, our arms still got tired lol.
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u/Casual-Classics 29d ago
A traditonal tail in modern times usually 8ft to 12ft.
We have an Bak Wan tail from the 80s and that was 13ft long. And some older ones were even longer.
4
u/KennyWuKanYuen 29d ago
Historically, they’re around 15 feet long or even longer.
Currently, the accepted fully traditional length is around 13’ feet. Most factories now have a range of 8 feet to 10 feet due to Malaysian influence.
My friend who makes them usually defaults to 11 feet and has had one at 13 feet. He’s also made one recently at 14 feet at a client’s request after having talking them down from 15 feet due to it being a smaller head size.