Hey Vincent! If your lion didn't come pre-strung or you're redoing it, you can honestly use whatever you wish as long as it will hold in place :D For an easy, lightweight ring, I would recommend using a thick, metal paper clip, bend it into a coil shape with pliers, then run all your lion strings through it. Try to avoid small or plastic paperclips if you go this route as it will warp very easily and you have to constantly fix it. If you choose to use a knot, I personally would tie the master string to the middle of the eye/ear strings, then adjust the tension individually on each eye/ear. This is easier than trying to adjust the knot point while dealing with 4 attachments. No fancy knots should be needed, I do double knots to make sure things don't slip, or a self tightening knot if you're familiar with them. If you need further help or my description is confusing, let us know & I'll send pictures/a video to show you what I mean. Hope that helps! Don't be afraid to get creative & try something else too :) Have fun! -EJ

OMG, very helpful! This is the only good video I found to help our dragon's eye health issue❣😻

Hey Riley, Thanks for the support! :)

+desenutz18 Hello! The pulleys can be a bit tricky to find, but your local hardware store (Home Depot) or crafts store (Michaels) would be a good place to start searching. The stores above are places we found them at in Canada. To attach - your lion most likely has a metal ring for the eye strings to go through. All the small pulleys we've found have a small ring at the top. We simply tied a string from the lion eye ring to the pulley ring to attach them. You can also zip tie if you're worried about the connecting string loosening, or tie the pulley ring to the lion frame directly - just make sure it's close to the original location or you'll have to pull at really awkward angles to have the eyes & ears work.

+5elementsld thanks will check out home depot!

That's a neat idea. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Phoenix! This is how I do it personally, others may have another way. When the lion head is close to my body, I'm resting the lion's weight on my head with the head pad, and my left hand is in the left mouth slot to stabilize. My right hand is pulling the master string or controlling them individually. Normally for blinks, I do a quick tug with my right hand and immediately move back to the right mouth slot or right side bar. If I need to do longer eye/ear movements, I have enough strength on my left arm to keep the lion balanced - this is just from training. A lot of beginners use only their arms to hold up the lion and they don't have enough balance or power when they have to let go to pull the string. Try using the head pad if you don't already :) Hope that helps! -EJ

Hello again! A lot of people have been asking us the same question, so we have made a video for it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eqhpfspyva3YoKs.html&lc=z130h34whwfmtdmnr23lwhwijpi4ih3ao04 Please note this is just what is comfortable for me, try different things out and see what works for you! -EJ

Hey Obey Diamond, You may be able to find the small pulleys at your local hardware (Home Depot), crafts (Michaels), or hobby modelling stores (Hobby Alley). We tried different varieties of string that we bought from a crafts (Michaels) and a fabric store (Fabricland). I've given example stores we found our materials in, but please keep in mind we are based in Canada, so you may have to search around for an equivalent depending on where you live :) Hope that helps! ~EJ

I'll try to find them

Hello! Emplion (www.emplion.com) has smaller sizes for kids (our lion heads are 52-54 inches. They have 40 inch heads). If you are looking for a lion for casual play you can find low priced ones at many places (low quality). Though we've never ordered from here, www.china-cart.com has lions that are lower priced (some) but our fellow lion dance teams have informed us that the quality is poor (it is a hit-or-miss). Depending on where you live, you may be able to find small lion dance heads for kids at your local China Town.

Thanks!

+Shannon Liew Hello, Our White/Green Lion (Matcha) is from Wan Seng Hang. The other two are from Emplion.

Thanks

+Charlize Lim We'll add that to our project list!

+awsomepilot65 Emplion's prices definitely went up over the last few years =/.

+awsomepilot65 Emplion's prices definitely went up over the last few years =/.

Yeah this is why I rather buy from foreigns

The strings we got at Fabricland. You can look at fabric stores or hardware stores might have some too.

+Rosa Bond & Seb Today's Lions can weight around 10-15 lbs. Back in the day, Lions were a lot heavier as the materials used differed (Wood vs. Aluminum handles).

+ITHASAHOLE INIT "You're right! As mentioned in the video, Matcha is quite old now (5+ years). The weakness in the metal L for the eye and slight deform in the frame make it so the strings don't snap back at an equal rate either, so pulling the master string straight down may not close it." ~EJ EJ says she has to pull slightly side ways to account for it, but she only does this when she needs to close the eye for a long time, such as during sleeping. Normally she doesn't bother as it's not noticeable on a very quick snap. This wasn't mentioned as the video was getting long and this is something a lion head will naturally learn after more experience.