The sport is booming. According to Raymond Ma Siu-wing, chairman of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association, a record number of teams participated in tournaments last year. 'Half of the world's dragon boat teams are in Hong Kong,' adds Ma, 59, whose association is officially sanctioned by the government.

Ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival on Monday, when thousands of paddlers will take to the water, including more than 140 teams in Stanley, I make a date with the Altius Dragons to find out what all the fuss is about.

I have never been on a dragon boat before but, as someone who leads an active lifestyle, I think it is going to be easy. How hard can sitting down and paddling be, right?

Arriving at Sai Kung pier on a Tuesday night, I am greeted by a bevy of twenty-something butts - everyone is bent over, stretching.

'You're late. Quick, join the warm-ups,' says coach Shek Chi-hung. Nicknamed 'Fei-hung', after the legendary Chinese folk hero, Shek is a veteran rower with a stern attitude.

We stretch our thigh muscles, which, from an outsider's point of view, don't seem so important for paddling. I ask why, to which Shek responds, flatly: 'Just do it.'

Next come upper-body stretches, followed by the dreaded '30x30x2' - 30 push-ups and 30 sit-ups, twice.

The Altius Dragons are a diverse bunch: the 30-plus members range from public relations women in their 30s to young married couples to middle-aged men. But it's a close-knit group; there's plenty of banter and laughter during the warm-up.

I am already breaking into a bigger sweat than I had expected to, and this is before we've even got into the boat.

Once on the boat, Shek explains the art of paddling; it's rather systematic with three basic movements:

the ready position - paddles are held vertically, with the blade (tip of the paddle) centimetres above the water's surface, elbows locked, shoulders squared, eyes ahead;

enter - in one swift motion, the blade is thrust into the water. If done right, the water should not splash;

pull back - the move that makes the boat go forward; paddlers pull back on the paddle in one synchronised, fluid motion.

The beat is provided by the drummer, seated at the front of the boat. Much like my dancing, I have trouble keeping rhythm, as my paddle strikes other paddles repeatedly.

'If you think following the beat now is hard, imagine doing so during competition, when there are about seven other drums pounding at once,' says Grace Cheng Wai-shan, a 15-year-old veteran of the sport.

As I chug along, team members correct my form. 'Your shoulder is too stiff!' 'Stop slouching!' 'You're paddling too slowly!' 'You're paddling too fast!'

Then my leg cramps up. 'This is why you have to stretch your legs,' says Shek. 'To get balance on a rocking boat, your legs have to remain stiff and kick off the ridges in the boat.'

Fifteen minutes and about 300 rows later, I am back on shore, floored and sore to the core.

What I did was nothing: these guys practice once or twice a week, two hours at a time, with most members coming straight from work.

For many, dragon boating is not just great exercise, but a social experience.

'I initially joined a dragon boating team to meet friends and bond because I was new in the city,' says Karen Carmen, a teacher at the Canadian International School and a member of the Lamma Ladies team for the past two years.

Although she joined for fun, her competitive spirit soon took over. Carmen now captains the team, which competes in up to eight events a year, including overseas.

The spirit of dragon boating can be life affirming. That's true for the women of Dragons Abreast, a team made up of breast cancer survivors.

May Kwong Yin-mei, 50, joined them three years ago after beating breast cancer in 2007. She says although she was healed physically, she was scarred emotionally and needed some form of bonding.

'When I found Dragons Abreast and met other people in a similar situation, that really eased the fears and doubt from my heart,' she says.

Locally, there are many opportunities to race: six government-sponsored events per year, with 30-plus smaller ones at Sai Kung, Chai Wan, Shau Kei Wan, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Mui Wo and Stanley. The annual blue riband event, organised by the dragon boat association, is held in mid-May.

Ma, the association chairman, who has been paddling for more than 20 years, says: 'Because we're an international city with so many different cultures, there are very few things here that are distinctively Hong Kong, and I feel dragon boating is one of the few things that is Hong Kong. It is our sport.'

Boat to basics

With more than 300 dragon boat teams in Hong Kong, rowers shouldn't have trouble finding a team to join. Most accept new members, and the annual membership fee (ranging from HK$500 to HK$1,500) covers all you'll need.

There is no gear to buy, as dragon boats and paddles are provided by the clubs, which are usually paid for by sponsors or rentals from the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association. (A typical boat costs up to HK$50,000.)

All dragon boats (and paddles) in Hong Kong meet the association's size specifications: 11.6-metres long by a metre wide.

Tournaments are held year-round and include men's, women's and mixed races. Each boat seats 18 to 20 people, and races are usually 500 metres long.