Reflections – Page 17

Tai Chi Lollies

When I started Tai Chi 22 years ago I was like a little kid in a lolly (candy) store.

I wanted all the lollies, every colour except the black ones and I wanted them now.

In my first year I watched various students practice weapons, do some boxing drills, push hands and I wanted to do all of that straight away.

Well, all I did was learn the Tai Chi form and basics and it took a while before I was slowly introduced to push hands, weapons forms and self defence.

I realised that Tai Chi was not something you can knockover in a few months. If it was I’d be bored and leave.

So 22 years on I feel I’ve hardly scratched the surface. In the early years it worried me because I didn’t feel I was making much progress.

As the years crept by I stopped worrying about comparing myself to others who were more experienced and talented.

I just kept plugging away, practicing and now realise there is no end to the journey.

Just as soon as you feel you have climbed a mountain top, you look up and there are higher mountain tops.

I can now understand it is the journey that is important not the destination.

I haven’t trained at a club or with a partner for some time now because running our business has taken up most of my time.

However I will get back into training with a partner in the near future and until I do I will keep practicing on my own.

So I suppose I’ve come a long way from that little kid in the lolly store who wanted everything now.

I’m more patient now.

6,000 Reasons

By Chris Leave a Comment

I’ve been doing some number crunching lately.

In particular, on how many primary school children have attended my Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz program since it started three years ago.

6000 kids!

That’s alot.

My program teaches 5-12 year olds how to build their self esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.

And it’s a humbling and satisfying feeling.

To know that I’ve been able to introduce the profound art of Tai Chi to young children and maybe have had some effect in helping them to feel better about themselves.

It’s certainly given me the opportunity to be creative with Tai Chi and it challenges me to adjust my presentation style according to the age group in front of me.

For example if they are very young I’m more animated, use simple language, keep them constantly occupied using different exercises. If they’re older I’m a bit more cool and mature.

If I taught Tai Chi the traditional wayI know the kids would be bored very quickly. [Read more…]

There's Always a First Time

By Chris Leave a Comment

I often share the following story with various groups when Sue and I are running our workshops.

Twenty-two years ago a friend of mine, who was a Tai Chi teacher at the time, tried to convince me to do Tai Chi.

At the time I wasn’t interested because I thought Tai Chi was for elderly people and besides who wants to embarrass themselves by prancing around.

Well, he kept at me ‘try Tai Chi, try Tai Chi’, and after two years of being pestered by him I finally gave in and said, ‘look, if I try it will you stop annoying me?’

He said, ‘yes.’

So I went to my first Tai Chi lesson here in Blackburn, Melbourne, Australia.

It was a church hall and as I entered the hall I noticed 20 other nervous beginners milling about.

My instructor yelled, ‘Big ones at the back and small ones in the front.’

I thought, ‘you beauty, I’m tall. I can hide down the back.’

After that one hour lesson I was hooked for life.

It’s now my passion, part of our business AQ/KQ and an excellent way of maintaining good health.

I often thought why did it take me so many years to try Tai Chi.

I think the answer lies in what a Tai Chi master once said, ‘you will come to Tai Chi when you are ready.’

Kung Fu Kid

By Chris Leave a Comment

I was at the recent annual Wushu and Tai Chi Festival held here in Melbourne Australia.

I have not been at this event for years and I decided to go along and take a few photographs.

They had three designated areas in a large sports hall. One area had Wushu activities, another Tai Chi and the other Kung Fu sparring.

I was seated on the gym floor near the Kung Fu sparring area watching the juniors competition.

During a break in the fighting I caught this young fellow, about 10 years of age, gazing into the distance watching the person in yellow competing in the Tai Chi forms division.

I like this photo because it represents to me a nice Yin Yang moment.

I wonder what the child was thinking of that man in yellow moving in a strange slow motion way?

He certainly seems captivated by the Tai Chi.

Footnote: I have other photographs of the event and will post them later.

Endangered Species – smiling teachers

By Chris Leave a Comment

I’ve been to over 100 primary and secondary schools here in Melbourne Australia running my Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz and wellbeing programs.

And I’ve discovered an endangered species – smiling teachers.

Many teachers who attend my student workshops look stressed out.

They’ve lost their smile and they look like they are only occupying space and time.

It’s a tough job.

I’m lucky because I am the fun guy who is there only for a brief time.

They are there day in and day out ‘in the trenches’ trying to teach students.

Sometimes I get the impression that their main job is crowd control.

On closer examination, their other jobs include dealing with:

parents
bureaucracy
disruptive students
lesson plans
being a counsellor
school culture
lack of time
high expectations from others and themselves
organising
motivation
discipline
etc etc etc

And oh, yeah, they are also there to educate our children.

Is it any wonder that many teachers have lost their smile.

For those who think teaching is easy then they should spend one day in a classroom and teach.

Especially when children are misbehaving.

How can those teachers who have lost their smile regain it?

Well, provide the resources required so they can do the job they were employed to do.

And that can only happen if there is the political and public will to provide these resources.

Until that happens the only thing that may return the smile to teachers is for them to focus on the reasons why they are teaching.

And if those reasons are they love kids and love to teach then that may help return their smile.

I know that when I meet students for the first time in a workshop I need to smile.

Because when I smile they smile.

Then we are ready to learn and have fun.