Tai Chi for health & wellbeing
I’m having fun, as usual, running our Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz six week program. The focus is on building self esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.
The kids love the speedy Tai Chi drill. This is where I stand out in front of about 30-40 students and yell out various posture names and then they have to quickly jump into position.
For example I’ll yell out names such as;
I’ve used the Tai Chi Kidz Race drill to teach children how to slow down and move correctly.
Here’s how it works.
I get the class to line up at one end of the hall. Then I say to them ‘we going to have a race.’ They usually get excited at this.
Then I say, ‘okay, the slowest person wins.’ At first there are confused looks but once they get started their movements slow right down. Some hardly move at all.
It’s a bit of reverse psychology by making it completely different from their expectations of a race.
The benefits?
Kids learn to co-ordinate their bodies and improve their balance. It’s a fun drill. And I can also teach other specific body movement skills, for example tucking in your tailbone as you step.
Why not have a go and teach this to your junior Tai Chi or martial arts class?
If you do, let me know how it goes.
It’s been a very busy Tai Chi week.
I ran seven workshops and one short introduction on Tai Chi at a primary school.
The workshops are based on my ‘Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz’ program which focuses on building self-esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.
It was fun watching the prep students crack up laughing with my ‘teethy’ prop and ‘monkey brain’ explanation regarding self talk.
I’ve run these workshops for several years and learned earlier that teaching children Tai Chi in a traditional way is almost impossible.
They get too impatient and bored.
So I bring in my props, play games and use humour to teach and emphasise simple techniques they can do easily and quickly if they feel either stressed or lethargic.
It’s not boring because I never know what mood a class is in or what level of energy they have until I am standing in front of them.
So I have to quickly assess what needs to be done to capture their attention and maintain their enthusiasm.
And the best way to do that is to have my own Yin Yang energies balanced so my Chi can flow smoothly.
How do I do that?
I focus on having fun!