Patience

I was working with grade five and six students the other day in our ‘Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz’ workshops.

As I walked into the hall for the first session I noticed some workmen outside.

Once the kids came in and I introduced myself the ear-bursting screech began.

One of the workmen outside was using a grinding tool on a piece of metal.

I had to raise the level of my voice so the children could hear what I was saying.

The irritating and annoying sound threaten to disrupt the class as some of the children started to complain about the noise.

I had two choices – either complain about the noise which would have further highlighted the discomfort or use a Tai Chi principle (yin/yang) to deal with it.

I chose the Tai Chi option because I was there to teach the children how to cope with stress.

This is how I did it.

I acknowledged the noise to the students without making too much of it.

I then reinforced the idea throughout the session that Tai Chi helps us to focus inside of ourselves rather than on external distractions we have no control of.

This worked reasonable well as we got through what could have been a disastrous session because of the noise.

This experience for me reinforced the lesson that as teachers we need to model the behaviour we desire our students to exhibit.

A choice we all need to make under pressure.

Stay calm or panic.

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.

Grinding Tai Chi

Tai Chi Lollies