The subtle virtue of the universe is wholeness,
It regards all things as equal.

- Lao Tzu

It all started 18 years ago when I found a leaflet in my mailbox, offering tai chi classes in Box Hill. As an ex-yoga practitioner from former Yugoslavia, I was looking for something that would give me more than just a physical exercise. One cool November evening, unknowingly, my search ended - I discovered Tai Chi, the ultimate form of exercise that satisfies the whole being.

I shall never forget the enchantment of that Monday night, watching Grand Master Eng Chor glide in his silky uniform across the hall, performing the Yang Style for us, the beginners. That feeling has stayed with me to this day and has turned into a passion for learning and sharing the skill and wisdom of this ancient Chinese form of exercise art.

Over the years I have practised many styles of tai chi, weapon routines and qigong under superb instruction of our devoted Masters, Eng Chor and Chin Min, realising how privileged and fortunate I have been. They have taught me smooth coordination, how to step and balance well, breathe properly, relax and concentrate, move like the wind or water and much more. My students have also taught me a lot: how to be patient, how to listen and care, read their eyes and bodies, and how to help them step outside their comfort zone into a new adventure called Tai Chi. To both I am grateful.

Yet, there were more teachers to come, elderly men and women, anonymous Chinese citizens, scattered on the shores of the Yellow Sea or at the foothill of the Himalayas, who taught me walking backwards, massaging the mouth with the tongue, kicking effortlessly and most of all, how complete tai chi absorption makes you oblivious to the world around you. Such an experience deeply reinvigorates and truly transforms the whole being.

Thus, in my work and on my journeys I make sure to continue learning more or teaching others, wherever I am: in my hometown in faraway Serbia, working with a keen Aikido Master and his warriors; on a Universe Explorer Steamship circumnavigating the world, teaching seafaring American students and lecturers; at NMIT, instructing a group of challenged local and migrant learners; at health and education conferences, showing the stressed workers how to relax and experience their life in a holistic way; or in our Box Hill classes and park lessons, working with eager, and I would like to believe, enchanted learners.

This gift that has been given to me, that permeates my whole life, I cannot keep, for it belongs to all. It “embraces the subtle essence within” that makes us all equal.

Snezana Dabic, Snr Instructor
Box Hill Centre