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Couples in the College - Lena and Edward Yong |
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 I had never envisaged taking up Tai Chi. I’d always assumed that it was an exotic Chinese art form for “older people”!
However, seven years ago our son died in an accident while travelling overseas – something else I, or no other parent, wants to envisage, let alone experience. As we struggled to get through each new day without him, family and friends cocooned us with love and support. It was at this time that my sister, who had previously done Tai Chi with Master Eng Chor, encouraged Edward to try a class.
I felt unable to face anything new at that time so my sister and two friends joined up with Edward for the new term. From that time on there was no going back. Edward became totally absorbed in Tai Chi which gave him a brief release from his grief each day.
To commemorate what would have been our son’s 22nd birthday, our family travelled to the beautiful island where he had died. It was here as I watched Edward in the mornings and evenings doing his Tai Chi facing the ocean that I realized what a sense of calm and healing the movements engendered. It was my turn to be enticed!
The most immediate effect for me was that I began to actually manage to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep – I had been existing on 2 to 3 hours a night. Because you have to concentrate on the movements, it also meant a reprieve from the exhaustion of thoughts racing around in my head.
I then started to introduce the Chi Kung breathing exercises into my classrooms to encourage children to regenerate their energy between activities. They would even ask to do Tai Chi before tests! [Was this a delay tactic?]
Apart from all of the physical benefits, Tai Chi has introduced us to many wonderful people, taken us on adventures to China and Tibet, challenged us to acquire new skills, given us another common interest to share together and definitely more points of finesse to “spar” over!
Thank you Grandmaster Eng Chor and also Margaret and Snezana, our Hawthorn and Box Hill Leading Instructors, for your dedication to and promotion of Tai Chi. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 March 2008 )
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