Preparing for Your Worst Nightmare

Rosalind Braga, Castro Valley, CA

I never thought I’d be writing this article. But life is full of surprises, some good, some bad. Life is change. And preparation for change is the name of the game: “prepare for college…prepare for a job…for marriage…and children…for flood, hurricane and earthquake. Keep healthy. Stay fit!”

The practice of T’ai Chi Chih is one way to prepare for better health, to learn relaxation, to release stress, to stay fit. Those of us lucky enough to practice T’ai Chi and teach it know that you can’t “fake it.” You must practice to reap the benefits of focus, calmness, centeredness and inner strength. For many of us T’ai Chi is a major source of joy in our lives as well.

And so it was on a late evening in February that I was returning home from the Whole Life Expo in San Jose about 10:30 p.m. I was tired and glad to be home. I pulled into my drive, parked the car, gathered my purse, shoulder bag and raincoat and got out of my car. What happened next seemed like a dream, a TV episode, yet it was REAL.

Two men came out of the darkness, one stepped toward me, lifted his right hand and placed a gun at my temple and said, “——, give me your purse.” He had on a black ski mask, and dark clothes. As time stood still, I gracefully handed him my purse and murmured a soft, gentle “sure”. It was almost like a taffy move, slow, graceful. He pulled the gun away, grabbed the purse and ran . . . jumped into a car and roared off into the night.

I could say alot about the following hours . . . the delayed reaction of fear and fright . . . the police coming, the interview . . . but I won’t. I want to say instead that I was BLESSED to be unharmed and BLESSED to be so calm and focused. The policemen who came to help were amazed at my calm demeanor and the amazing amount of detail I gave them regarding the whole event. This I attribute to my T’ai Chi Chih practice. Even in the moment when I wondered what the gunman would do next, I felt strong, calm, and centered. I had a fleeting thought that I was very proud of myself, should this be my last moment of life.

So my friends, T’ai Chi Chih is not a “soft form”. It is a martial art form as powerful as any hard form because it prepares you mentally for your worst nightmare by teaching you calmness, centeredness and a knowing of who and what you are.