Quick Learners

Lois Mahaney, San Lorenzo CA

To celebrate Chinese New Year as part of the multi-cultural programs at a local school in Hayward, I was asked to teach twenty students, selected from two second grade classrooms, some T’ai Chi for the program. The teachers could only spare two one-hour sessions for me to coach them. They were apt students and had no trouble learning the basic footwork. As you can see in the photo, they are doing a nice “Around the Platter” (girls in background were not part of the group, just watching.) All in all, we did Joyous Breath, Bird Flaps its Wings, Around the Platter and Variation, Bass Drum, and Passing Clouds. A martial arts instructor whose students also gave a demonstration was quite impressed with the movements we did and wanted more information (which I gave him gladly). A parent of one of the children said that her daughter was thrilled to be doing the movements and “it felt so good” that she practiced each night.