The Confession of a Tai-Chi Dropout

by Misako Lauritzen

My encounter with Tai-Chi goes way back to my teenage years.

I had always been fascinated by martial arts, but was intimidated by any kind of athletic activities imaginable. You see, I wasn't very well-coordinated, to put it mildly. You ask any of my peers from high school, and they can recall how much I dreaded gym classes; I would do almost anything to avoid taking part in it.

Martial arts appealed to me the way that sports did not. First of all, I saw it as a survival skill. As a young  woman who aspired to venture out all on my own into the world, I thought I should be able to protect myself. Second of all, I felt that martial arts involved both physical and spiritual aspects; I felt that for what I was lacking physically, I could make up with the strength of my mind and will.

Still I was not bold enough to try my hands at such things as karate and aikido; however, I thought I might be able to handle Tai-Chi. Tai-Chi seemed slow enough for me to follow, and, as I understood it, it did not require physical strength.

So I enrolled myself in a class offered through this community center in Hiroshima, Japan. The class consisted of about twenty people, mostly housewives in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Among them, I stood out in more ways than one; I was the only teenager in the group, and I was clueless. In a Tai-Chi class you follow the movement of your teacher as a group; there is a minimal amount of individual instructions, and, when you are lost, well, you are screwed.

I tried to ”fake it,” but the more moves I learned, the more confused I became. I became embarrassed that I kept mixing up my left with right. It would have been better if I had been able to review and practice my moves after each class, but living in a school dormitory made it nearly impossible to do so. I would have died rather than be caught doing that in the mess hall or the rooftop where we hanged our laundry to dry. Eventually it became too painful to make the same mistakes so many times, and I stopped going altogether.

When I enrolled in another Tai-Chi class about two years ago, things unfolded in much the same way. My attendance was sporadic at best, and when I realized that I was not making much progress, I convinced myself that I was just not wired for Tai-Chi.

Therefore when I showed up for Master Shao Pen's class on last Saturday morning as the co-organizer of the class, I was apprehensive. I hoped to stay out of everyone's way and to not embarrass myself.

However, to my surprise and delight, I actually enjoyed the class. Master Shao Pen made all the difference. What sets him apart from other teachers are the three things.

1. He is absolutely masterful when it comes to teaching.
Master Shao Pen Wang was one of the first (if not the first) ballet dancers that China had borne. He danced in the national ballet theater in Beijing and taught ballet in China, Japan, and the U.S. When he teaches, he not only makes it look easy but also actually easy to follow by breaking the set down to bite-size sequences.

The energy that he brings to his instructions is also amazing. He really knows how to direct people's attention and how to use his voice.

2. He truly relates to you, and makes you feel that your presence is appreciated. 

When you first meet him, Master Shao Pen shakes your hand with his both hands. He is genuinely interested in what you have to say; he often invites you to ask questions, too. He is eager to share himself. He is quite a storyteller, but he knows when to stop. All in all, his demeanor allows you to let your guard down and to open up your body and mind to learn. 

3. He educates you on the physical and spiritual aspects of Tai-Chi, which leaves you more knowledgeable about how to keep your body and mind healthy. 

In our first class, he taught us a very simple exercise for keeping ourselves stroke-free. It is as simple as tapping the inner arm joint located opposite of your elbow for twenty times or so. You make a fist with the opposite hand and use it like a hammer.

Master Shao Pen also taught us that Tai-Chi is about balancing Yin and Yang, the opposing forces in the universe such as hot and cold, male and female, good and bad. I drew a powerful insight from that. Oftentimes, I have a fixed-view of myself such as ”I am not athletic enough,” and ”I am not strong enough.” However if I see the world as not so fixed, and If I take a more yielding approach to life, possibilities that I have overlooked so far in my life will open up for me. 

I highly recommend Master Shao Pen's class to anyone who is looking to see the world with a new perspective and to approach life with the mindset of infinite possibilities in 2014. Come check it out. The next class is Saturday, January 11, 2014.

Master Shao Pen Wang's Tai-Chi Class
When: 9am - 10am & 10am -11am
Where: Pro Dance Center at 910 Roosevelt, Irvine, CA 92620