Jun
28
By Marion Yas
Make your way around the back & down the stairs of the little heritage church on Michigan Street, and you will find Master Tek Siaw guiding his students through the graceful movements of Yang style tai chi.
Two years ago, I did just that, and I've been returning ever since. We do the same thing each class-qigong warm up, tai chi moves-and I wonder, what keeps us coming back?
Recently, over a dim sum table in Chinatown, I asked this question of Master Tek & longtime students & instructors Christine, Crispin, & Greg. There are as many reasons as players (in China, people play tai chi), it seems.
Greg had been doing martial arts for years but was looking for "something more" when he discovered tai chi 12 years ago. "What drew me in is that it felt real. What keeps me here is, though the external movements remain the same, the internal experience is always changing, always challenging. As Master Tek says, seeing is not always believing."
When asked how he came to tai chi, Crispin laughed, "I had a terrible computer hunch and someone told me, 'You should do tai chi; it'll straighten out your spine.' And it did. Like Greg, I find it challenging, deeply personal, and...actually, there is no area of my life that tai chi hasn't touched and informed for the better-keeping cool under fire, improved flexibility and strength, increased empathy for others, feeling less self-conscious. At first it was hard: do this, don't do that, relax, uplift, arrrgh too much to think about at once! But when I broke through I realized it wasn't so much a hard thing as I was making it hard for myself."
Christine, years into modern dance and yoga, wanted a form of movement she could do for the rest of her life. After researching martial arts styles, she tried Hsin-I tai chi and enjoyed the down-to-earth approach: "Central to the teaching is physical alignment-uplifted but not rigid, relaxed but not collapsed-which in turn becomes emotional alignment. I'm more aware now of tension and pain in my body and I can help myself avoid illness and injury; I feel more aligned in how I relate to friends, family, work. The goal isn't to transcend, but to live solidly and flexibly in ourselves and the world."
Master Tek grew up in China, where tai chi was an integral part of his life from the age of 13. What keeps him playing tai chi, is his desire to share his experience and help others. Yes, he can be strict (...do this, don't do that, relax, uplift...), but he also knows how to get us to play, and to laugh together.
I realize now why I have stuck with Greg, Christine, Crispin, & Tek-we have some serious fun down there on Michigan Street!
Hsin-I Tai Chi
Mon & Wed 6-7:45pm, Tues 6-7pm
511 Michigan St, James Bay