We celebrated our Tai Chi teacher's 86th birthday today. Mr. Pong teaches several classes a week with infinite patience and love. He has dedicated his life to passing on his knowledge and bringing peace and understanding to everyone he meets.
Students from all his classes came together to celebrate and what a grand celebration it was. I took this photo before everyone had arrived. I understand 150 students participated in the celebration.
The party just happened to be right after our usual Thursday class.
The party organizers decided to hold a relay race. Teams were selected from each day's class. Somehow Art and I "volunteered." I don't remember volunteering. I believe Art was asked and he did not refuse (he likes races) and somehow that meant both of us (what???) were going to be on the team representing our Thursday class.
It was a three legged race. My left leg and Art's right leg were tied together.
It was a pretty long relay and for the first half we did darn well. Then somehow, we really caught the rhythm and jogged to our anchor couple giving them ample time to finish triumphantly. People kept telling us they were surprised we virtually ran that second half.
What surprised me was the exhilaration of winning. I'm not a competitor and I'm not athletic. I don't volunteer to do any sports. However, in that moment, I understood the feeling of competition. Art says he was surprised to see that in me.
We then all dug into our bento lunches and a huge table FULL of desserts! Good gosh! It was amazing!
We sang Happy Birthday to our beloved teacher and wished him another decade of teaching us how to live and love with health and peace.
This is something I wish for all of you.
Happy Friday!
Students from all his classes came together to celebrate and what a grand celebration it was. I took this photo before everyone had arrived. I understand 150 students participated in the celebration.
The party just happened to be right after our usual Thursday class.
It was a three legged race. My left leg and Art's right leg were tied together.
It was a pretty long relay and for the first half we did darn well. Then somehow, we really caught the rhythm and jogged to our anchor couple giving them ample time to finish triumphantly. People kept telling us they were surprised we virtually ran that second half.
What surprised me was the exhilaration of winning. I'm not a competitor and I'm not athletic. I don't volunteer to do any sports. However, in that moment, I understood the feeling of competition. Art says he was surprised to see that in me.
We sang Happy Birthday to our beloved teacher and wished him another decade of teaching us how to live and love with health and peace.
This is something I wish for all of you.
Happy Friday!
What a grand time under those huge trees! Yes, you and Art ARE quite the cool, coordinated couple. You seem to reverse the retirement/aging process! DrumMajor
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful celebration in such a beautiful spot
ReplyDeleteYou are so fortunate to have such a wonderful teacher. It's obvious from the size of the celebration that he is well loved by many. That race sounds like fun! Congratulations on becoming an instant competitor, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou would have won every race, hands down, DJan! (without trying)
Deletewow, what an accomplishment-congrats! I wore my marathon shirt to a group picnic last Wed and everyone wanted to know about my run-well it took place in Iceland 5K and I walked and came in last...but I finished!
ReplyDeleteArt might make a racer out of you yet!
ReplyDeleteCongrztulations!
ReplyDeleteCongrats. Glad you won and had fun, too.
ReplyDeletePerfect example of why we should step out of our comfort circle and do things we don't think we like or can. I'm the very one that should learn from your example. Good for you, that you discovered this part about yourself...though I could have told you just reading your blogs you have enough steam in your engine to finish the AMAZING RACE...if ever there is a competition for seniors I seriously hope you and Art will consider being contenders!!
ReplyDeleteL. from W.
Never ever ever in a million years. LOL!
DeleteThis 3 legged race will be the highlight of my competitive career.
You and Art do all these things that I'll never do, and that is one great value of your blog. It lets me appreciate another life outside of my own. I tried tai chi for one session, but it was very uncomfortable, even painful, in my thighs to hold a crouching stance. I wanted to straighten up. Like yoga, it's not for me.
ReplyDeleteI find that unless you're careful, tai chi can be painful for your knees. I'm always making sure my knees and toes are pointing in the same direction. I do believe the best part of tai chi is the people we meet there.
DeleteHow simply wonderful a gift he has given all of you. :)
ReplyDeleteBravo!
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly contrasting themes here: exercising for good health in a spirit of peace and love; discovering your secret competitive nature; a table full of desserts. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter said she was shocked to read this post. She says that she knows her dad, her brother and herself are competitive. Tif and Jon both swam competitively on their high school swim teams and were/are quite competitive. However, she never, ever thought I had a competitive streak anywhere in my body. She thought this was all hilarious and can't wait to talk to her brother about this.
DeleteWhat a wonderful tribute Birthday celebration for your teacher! That was so much fun thanks for taking me along, I enjoyed every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteYou and Art tied together is a sight I wish I could have seen in person, that's really cool. It's just another thing the two of you do so well together.