Tai Chi for a better living!
Rita's Story
Rita Leung is a 66 year old Chinese woman who lives in Confucius Plaza in Chinatown, New York City.
Seven years ago, when she first joined my Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan class, I had noticed that she could not stand straight and the right side of her body collapsed ll the time. Later, I found out that she had serious medical problems dating back to 1970s.
When Rita was 22 years of age, she had a disease called “Bronchiectasis of Lung” and she had right lower lobe of her lung lobectomy in the early 1970s. Unluckily, her health decreased badly later on. She also had decreased esophageal mobility that affects her life, so she had to get 4 operations during the past 30 years. She has been lying on the bed a lot. In some of the slightly better years of her health, she spent a very limited time trying slowly walking around when she felt that she had a little energy for even this practice.When she gradually felt better in her recent years, she joined Chinatown YMCA 5 years ago and immediately started to try the Tai Ji Quan class. I recall the beginning year of her Tai Ji Quan study, she obviously looked weak and could not follow well with the movements. After a few classes, she started to feel better, and after a few months, she was getting stronger and gaining confidence through Tai Ji Quan practice. She has almost never missed any classes, which enabled her to practice Tai Ji Quan 3 times a week. The better she feels, the deeper she loves Tai Ji Quan, and everybody was so happy for her with her healthier body and happier attitude. Tai Ji Quan practice really helped her and much improved her general health. Therefore, she continued her practice, and became to a very dedicated practitioner who is interested in learning applications and understanding the principles and philosophy within Tai Ji Quan. She happily lives in her life as she says: “I have never been happier and healthier at any point of my life than now, I feel a lot younger and have much more energy than I felt in myself when I was in my late 20’s, thanks to Tai Ji Quan!”
I have some photos of Rita who practice Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan after a few years of weekly classes. You can see how she does the “Snake Creeps Down” stance, and also “Double Lotus Kick!!! How can she do these? Her answer is “just practice.” I'd like to add: "practice smart with understanding the fundamental principles."
This summer (2014), Rita challenged Tina Zhang to do a full-split, so we did together after the class.
- Tina Zhang
Rita Leung is a 66 year old Chinese woman who lives in Confucius Plaza in Chinatown, New York City.
Seven years ago, when she first joined my Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan class, I had noticed that she could not stand straight and the right side of her body collapsed ll the time. Later, I found out that she had serious medical problems dating back to 1970s.
When Rita was 22 years of age, she had a disease called “Bronchiectasis of Lung” and she had right lower lobe of her lung lobectomy in the early 1970s. Unluckily, her health decreased badly later on. She also had decreased esophageal mobility that affects her life, so she had to get 4 operations during the past 30 years. She has been lying on the bed a lot. In some of the slightly better years of her health, she spent a very limited time trying slowly walking around when she felt that she had a little energy for even this practice.When she gradually felt better in her recent years, she joined Chinatown YMCA 5 years ago and immediately started to try the Tai Ji Quan class. I recall the beginning year of her Tai Ji Quan study, she obviously looked weak and could not follow well with the movements. After a few classes, she started to feel better, and after a few months, she was getting stronger and gaining confidence through Tai Ji Quan practice. She has almost never missed any classes, which enabled her to practice Tai Ji Quan 3 times a week. The better she feels, the deeper she loves Tai Ji Quan, and everybody was so happy for her with her healthier body and happier attitude. Tai Ji Quan practice really helped her and much improved her general health. Therefore, she continued her practice, and became to a very dedicated practitioner who is interested in learning applications and understanding the principles and philosophy within Tai Ji Quan. She happily lives in her life as she says: “I have never been happier and healthier at any point of my life than now, I feel a lot younger and have much more energy than I felt in myself when I was in my late 20’s, thanks to Tai Ji Quan!”
I have some photos of Rita who practice Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan after a few years of weekly classes. You can see how she does the “Snake Creeps Down” stance, and also “Double Lotus Kick!!! How can she do these? Her answer is “just practice.” I'd like to add: "practice smart with understanding the fundamental principles."
This summer (2014), Rita challenged Tina Zhang to do a full-split, so we did together after the class.
- Tina Zhang
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