Tai Chi Fan dance
Learning Tai Chi to strengthen my knees years ago was one of the best exercises I have ever done.
It stresses on bending one’s knees and slow meditative movements: looks easy but deceptively challenging! But it surely solves my weak knees problem!
Later, I went into tai chi cane, tai chi long sick, and tai chi kong fu fan dance. The latter is the one I enjoyed most: fast-track musical movements!
My wobbly knees and Tai Chi
A decade ago, a friend and I were walking up the stairs.
The lift was not functioning that day.
We cursed as we climbed.
She said, “next month I will be going for my knee operation.”
That got me thinking. For a year or so,
my wobbly, weak, and painful knees made climbing a challenge.
I enrolled for Tai Chi the following week.
I have never looked back since.
I don’t need to take knee supplements too.
I called Tai Chi, the ‘dancing meditation’!
Graceful yet deceptively challenging movements!
One of the toughest movements
is ‘snake creeps down. (see pose in picture above)
Many new students, including myself, looked on.
We (about thirty to sixty years old) shook our heads.
‘There is no way we can do this pose!’
It took me about three years
before I could do the ‘snake creeping down’!
…and my Tai Chi sifu was more than seventy years old! Still graceful and flexible!
Are you too young to retire?
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a female director in her eighties
but was still walking around
the whole hospital grounds.
I bet retirement
was never in her vocabulary.
So, I shouldn’t complain if
I have to cover
a whole hospital compound, too!
I would take it
as a good exercise!
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Yet I feared for her
when I saw her walking alone
up a stage to give a speech one evening.
I told the organiser that someone
should have accompanied her
up and down the stage.
And they did
when she was about
to walk down the stage.
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I personally had requested a chaperon
to walk me up a stage
for an award winning ceremony
in Pattaya, Thailand.
I was in my fifties, then.
The stair was made of wooden planks
with holes in between!
The drum roll for each announcement
was a shattering, frightening,
and unnerving experience.
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So, one may be too young to retire,
but never defy
the fragility of old age!
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Some countries are increasing
their retirement age.
Are you too young to retire?
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Wasted days, wasted nights
This song reminds me that many patients in wards shouldn’t waste days and nights staring at the ceiling!
Charles R. is one of my best duet partners at WeSing. At 77, he still sings at pub when invited!
Songs I dueted with Charles Rodrigues are
HEAVEN, EARTH, LIFE, AND SOUL (HELS)
HELS is one of the best singers I duet with in WeSing. He has a vibrant voice!
Listen to some of our duets!
International women day and gender inequality!
Strategies To Help You Cope With Negative Feelings
Negative feelings are a natural part of life, but managing them can make all the difference in our mental and emotional well-being. We need to make a conscious effort and employ the right strategies to prevent them from overwhelming us. Here are some unconventional yet effective ways to deal with negativity. 1. Write a Letter […]
Strategies To Help You Cope With Negative Feelings
Making the most of what one has got (left)
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a young man became quadriplegic
after a diving accident,
which broke his neck
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a woman felt half-a-woman now
after a radical mastectomy,
cos she felt less feminine
with less a breast or two
**********
a middle-aged man felt like a handicap
after amputation below his knees
for infected foot and uncontrolled diabetes
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Stephen Hawking has accepted
his condition and achieved so much in life
so much more
than a normal human being could!
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We really shouldn’t be complaining!
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Singing with a violinist backup!
I am honoured to be able to sing with a violin backup! Listen to my Chinese song duet with a violinist!
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I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
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Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.
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Chen Song Ping 