Hi everyone, my name is Helen. I am a retired high school teacher. I am sure you know that this job is very demanding and stressful, it takes a lot of energy out of you. By the end of my working day I always felt extremely exhausted and realised that I had to help myself. I knew a little bit about Tai Chi from a friend so I decided to try this activity at my closest centre which was in Brighton.
My first teacher there was Senior Master Chin Min. His performance of Tai Chi movements was so elegant that I immediately fell in love with all the exercises and movements. I wanted to learn this soft martial art. Even though I felt very tired coming from school after 5pm and only wanted to sit on the chair and close my eyes, I pushed myself to go and be in class by 6:30pm.
For the first 20 min of the lesson I could not stop thinking about school work, problems, and plans. But it is impossible to follow the movements and to learn without concentration. So slowly my mind would be turning towards Tai Chi and during the remaining time I was totally involved in activities. Soon I realized that after the lesson I felt relaxed and more energetic than before the lesson, and even had enough strength to do some work at night.
After the first term SM Chin Min gave us certificates of completion of Level 1 of Tai Chi. I proudly keep it as a wonderful memory of my introduction to this healthy and beautiful activity in 1993.
I have been doing Tai Chi for 31 years and I feel young and strong in my body and in my mind. Now I feel much healthier than when I just got involved with this art, and I am not planning to stop. I continue my mind and body training by learning new Qigong routines from Grand Master Eng Chor and I immensely enjoy it.
In conclusion I would like to thank all the teachers that gave me their time over the years. Thanks to them I acquired some knowledge and skills that I can pass on to other people.
Helen Gul, Assistant Instructor
St Kilda Centre
Updated: 29 May 2024
