Brenda Hunter, Glebe
My childhood was spent on the North Shore of Auckland, near a
beach and a pony club. I spent most of my spare time riding and
looking after horses, also swimming and playing on beaches and
in the small boats that my father built. My work for almost 40
years has been in the computer industry – starting with Air New
Zealand’s computer systems, then working for IBM in NZ, UK and
Australia, and since 1985 I’ve mostly run small Australia/NZ
subsidiaries for overseas computer software and services
companies, one of whom was bought by IBM 2 years ago - so I’m
now working for the IBM Software group. I still sail boats,
haven’t ridden horses for a long time, race historic racing cars
a bit (it’s a family thing), visit art galleries, music, and
theatre whenever I can, and cook for family and friends. In the
first week of May 2007 I’m moving to Singapore to spend 2 years
in IBM’s ASEAN region; I’ll greatly miss Master Ric Lum’s
classes and my fellow students, and look forward to re-joining
whenever I can.
Updates:
Sent:
Friday, April 13, 2007 8:58 PM
Subject: birds
Ric,
I love the way birds gather when we are practising Tai Chi Chuan
with you, they seem to be drawn to the energy. They mostly come
to the front and look at us (though of course at the front is
where I mostly see them! I’ve also seen kookaburras on branches
looking down on us) and they cock their heads to one side and
watch, and draw slowly closer. The dogs approach in a bouncier,
more obviously joyful way – and always have, to you, and to many
of our class members, before obediently re-joining their
walkers. But I enjoy the intensity of the birds. The park (and
“our spot”) is such a lovely location for classes.
Sent:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 2:45 PM
Subject: movements
The first is what you said this morning, which I really like,
and found very helpful (as I'm sure you know, I find it
difficult to stop my mind from flicking onto other things, but
this thought definitely helps!): "Eternity is now. Because
Reality is only ever the present moment."
And here is a note on coming to class straight from a long
distance flight:
On Friday evening I flew overnight from Singapore to Sydney,
landing about 7.30am. The time difference of 3 hours makes this
a very short night but I didn't sleep anyway as I was surrounded
by large and rather bouncy passengers, and as usual these days
the flight was completely full. I got home in time to join the
Saturday 9am Tai Chi class only a few minutes late, but still
vibrating from the flight. Doing Tai Chi with the class, I very
quickly felt my body coming back into balance - I was aware of
Chi flow, the vibrating feeling disappeared, and I became much
more relaxed. I'm sure this balancing effect also helps get back
onto local time - I cooked dinner that evening for some family
visitors from UK and I stayed awake without effort and slept
well that night.
Sent:
Monday, October 30, 2006 8:04 PM
Subject: (latest) viewpoint
I am getting a lot
of value from your classes, and am especially learning a lot
from the format of watching you..
in one specific move or sequence of moves, and then following
you - which may be in either just that move, or in a larger
section of the Form. It's not just that I am "seeing" more than
before, I also seem to be understanding more of what you are
showing, and certainly it feels different for me. I think I am
"trusting" more that we can let go while also paying attention
to the move we are in - and when I do this during a class
section in which we are following you, there is almost always a
part where I feel my move is lifted and carried, with a
lightness that is just "there" in your group. This also has a
very balancing effect on me, which continues well beyond the
lesson.
I think I am even
hearing your classes differently! I have always been very aware
of your ability to describe in words what would not have seemed
to me to be describable that way! But I seem to be understanding
more what you are saying in terms of how to move (or more likely
not move!) - such as last week when you used the phrase "F.W.F."
and of course that did have the effect of commencing a weight
shift. And it was as if a door had opened to show a fundamental
view of the Form I had been missing until now.
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 5:25 PM
Subject:
Paradigm Shift
I do think it is quite difficult for many people who are
educated in a “western” system to adapt to what the “west” has
sometimes called an “eastern” approach.
A
student may not realise that your increased expectation of them
only occurs when you know they have in fact progressed to a
stage where they CAN move to a higher level. Your students
really do look like they are doing Tai Chi, and really do feel
Chi flow (which is very different from any other classes I know
of!) but to your students that isn’t always apparent that they
have developed! And it seems to me that many of your students
progress because they also learn to appreciate some of what I
called (for want of a better word) an “eastern” approach to
learning but that does take some adjusting.
(
Persig in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” about 1973
called this the “romantic” approach and blamed ancient Greece***
for the more rigid straight-line-logic underlying the “western”
approach – anyway he was very aware of the chasm between the two
approaches.
)
***
Socrates was the great pillar of this "romantic" attitude. 'Tis
blokes like Aristotle who messed things up. - ric
And in fact you were significantly more enlightening for me a
few weeks ago, when you mentioned that Chinese
learning
derives far more from observation than typical “western”
learning (since which time I feel I have improved in learning
from observation – or at least I am much more aware of that!)
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 7:16 AM
Subject: 5_spontaneous awakening of Chi?
I find it hard to put spontaneous Chi into words - thinking about this
I see it mainly as "connection" - both within our body and to
a wider force. I enjoy learning Tai Chi Chuan, and when I come to class
I am conscious of participating in an extension of what I could link to
on my own. When participating with the class I sometimes feel the spontaneous
flow of Chi and a feeling of lightness as if the Chi is lifting
my body and connecting it to the greater Chi flow, to and in which Ric
is guiding his students.
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: wrenched shoulder
Chi as healer -
I arrived at last week's "push hands" class with a painful shoulder,
having wrenched a muscle during travel three days earlier, and I wasn't
sure I would be able to participate fully in the class. However as we
went through the exercises my shoulder pain gradually dissipated, and
after about 45 minutes into the lesson, during which I had been very aware
of chi flow, my arm movement had become quite free and my shoulder felt
almost normal again. Prior to this I'd had a lot of trouble turning, reaching
or lifting my left arm, so it was a great relief - and a strong example
to me of the power of chi flow.
2003
“It seems to me that Ric is offering a true
means to learning Tai Chi for those who choose
to participate fully in his classes, and who are
willing to accept that the approach is
necessarily different from learning a typical
“western” education or skill. Ric’s approach to
Tai Chi flows from his own extended studies and
high levels of attainment, his experience of how
this is achieved, and his calling to pass his
knowledge to others - he continues to open new
doors and development opportunity at every stage
his students reach."
3/7/2003
I have enjoyed Ric Lum’s Tai Chi instruction for the past two years,
and look forward to continuing to develop under his guidance for years
to come. I love working with Tai Chi, partly because it provides such
a different approach to life and to energy than our more usual “western”
exercise, and because of the way it feels and the perspective it brings.
Ric develops each student’s abilities gradually, guiding our progress
on the basis of a traditional Chinese approach adapted to the context
of today’s environment in Sydney! Ric is a highly perceptive teacher,
he continually identifies the next step for each student’s advancement,
and assists us to see, understand, and continue to develop. When I first
started Ric’s classes, he told me that it would take 7 lessons to
feel I was developing - that was true, and I notice that most new students
take a similar time to adjust to what for most of us is a very different
approach to attention and movement, before starting to demonstrate and
feel the advantages. After that, it is really up to each individual to
choose whether to stay with Ric’s approach of continual development
- as for any high level attainment it does require commitment; at times
it feels like we’re not progressing as quickly as we’d expect
for a more typical educational skill (and sometimes it’s clearer
to observe the success of others as they develop in the practice of Tai
Chi, than to see that you’re also progressing yourself) - but it
brings the rewards which are expressed in Ric’s notes.
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