The Power of Small Successes

I noticed a trend when I observed my Tai Chi students, through the years. The trend was that they started exercising more, took walks more frequently, and/or did more strength training. For many years, I wondered why. I also wondered why they came back to my Tai Chi classes, especially since it seems like they had gotten themselves into a better place for their physical well being.

Of course, I know that Tai Chi offers a holistic approach to health, it’s not just purely physical - the most common being that Tai Chi helps with balance and stress reduction. Tai Chi can serve as a great tool for enhancing mind-body connection, in a way that other forms of exercises don’t do as directly.

And then, it dawned on me! Tai Chi gave people the CONFIDENCE that they are capable of achieving physical ability! When you go through a Tai Chi class, it’s not necessarily cardiovascularly rigorous like a step aerobics class. But, at the same time, you do feel like you put in some work, because of the constant shifting back and forth with the legs, and the brain power it takes to coordinate some of the arm and leg motions. So at the end of it, you feel like you accomplished something.

I didn’t realize how powerful that is. When a practice instills people with a sense of achievement and confidence, that can sometimes be the key that opens the lock to try other things. When you excite that part of your thinking, it can be a big motivator to keep the body and brain moving, especially if they’ve been relatively dormant for a long period of time.

I take this same approach with my Kung-Fu classes. Relatively short chunks of movements for each class, so that everyone can get a solid sense of the techniques and sequences.

Feeling success is so important, especially when you are starting out, brand new, or after a very long hiatus. It potentially primes for longevity, which is my ambitious goal for anyone who comes into my space. Tai Chi and Kung-Fu aren’t just recreational activities, I view them as therapeutic modalities contributing to holistic health and wellness for strengthening, healing, and injury prevention. I guess that’s why I called my first organization in Champaign, IL, “Kung-Fu for Holistic Health”!