Seven years ago, when we were “exiled” from the Mission, we landed a bit south, in Daly City.
Our modest but comfortable house is located close to the border between San Francisco and Daly City, across Lincoln Park and its community center.
The first morning there, we heard some animated voices outside our windows. I looked out and saw about eight elderly Chinese women, ready to practice some Tai Chi. It was 8:30 a.m..
The next morning they were back. Like clockwork. Rain or shine. It is a ritual that they clearly cherish. Whenever I see them, the same eight women are there. It seems as if nobody ever misses a meeting. It has been an inspirational sight.
About three years ago, a friend told me about a free Tai Chi class for Seniors. It was held at the Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center, just a few blocks from where we live. Inspired by that group of women across from our house, I went to check that class.
It has been a wonderful experience.
When I first started, the instructor was a master named Phillip Lim. He was a great person to have as a first instructor. Very approachable and helpful, the very definition of the word reliable. After I had been there a little over a year, Phil decided “to go up to the country and paint my mailbox blue,” like the words to the song by Taj Mahal. He left San Francisco.
When “Phil” took off, I also stopped going to the class. I had a hip surgery and later the COVID-19 pandemic halted just about everything, including most activities at that awesome Minnie and Lovie Rec Center.
Nowadays, with a brand new hip and with COVID being more manageable, I have recently returned. Today, almost all my fellow students at the Tai Chi class are women. And, all of them, Chinese. Their ages vary, but most of them are seniors, like I am.
The regular new teacher, a woman named Betty Li, is also a reliable leader. Fun, friendly and knowledgeable. Every Wednesday and Friday, between 10 AM and noon, under her guidance—and sometimes with the inspired help provided by Aileen Tse and Richard Cheng— about 12 women and two, sometimes three men, go through a combination of balanced and slow-motion controlled movements. They represent the meditation-based exercise known as Tai Chi.
T’ai Chi Ch’uan literally means great ultimate boxing. Tai = extreme. Ji = limit.
The leader provides music, specially composed for these exercises. They are evocative and flowing sounds that serve to accompany the movements. The goal is to help achieve the balance of two opposite forces, called yin and yang. Physically, mentally and spiritually.
When asked about the reasons for being one of the teachers, Betty Li is pragmatic: “I live in the neighborhood…I know most of the people who come to the class…I am happy to teach them…specially retired people…I want them to be there and exercise…instead of staying home, watching TV, or checking their phones!”
She shared that she was first introduced to Tai Chi in the 1960’s when she was a high school student living in China. “It was a mandatory class…although I think that young people like faster movements better! But…I learned it.”
I believe that Tai Chi can help our individual mental and physical health, but I also believe that classes like these can help us all navigate our often volatile and unashamedly violent society.
As many of us know, some politicians eagerly promote divisions among ourselves. They think that the more distance between us, the easier for them to control us. Of course, they are right.
We are all aware (and perhaps guilty, at various levels) of the rampant stereotyping of people from communities different to our own. It is a cultural tumor in our society. A sad but common reality of life in this country.
Mexicans (and all Latinos for that matter) are stereotyped as lazy. Chinese are called terrible drivers and rude riders, “especially those ladies who elbow past you on the 30 Stockton bus.”
Black people are stereotyped as loud and prone to violence. Arabs and other Middle Eastern people are feared as potential terrorists…and White Euroamericans are oftentimes minimized as entitled and clueless people, guilty deniers refusing to examine their own history, mortally afraid of the dramatic demographic changes happening today in the United States.
All that stuff is thrown around regularly. Sadly, much of it sticks. And it hurts. It hurts all.
When COVID-19 first appeared, the former (and perhaps future) U.S. President, Donald Trump, who started his first campaign by attacking Mexican immigrants, decided, without any real proof, that the pandemic was the fault of China.
His repeated use of “China Virus” and other negative terms helped fuel an ugly environment of hatred. After his divisive tweets, Asian-Americans suffered a striking rise in hateful incidents.
All of that stereotyping needs to stop. Otherwise, the abyss that separates one half of the country from the other will grow. We need to mingle, to do creative multicultural things together, to learn about each other, to love each other.
Simple, yet profound actions, such as taking a Tai Chi class, are good steps towards that goal.
