Sharing China's ancient wisdom

Meet Doreen Hynd, 92, the tai chi chuan master who wants to pass on her knowledge of the art to future generations

"Balance" is a word that you'll hear often from Doreen Hynd, a 92-year-old tai chi chuan master who has taught the martial art for almost 30 years, both in the United States and Canada.

"Balance is everything. We all want to live as human beings with a very fine balance in our emotions and how we present ourselves to the world," Hynd says. She is discussing the benefits of practicing tai chi chuan, a Chinese martial art practiced for self-defense and health benefits.

On the United Nations Chinese Language Day, held on April 20 every year, Hynd was awarded a special honor for her outstanding achievement in promoting tai chi culture.

"Tai chi has withstood the test of time for several centuries in Chinese culture. It brings about an awareness of breath and calmness and invites the body, mind and inner consciousness to work together for an experience of lightness and strength," Hynd says.

Born in Australia in 1925, Hynd began her tai chi chuan training in the 1980s at Sydney University. In 1984, she moved to the US and sought out Sophia Delza, who had spent many years in China studying under the famous tai chi chuan grandmaster Ma Yueh Liang. Ma was the senior disciple of Wu Jianquan, the founder of Wu style tai chi chuan.

After Delza died in 1996, her teaching assistant Hynd carried on Delza's mission of promoting tai chi culture and taught at places such as the United Nations, Carnegie Hall and the State University of New York. "It was one of the most inspiring things in my life," says Hynd, whose students have included many retirees.

During her 24 years of teaching the art, miracles have happened, she says, recalling her experience of teaching patients. One of her students, who had suffered serious brain damage, started to recover memories after practicing tai chi chuan with her, even though doctors said it was "impossible".

"They (the patients) learned about me through the college that I worked in Canada, and they stayed with me and are still with me. Now the medical world wants to know what this Chinese exercise is doing with their patients," Hynd says with a big smile.

She wants to pass on the magic to young people as well.

"I volunteered to be a mentor in the high school as well as middle school and elementary school," she says. "They want me to teach tai chi chuan, and I am very thrilled about that."

Hynd believes it is important to speak to young adults, as they are inquiring about the world and are the future ambassadors for different cultures. "They are the ones who are going to lead the world, and it's really nice to have them embrace all cultures at a young age - to listen, to learn and to be open to all cultures," she says.

The concept of tai chi ("supreme ultimate") appears in both Taoist and Confucian philosophy, representing the fusion of yin and yang into a single ultimate, which is interchangeable, says Cao Guozhong, president of the UN Staff Recreation Council tai chi club.

Asked whether she would use tai chi chuan to defend herself, Hynd says: "I would make a friend of the stranger who was coming toward me with a knife or a gun. My life might go, but I would rather have my connection with that person."

Cao says Hynd has learned the core of Chinese culture by practicing tai chi chuan. "To listen carefully to other people, to accommodate others with an empty heart, to transform enemies into friends ... these are the essence of the Book of Changes (or I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination text)."

"Tai chi chuan is such a gift. I am a little bit lost for the best kind of language that I could be using for appreciation of what I inherited. That's where my good health comes from. I am 92, and I can do dancing and tennis and whatever it might be," Hynd says.

judyzhu@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily European Weekly 06/22/2018 page20)