Yang 10 Form Tai Chi by everydaytaichi lucy's students, Kilauea District Park, Honolulu, Hawaii8/22/2015    Please Read First Before Watching ! Where are the Chairs? Every once in a while there comes across the Internet something classy and worth spending some time watching. This is one of those times. But where are the chairs? Absolutely wonderful!! Beautiful performance. A breath of fresh air, enjoy! This is China's showcase to the world! Absolutely beautiful but …WHERE ARE THE CHAIRS? Are those lady musicians sitting on invisible chairs? Apparently NOT - it's a form of YOGA. This is actually being done in a yoga pose known as “chair posture”. Imagine holding this position for that long! The strength in their legs is unbelievable! Shanghai Expo Closing Ceremony... everydaytaichi lucy's favorite bookmark: Take a Gander at This Amazing, Yet Little Known, 9-11 Story8/15/2015 On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic.
All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that “All Business” look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta’s main office in Atlanta and simply read, “All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination.” No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, Newfoundland. He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately — no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request. While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings. We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, Newfoundland, to have it checked out. We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that’s nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM …. that’s 11:00 AM EST. There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the US. After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason.” Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put. The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were US commercial jets. Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC. People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada . Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed. Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament. We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning. Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane. Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word. Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross. After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander! We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the US airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while. We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started. Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the “plane people.” We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time. Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days. What we found out was incredible….. Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers. Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up. ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the “guests.” Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes. Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration. Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were offered “Excursion” trips. Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests. Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests. Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft. In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers. Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully. It was absolutely incredible. When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling. Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. And then a very unusual thing happened. One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said “of course” and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers. He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte. “He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte. He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000! “The gentleman, a MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well. As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education. “I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them. It reminds me how much good there is in the world.” “In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today’s world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward. Let’s not forget THIS fact. *This is one of those stories that need to be shared. Please do so…* Source Facebook Retired ‘Iolani teacher credits tai chi for helping her heal
By Steven Mark POSTED: 1:30 a.m. HST, Aug 11, 2015 1 / 4 ▶ DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM Margaret Tom, 86, has practiced tai chi for four years. TAI CHI sessions mean a lot more than fitness to Margaret Tom. “Tai chi saved my life,” said Tom, an 86-year-old English and social studies teacher who retired from ‘Iolani School in 1991. “It was the movement and what each movement meant. It looked easy but it isn’t. That was the other thing: You have to focus, you have to think.” Margaret Tom Former teacher, explaining why tai chi appeals to her How this all happened is a winding and tortuous tale, like an extended tai chi routine. Tom was an avid swimmer and hiker when she was younger, then turned to tennis after she retired, taking lessons and playing league tennis for many years. She played nearly every day and developed a feisty spirit when competing. “We would try to beat the butt off each other,” she said. After her tennis partners’ knees began to falter, she returned to swimming. But about five years ago she got interested in tai chi classes that were being offered at her church, Community Church of Honolulu. Many of the senior parishioners there were having physical problems typical for seniors, such as balance problems that led to falls and broken bones. THE class was taught by Tommy Amina, who organized courses at several local YMCAs. He’s an energetic 76-year-old who has practiced tai chi for 18 years and knows its benefits. He started lessons to deal with stress and to calm his “Type A personality.” “What we try to do is we try to work on balance,” Amina said. “It’s most important with seniors because they’re always falling. … Many of them enjoy tai chi so much that they can actually feel they’re getting better.” Coming from her experience with more vigorous exercise, Tom was puzzled by the slow, steady movements of tai chi. But after introductory courses with Amina, she realized tai chi was “martial arts, in slow motion.” “I got hooked,” she said. “I was fascinated by it. It was completely different from anything I’d done in my entire life. … It was the movement and what each movement meant. It looked easy but it isn’t. That was the other thing: You have to focus, you have to think.” She went online for videos of tai chi and found routines set to music that she studied diligently. “I drove my husband out of the room. He was just going crazy with that same thing over and over,” she said with a laugh. “But I learned it.” She began going to tai chi classes three times a week, two hours each day. Amina teaches Yang-style tai chi, which is rooted in eight basic moves that come with such descriptive names as Repulse the Monkey, which essentially looks like a slow baseball windup followed by a push, or Cloud Hands, a series of large circular movements made with the hands and arms. Encouraged by her progress, she got interested in learning routines that required a sword. But her life changed dramatically last September while driving from her Kapahulu home to a 6 a.m. sword tai chi class. Her Toyota Corolla was T-boned by an SUV. “I didn’t see him, really, but the SUV, he sped right through a red light and broadsided me,” she said. “My car swerved to the left, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, somebody hit me.’ My windshield blew out. I was happy it blew out rather than in. “This guy in the second lane jumped out of his car and came running over and said, ‘Are you OK?’ And I said, ‘I think so. I’m just a little sore on my left side.’” That little soreness turned out to be a broken clavicle, five broken ribs and a punctured and collapsed left lung, along with several bumps and bruises. She remembers feeling little pain at the time, remaining conscious and conversing with emergency personnel, telling them to put away her sword and complaining about the other driver — “that jerk isn’t hurt and I’m hurt,” she recalls telling police — as they cut her out of her car and loaded her into an ambulance for a “terrible” ride to the hospital. IT WASN’T until she got to the hospital that she realized the extent of her injuries. “They made me walk that first day, and I realized that my legs wouldn’t move,” she said. She was in the Queen’s Medical Center for two weeks, spending several days in intensive care on oxygen, letting her bones heal. She then spent two more weeks at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, recovering from a trauma to a muscle in her lower back — “right under my butt,” she said with a laugh. Walking was excruciatingly painful. That’s when tai chi training saved her life. Unable to stride normally, she had to do the tai chi walk — a deliberate stride that puts emphasis on placing your foot slowly down on your heel, then pivoting your foot outward for balance before transferring one’s full weight onto your foot. “That was the only way I could keep my balance,” she said. Physical therapy continued for another two months after she returned home. In December, three months after her accident, Tom returned to tai chi classes. “Beginning of February, my body felt tight, my muscles, and I would get tired,” said Tom. “I wanted to do some things around the house, but I couldn’t because I felt so tired. But just going to tai chi — by that time I was able to do 90 minutes, and then that increased to two hours — all of a sudden I just felt better.” Her experience is not unusual. A document from Harvard Health Publications, from the Harvard Medical School, said a number of studies have found tai chi complements standard medical treatments for both the prevention and rehabilitation of injuries common in seniors. TOM never underwent surgery on her broken bones, which reverted back into position and healed, or on her punctured lung, which also healed on its own. She believes tai chi helped her endure the initial trauma and sped up her recovery. “Because of tai chi I was in top shape,” she said. “Tai chi is really a wonderful exercise. It will help prevent you from getting dementia, because you have to focus, you got to think and you have to move your body, your total body. “But you have to like it. Some people don’t like those slower movements.” “Good Fit” spotlights inspiring fitness stories of change, self-discover and challenge, and other fitness-related topics. Tell us what motivates you and how you stay fit and healthy by calling (808) 529-4803 or e-mailing features@staradvertiser.com. NEW Tai Chi Classes Registration for FALL Session at Kilauea Park: Monday, August 24, 6-8PM Tuesday & Wednesday, August 25, 26: 2-5pm FALL classes begin September14-November 19 NO online registration. Please go to the park to register. Click here for levels of classes offered. If you miss the above dates and would like to join us, email me at: everydaytaichi@gmail.com |
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