ToastMasters Club - 19/3/2009

Today, I reached the club at 8.40pm... Waited for Bus 168 for 30min at Woodlands...
Another encounter with our Best Transportation System company.

Anyway, I presented my Project 9 today.
I felt I performed rather well. Although there were a little hip-ups at certain portions of the speech, still managed to return back to track after the hip-ups.

This is what I said:
Good Evening, Club President, Fellow Toastmasters & Guests.

Why did I learn Taiji?
I remembered 2 years back, I was looking for a sport; hoping that this sport could become a hobby that I can enjoy even when I am old. But I had set a few criteria’s for this sport. Firstly, it needs to be physical-intensive. I will like to exercise and to keep fit. And I enjoy this sport regularly basis. Secondly, I liked to learn basic self-defense techniques. With these 2 criteria’s, there are a few options. Silat, Taekonwdo, Aikido and Taiji. Knowing that I was 25 and not going to be any younger; I won’t be able to endure pain as I used to be; I won’t be able to recover from sprain and wound as quickly as compared when I was 18. I left with only 1 option, Taiji. And coincidently, there was a Taiji class poster at my void deck’s notice board. I enquired. Then 11th September 2007, Tuesday 8pm marked my first encounter with Taiji.

So what is Taiji?
Taiji is an internal martial art developed in China.
To direct translate Taiji into English, it means 'Supreme Ultimate Force'.
But in Chinese, Tai means Very while Ji means pole. POLE. Pole is the starting and ending point or turning point.. So Taiji means the very starting point or turning point of change. Taiji is the martial application of the art, the art of balancing changes.

Taiji consists of a series of slow and controlled movements which were derived from other external martial arts such as Shaolin. These movements helped practitioners to restore the normal flow of the body’s energy. The body’s energy is usually refered as “Chi”.

To explain a little about “Chi”. In Chinese philosophy and medicine, "Chi" is a vital force that gives life to the body. Tai Chi boosts the circulation of this "Chi" within the body and thus enhances the practitioner's health and vitality.

Common Misconception
After 18 months of practicing Taiji, I realized that there are a few misconceptions among people about Taiji.

1. Taiji is not a martial art.
The first misconception is that Taiji is not a martial art.
Taiji is a martial art. Same as other martial arts such as Silat, Aikido and Taekwondo, through practicing, it trained our reflexes to protect ourselves. Similarly, Taiji has basic dodge, block, punch and kick. What is different? The different is we do it slowly, gently and gracefully. The reason why we do it slowly is to reduce stress and tension, and at the same to smoothen our joint’s motion and function. By not doing it that slowly and gracefully, will result in hurting oneself while practicing. 1 very good example to describe the gracefulness of Taiji was the Taiji performance in Beijing Olympic 2008 opening. I believed many people in the room should be very impressed with the performance.

2. Taiji is for sick or old people
The second misconception is that Taiji is for the sick, weak or old.
It is, but not exclusively! I can only put it in a way that Taiji can be learned by a very wide group of people, from young to old, strong and the not so strong. The strong and young ones usually are suggested to bend their knees more while those that are not so strong or young will be advised to bend their knees slightly. This is to train our knees. In the exercise point of view, it will gradually and slowly it builds up our muscles and strength.

To conclude, why I learned Taiji.
I practice Taiji as a form of exercise and at the same time to learn self-defense techniques. I understand a lot of people are interested in Taiji, especially after last year’s Beijing Olympic Opening. But many were bothered by the misconceptions and were embarrassed to know more and learn. I hope after my presentation, I had clarified the misconceptions about Taiji and have encouraged everyone to open-up our mind to this gracious sport.

Thank You.
******************************************************************
Evaluations:
Strength:
- Sincere
- Confident & with Eye Contact
- Passionate

Room for Improvements:
- an more interesting opening
- instead of telling why u take up taiji, should hightlight the need why the audience should take up Taiji.
- could demonstrate some of the movements
- wear taiji costume for delivery

Time: 6min 19sec

Ah Counting: 2 'so's

hehe...
To be frank, I know my speech was alittle out of the objective of Project 9. But dont know how to persuade people. haha...

But in general, besides the objective mis-matched, i was rather happy with my performance today... hehe...