Newsletter #89 - January 2009

Yours in Tai Chi,

The Reluctant Student
Judy Girard (Student) and Bill Pickett, Senior Trainer, Knoxville, TN, USA
 
It has been said that there are no good teachers….only good students.  I know that to be false.  I would like to tell you the story of how Tai Chi teachers Bill and Linda Pickett have changed my life.

My name is Judy Girard. I am 62 years old. I was in the process of retiring as President of HGTV and Food networks when I signed up for their Tai Chi class fall. As a child I was a terrible student. I barely made it through High School. With critical teachers and relatively poor grades, I believed I was clearly deficient, undisciplined, and unwilling to focus. It was 1964 and Ithaca College was starting a radio-television department and badly needed students…so this C and D student landed there. I quickly discovered I was made for television. No one project could last very long, attention to detail was out of the question, and multi-tasking was the foundation of success. Best of all, I never had to “learn” anything. I made sure Bill and Linda knew early on that I couldn’t learn anything, let alone Tai Chi, but I’d like to take the class anyway.

At no time did Bill minimize or dismiss my belief. I kept coming back. The slowness and the repetition of the form intrigued me. I was also curious as to how success was measured as no one was stating a goal. I was falling farther and farther behind the class. It was clear I wasn’t going to get it just by showing up. Bill gave me some handouts to study and Dr. Lam’s DVD.   Two weeks later I was more overwhelmed and confused and felt hopeless.

If Bill was frustrated he never showed it. Nor did he ever take the stance that if I worked harder I’d get it. One day Bill walked in and said “I’m going to teach you how to teach. I’m going to teach you all the words and the directions and then you’re going to teach me”. By the end of the session we both felt the lock open. I don’t know how it worked or why. Bill will have to tell you that part. But I will tell you that of all the achievements, awards and jobs that I’ve had in my life, nothing ever came close to the night I could “teach” Bill the 24-form from beginning to end. 
Have I suddenly become a person with great focus, perseverance, and attention to detail? No. But to quote Professor Wang, “It’s good enough”. Every time I practice it gets better and better and I am beginning to understand the journey IS the destination.
 
I am forever grateful to Bill and Linda for opening that door and gently pulling me through. They have given me a gift for my second half of life beyond which I could ever imagine.

Bill’s Comments:

The night Judy talked herself through the first four moves of the form and the look on her face when she turned and said “I did it” was priceless! From that point forward her confidence in herself increased every night and she would learn a new move by taking my words and talking herself through each part. As with most high level executives, Judy’s multitasking mind was constantly running a mile a minute. Verbalizing the moves gave her monkey mind a break and allowed her to slow down and concentrate on doing and learning the form. Did Judy learn the 24-form? You bet she did and our memory of her coming off the floor with her completion certificate from Professor Wang’s June 2008 Depth of 24-form workshop in South Hadley, MA, will be with us forever.  We love you Judy and you will always be a part of our Tai Chi family!