Profile
Making art with a boundless fist
By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-19 08:12
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PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Bo-Yee Poon is an expert in the ancient art of Tai chi. |
The ancient art of Tai Chi proves the key to a new, happy life for one expat
When Bo-Yee Poon, arrived in Beijing, like many expats who first enter a foreign environment, she felt isolated and lonely, despite having family at her side.
But learning Tai Chi changed all that for the American-born Chinese, who used the martial art to interact with people and build a bridge to Chinese culture.
The 29-year-old American now works as a Tai Chi instructor at Tsinghua University while teaching English and doing voice-over work on the side.
She was first introduced to Tai Chi as a child, when she would wake up early in the morning and watch her grandmother practicing Tai Chi outside their Vermont home.
"She was just so graceful. It was always amazing to me that despite her age she could move like that," Poon said.
An injury dashed her youthful aspirations of becoming a professional ice skater and she was stuck working as a waitress at a restaurant in the US, despite having a college education and a considerable amount of talent. Realizing her situation, Poon's father, who was working in Beijing, suggested that she move to China and learn Mandarin.
Begrudgingly, Poon took her father's advice.But when she arrived, she felt isolated, and quickly grew unhappy. "I couldn't socialize, I couldn't have a normal conversation and I was really unhappy," she said. "When I first arrived I wanted to leave."
While walking on her way to class one day, Poon spotted some elderly practicing Tai Chi in the park. Recalling watching her grandmother as a child, she began seeking out an instructor to help her begin mastering the Kung fu style that her grandmother practiced.
Asking around, she was told about a local park where there was a man willing to instruct those interested in Tai Chi. Waking up at 5 am one morning, she went to park to seek him out. What she found was far from what she expected. After inquiring at the park she was pointed in the direction of a man who was sitting staring at a tree.
"I walked up to this guy who was just sitting there staring, it was really strange. I greeted him and, after a minute, he turned to me sharply and gave me one of the craziest looks I've ever seen," she said."His eyes were like a tiger's."
He told her to meet him at the park at the same time the next day and he would teach her for free.
When she arrived at the park the next morning he showed her a pose and told her to hold the same pose for an hour. "He later told me that if I wanted to learn to move, I must first learn to stand still," she said.
She has now been studying Tai Chi for more than nine years and has even taken on a teaching role at Tsinghua University. She said she has never felt more at home in Beijing.
She said Tai Chi was a way of getting thoughts out of her brain without just sitting and watching TV. "When a lot of people think relax, they think it's letting go of everything. But from my understanding it's maintaining everything, maintaining structure, while letting your mind relax," she said. "That's what Tai Chi does."
Poon has taken the practice a step further than most practitioners by incorporating the mechanics and thought processes of Tai Chi techniques into other parts of her life, most notably her art.
Combining Tai Chi techniques with an art form known as 'gesture painting', Poon held a calligraphy brush while going through Tai chi movements to create splash paintings.
She has had exhibitions of her art in the United States, Italy and at the Art Walk festival in Beijing.
"I'm really happy now, I've found my niche in Beijing, what I want to do and how to give back. Through Tai Chi I've found what I want to do," she said.
Q&A
METRO: People are usually running to Beijing or away from something back home - Which are you?
A: I feel like I was more pulled to Beijing. My dad was saying - you need to be doing something. I didn't really want to go. I didn't really want to come to the realization that I had to give up one of my dreams, my dream of being a snowboarder, but I knew I had to move on.
METRO: What do you hope to get out of your stay in China's capital? What do you hope to put back?
A: I am here to learn tai chi. I am here to really study and understand as much as I can about the art. I hope to give that back as well, share that with the people who want to benefit from it. And also further develop the art; develop the technique of tai chi to help meet the needs of modern practitioners. It's got to be good for everyone.
METRO: Where do you usually hang out? How does it differ from back home?
A: You know I don't hang out much. I am really busy; I usually go to class or to work. If I go out, it's to dinner or coffee with friends or playing tai chi. I go to Pete's Tex Mex for lunch with my family about once a week, other than that I am usually hanging out at Tsinghua University. Back home I would be hanging outside by a lake or mountain, having that moment of silence where you kind of take in the landscape.
METRO: Do you consider yourself as part of the city or as an observer?
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A: I am part of Beijing most of the day, I am out in the city, I'm working and immersed in the community. At the same time, I take a step back everyday and just observe. I observe everything that's going on around me and everything I've done for that day. So I would say I am both part of the city and an observer.
METRO: Taxi or bus?
A: Bus! Because it's good for the government, it's cheap and a lot of the times during traffic it's much faster. Also, with how big a bus is, it feels much safer for me.
METRO: Do you have any Chinese friends, how are they different from your Western friends?
A: I have a lot of both Chinese and Western friends, it's hard to say how they differ. Part of it is language. If I can speak English, I can express myself better. I'm not fully on the same page with the Chinese yet because I just lack the language and cultural understanding. But if you want to work together, you can still work it out. A smile goes a long way.
METRO: What's your favorite element of Beijing?
A: There are so many things going on. There is just so much of everything. There's a certain intermingling of the old and new and making new. It's a cultural hub and there's a lot of traditional stuff but at the same time it's really modern.
METRO: What's your least favorite part of Beijing?
A: Littering. It's something we can do something about, it's something we can make better. It's unhealthy for everything and everybody, but so easy to fix.
METRO: In terms of local slang what is your favorite one-liner?
A: I like Niu, in terms of beautiful or young girl. It's just a soft gentle word. If you hear the locals say it, it really rings. Just the sound in itself is really pretty.
METRO: Dating scene in Beijing - Hao Bu Hao?
A: I don't really know. I am not much into the dating scene. I met my guy in Beijing but not really on a 'dating' scene. We just happened to be on the same snowboarding team. That's usually how it works for me.
METRO: What's your Beijing fashion secret?
A: I am not really fashionable to be honest. That's the difference between here and back home though. Back home, I don't care so much, you know, you just throw on some boots, jeans and a t-shirt. Here, you have to be a little more conscious. I do like going around and just finding random little shops, the type of place where you go and they have just one of something.
METRO: Is Beijing going to be part of your past or future?
A: Both, I plan on being here for a while. After a few years, I plan to be based mostly back in the States, and then probably keep traveling back and forth to spend summers here and keep doing Tai chi.
