Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived by the sea. One day he invited his friends from the city to stay with him for a few days. On the first morning, he said to his friends, “let’s go down to the beach and play”. The boys went to the shore and played football on the beach. Then the boy who lived there said “let’s take our shoes and socks off and play in the shore. The city boys were a little reluctant to get wet and get sand in between their toes but, nevertheless, followed the suit of their host.
They played for a while, splashing in the water at the shoreline. One of the boys started to get a little too wet for his liking and came away from the shore and watched his friends from the beach.
The next day, the boy who lived near the beach said “let’s go swimming in the sea today”. They all went down to the beach, but the boy who had watched from the sand the day before didn’t want to get cold and wet in the sea so, again, he watched his friends from the sea. The two friends splashed each other and laughed and jumped over the waves crashing near the shore, the cool water slapping against their bodies making their skin tingle. The friend watched them from the beach. As the boys walked back to the house, the two boys laughed and joked together about their experience.
The next day, the boy who lived near the beach said “let’s go snorkelling in the cove”. They all went down to the cove, but the boy who had watched from the beach the day before said that he didn’t feel like getting wet and cold and couldn’t be bothered with all the palaver. He watched them from the beach. The two boys dove in and saw all the fish swimming beneath the surface of the water. There were fish of all shapes and sizes, darting this way and that across the sandy sea bottom.
On the way back the two boys marvelled about how many fish there were and the feeling of being moved about by the swirling waters in the cove. The boy who watched from the beach didn’t really understand what they were so excited about.
The next day, the boy who lived near the beach said “let’s go scuba-diving! My dad has a boat and he can take us out to the wreck”. They all went down to the jetty, but the boy who had watched from the beach the day before said that he didn’t feel like getting wet and cold and getting ready in the boat with all the gear seemed like too much bother. He watched the boat from the beach.
When the boat reached where the wreck lay, the father dropped anchor. The two boys dove in and swam down to the wreck. There was an entire new world down there that the city boy had never imagined: fish of all shapes, sizes and colours, huge rocks that made valleys and mountains in this underwater paradise. The wreck lay on its side, having lain there for hundreds of years. Dark stories of times past written on its hull and intertwined in its rigging, telling times of adventure and excitement and exploration. The sunlight beamed down through the waters, shining on the watery world below, bringing out a stupendous variety of colours and shapes in the rocking brine. They saw turtles below them and the strange images of birds flying above the water when they looked upward. They stroked huge fish that were inquisitive enough to come up close to them.
When they returned to shore the boys giggled and shouted stories of the wonders they had seen. They danced back to the boys house and slept more deeply and soundly that night than they had done for a long time. The boy who had sat watching from the shore couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. When he returned to his home in the city, his parents asked him if he had enjoyed himself. He replied “well, not really, I didn’t get much out of it”
…to all those people out there who only ever attended a few T’ai Chi or Chi Kung classes, felt they "didn’t get much out of it", but have really never experienced it. Hoping that one day you will figure out that the result of "nothing in" is "nothing out" and that fate will give you another chance to dip you toe in the water, and then dive in, giving you the opportunity to access the huge, life-changing potential that these ancient arts have to offer. They are thousands of years old for a reason!
