The Dragon's Head Blog: Forever Young in Rijswijk, Netherlands

8 April 2016, Rijswijk.  For the third time, the seniors committee in The Netherlands organized an intensive spiced with an afternoon delight of playing traditional Dutch games.  Thirty-six members represented the cities of Helmond, Delft, Rijswijk, Voorschoten, Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Weert, Haarlem, Limburg and Chiltern (Great Britain)!

Before the start of the program, one member asked, what is so special about seniors? What is the difference?  One member answered “I think you have to talk louder”.  So during the intensive of Taoist Tai Chi™ arts, a lot of emphasis was put on how to improve the donyus and how important it is to do extra work the older you get.  By doing a lot of donyus, members discovered how the body has  to work not more than it should and therefore learning to relax and let go.

In the afternoon, after a delightful lunch of spring pea soup and Dutch pancakes, members stayed to play traditional Dutch games.  Some brought their old childhood pictures and everyone tried to guess who is who.  Each winner of a game got a prize of a bottle of wine.  Another fundraising feature of the day was the sale of shoe bags made by senior members from refurbished old tai chi shirts. Proceeds from the shoe bags is for the Fenway Project.

At the end of the day, everyone went home happy and felt very young after being pampered for the whole day of tai chi, fun, and laughter.