On April 3rd, the Tai Chi training course of Confucius Institute at University of Mauritius opened at the University gym. Around 40 staff and students of the University of Mauritius, as well as the Mauritian Director of the Confucius Institute, Dr. Kistamah, the Chinese Director, Professor Fu Mingduan, and the course instructor, Mr. Liang Dongsheng, attended the opening ceremony at noon.
Dr. Kistamah and Professor Fu Mingduan warmly welcomed the students. Dr. Kistamah stated that this course was a good opportunity to experience Chinese Tai Chi culture. He encouraged the students to attend classes on time, persevere in learning, constantly improve their Tai Chi skills to obtain the best results. Professor Fu Mingduan introduced the origin of Tai Chi and emphasized that Tai Chi was one of the most representative and influential boxing exercise in Chinese traditional martial arts and culture. Professor Fu believed that practicing Tai Chi could improve the body’s flexibility and coordination, regulate the body and mind, and relieve stress. She hoped that the students could learn Tai Chi to strengthen their physical and mental health, and actively experience the thoughts and wisdom of Chinese Tai Chi culture.
After the opening ceremony, Mr. Liang Dongsheng, the instructor of the training course, introduced the course setting and teaching objectives to the students. Mr. Liang is a Chinese Mauritian who has lived in Mauritius for more than 30 years. He is the president of the Mauritius Foshan Wing Chun Martial Arts Association, the founder and President of the Dragon Lion Joint Association, and a disciple of the Foshan Pengnan Wing Chun Quan. During the 15-week training course, Mr. Liang will mainly teach Tai Chi’s eight methods and five steps, stationary eight-style Tai Chi, as well as Tai Chi’s pushing hands and practical techniques. At the beginning of the class, Mr. Liang introduced the Chinese traditional yin-yang and five-element concepts contained in Tai Chi, and encouraged students to learn to express basic movements and methods in Chinese language, in order to further understand the Chinese cultural connotations involved. Then, Mr. Liang demonstrated and taught the bowing ceremony of Tai Chi, teaching the students to say "hello teacher" in Chinese while emphasizing the importance of "courtesy" in traditional martial arts spirit. Afterwards, Mr. Liang led the students to learn the four basic movements of "ward off, rollback, press, and push" in the eight-step and five-methods. Through step-by-step teaching and practice of each move, the students not only mastered the essentials of the movements, but also learned Chinese expressions of the four basic movements of Tai Chi, through a combined teaching mode of "Tai Chi + Chinese".
After the opening ceremony and the first class, the students expressed their expectations and enthusiasm for the Tai Chi course, hoping to better understand Chinese culture and art through Tai Chi learning. The Confucius Institute at the University of Mauritius has long been committed to providing high-quality teaching of Chinese language and culture to the local people, and hopes to promote cultural exchanges between China and Mauritius through this course.
