A Holiday Message from Fang-Chih Lee

As I look back on our success at the Tai Chi Chuan World Federation’s World Cup Tournament, I am very grateful to everyone who supported America’s Hometown Team. One way to show my thanks is to share photos and video from our trip to Taiwan. Saturday, December 13 at 11:00AM, we will have a Christmas party downstairs at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts in Plymouth. During this celebration you can see a presentation of our remarkable trip.

Of course, the ten students who joined my husband Peter and me in Taipei for the two days of competition October 18 and 19 deserve much credit. For months prior they practiced diligently while maintaining a Tai Chi spirit, and at the tournament they performed under conditions even my most experienced students had never quite faced before: a world class arena, extremely knowledgeable judges who notice everything, the distractions of multiple other tournament events going on at the same time, and every exhibition featuring the world’s best Tai Chi practitioners. Our team did very well, winning many medals, certificates, and an “Outstanding Prize” plaque from the Federation’s chairman.

But as Peter and I often said before we left, “We do not travel alone. In spirit we take every one of our students and all our supporters in the Plymouth area with us.” I am very grateful to the veteran students who stayed behind and taught our classes. High attendance continued because our substitute instructors kept classes productive and enjoyable. For nine months leading up to our departure, I made the training of America’s Hometown Team a priority, and the other students at our Spire classes rose to the challenge of the accelerated pace with its intense attention to detail. At the same time our neighbors and business associates enthusiastically urged us on.

In Taipei we met wonderful people from more than twenty nations. Our Taiwanese hosts could not have been more gracious. Together they cheered our efforts and successes. They touched each one of us personally, making us proud to be America’s Hometown Team and representatives of the United States. We in turn easily reciprocated their kindness and loudly applauded the accolades they received. This global solidarity was the greatest prize of all.

So as Peter and I look forward to gatherings with family and friends this holiday season, we are very grateful that the Tai Chi and Qi Gong with Fang Association has a home in downtown Plymouth at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts. We also love teaching in senior centers in Plymouth, Duxbury, and Kingston, and at other locations, including Hope Floats in Kingston. Tai Chi enhances people’s natural tendencies to think positively and generate harmony. Our many students proved this to be true.

I thank you all. Please join us Saturday, December 13, at 11:00AM, 25 ½ Court Street in Plymouth. Enter from the Brewster Street door.