Rose Oliver and Master Wang Ming Bo, along with representatives of the British Consulate’s Cultural and Education Section visited the Yang Fan Special School in Yang Pu District, to hold a Taiji and traditional Chinese martial arts training session.
The school’s principal Mr. Wang? and his senior staff first took our group on a tour of the school to see the excellent facilities and some of the courses on offer for the 180-some students at the school.
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Each class has around 15 – 20 students studying a variety of subjects, ranging from Chinese language, history, maths, English, physical education and science, among others; plus some practical skills like cooking and home management for the older students.
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After the tour, 15 of the students between 13-16 years of age, took part in a 30-minute training session with Rose, learning some Taiji movements, traditional Chinesemartial arts foundation exercises and some energy cultivation exercises, designed to build stamina, balance and increased coordination.
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In the UK, Rose and her late husband Rey Nelson taught at a British special school (Priory School) for over three years, which proved to be very popular and beneficial to the students there.
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The group at Yang Fan performed amazingly well and thoroughly enjoyed the session, which was conducted in both Chinese and English, giving everyone a chance to practice their English language skills too!
After the session, Ms. Zhang Dasheng of the British Consulate also presented some special prizes to the students, during a question and answer session about the information taught at the workshop.
Thank you to Mr. Wang and all the staff at Yang Fan School for their hospitality and to the students for their delightful enthusiasm and friendliness, thank you also to the members of the British Consulate for their support and assistance.
We hope that we will have the chance to hold a similar activity at the school in the future.?