Tai Chi Chuan's Little China Doll Comes to America
by Sandy Wong
You’ve come a long way, baby! Although the saying doesn’t stem from Bow Sim Mark-Yens traditional background of Oriental philosophy, no statement could be more truthful. From humble beginnings back in Canton, China, Mark-Yen has certainly come a long way in both mileage and experience.
First encountering the martial arts as a child in grade school, Mark-Yen could have never guessed she would become this involved in her study of tai chi chuan. As in many schools in China, Mark-Yen’s study of the martial arts was a required course rather than an optional one. Not only was the class considered to be an effective way of passing tradition down to the children, but it also provided them with an effective and simple form of self defense.
After Mark-Yen first touched the arts in her beginning years of school (equivalent to high school in the United States), she was allowed to make the decision for herself whether or not to take the arts further. At this point Mark-Yen took up folk dance but also begin to seriously study the arts, with tai chi chuan as her specialty.
Her original training had started at the age of six, when Mark-Yen first took up modern dance, an integral part of martial arts such as tai chi chuan. The fluid movements used in both dance and this martial art went well together and after Mark-Yen had developed her dance movements, she chose to incorporate them into her martial arts study.
