My name is Mariannick, I’m a parent of two and also a grandparent, I’d had never done any kind of exercise before but a friend encouraged me to give Choi a try with her at the new Oceans Wellbeing Centre, we happened to be walking past when it was just opening up.
With no idea what to expect I went to a long for a couple of free intro classes for some new daytime classes that were just stating up.
Everyone was very friendly and I found myself a little uncoordinated at first the instructors told me I was doing very well. Unfortunately my friend was not able to keep training but as I was quite enjoying the what I was learning I decided to keep going.
A few weeks later my instructors mentioned that I was ready for my first belt grading but I told them that I really did not feel that I was any good. A few weeks later with the support of my fellow students and instructors I took my first grading and actually enjoyed myself. I’ve taken 4 or 5 belt gradings since then and really enjoy them.
A few weeks ago my instructors said they would like to invite me to consider becoming an assistant instructor. My answer straight away was that I did not think I was good enough. They assured me that I was progressing very well and that was doing a lot better than I realised. Several weeks later with the support and encouragement of my instructors I accepted the invitation to become an assistant instructor.
I’ve found that I’ve received a tremendous amount of patient support and encouragement from all the instructors at Oceans. From my only experience and from working with others I realise now that we are capable of a lot more than we realise with the benefit of a supportive group and when we’re able to be patient with ourselves.
During the last 6 months I’ve made a lot of new friends and really enjoy learning something that I thought originally I would never be any good at.
