I’ve trained KaizenTao remotely with Thong for around 5 years now. Learning KaizenTao, I’ve seen big improvements in me and my fellow students, both in skills and attitude. Like a person with decades of martial arts training seeing considerable power increases in a matter of a few classes. An older person who’d never danced overcome their fears and to learn to do individual dance movements like a young professional in a matter of weeks… was both astonishing and touching.
I’d always thought the smoothness, relaxation and movement quality only comes with years and years of hard practice. Thong proved to me that with good instruction, precision and joy in the process, it can happen very quickly. Even when learning remotely.
I also appreciate deeply Thong’s attitude, directness and character. He encourages us to support fellow students in their path and shows examples of how to do that. Despite having an incredibly wide and deep skills from martial arts and dance to different sports, Thong sets an example in continually learning something new and being open and humble about it.
Despite decades of training, I used to see myself as athletically ungifted. I’d always used my curiosity and patience to compensate what I was lacking in talent. Training KaizenTao has helped me see that my clumsiness was and is mostly created by my attitude and overthinking. By getting better at working with unfamiliar movement, recognising mistakes I make and similarities to skills I already have, I’ve learned to learn new skills faster and to hone techniques I’d learned ages ago. This has helped me both in having a healthier respect to what and how I can learn and have more enjoyment while learning. Especially for that, I’m deeply grateful.
Marcus Malka
5 years korean MA (TKD and Hoi Jeon Moo Sool), 15+ years CIMA (Yi Quan, Baji, Xing yi, Tai Chi), 5 years of climbing, 2 years of dancing (Salsa, Kizomba), 0.5-2 years of many arts (Systema, Capoeira, Muay Thay, Kali, Shukokai Karate, Aikido)