A back injury drove Briton Rose Oliver to tai chi, which led her to her husband and then took both of them to China. Twenty years ago, Oliver's back injury 1 her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer. But the injury did 2 her to tai chi, a martial art 3 practiced in slow motion. Her initial hope was to improve her 4 , however, it turned out to bring her more. She later married her 5, Rey Nelson, who taught her how to play tai chi, and founded a school with him, 6 the martial art to more than 10,000 students over eight years.
In 2000, the couple moved to Shanghai. They taught 7 in universities and happily 8tai chi under various masters to enhance their skills in playing. After years of practice, Oliver found her occasional 9 had disappeared amazingly. But her greatest pain 10 when her husband died in 2003, leaving her alone to follow their 11 passion for tai chi. She thought of 12. But she finally determined to carry on to 13 her husband.
With the 14 of her tai chi "family" — the masters and students, Oliver spent her time outside tai chi teaching English as she did before and 15 cultural -exchange events. She founded the Double Dragon Alliance, which 16 Chinese kung fu masters to teach martial arts to westerners and organizes seminars and events for them to 17 Chinese massage, acupuncture, traditional medicine, and calligraphy.
Because of her 18 to cultural exchange, Oliver was given the Shanghai Magnolia Award, an award given to foreigners who have made 19 contributions to the city. And she has been officially 20 as a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II— one of the highest honors to a citizen.
