Esther Mertens

14 | Chapter 1 of the game is to tap the hands of the opponent and try to push the other student out of balance. The most important aim of the exercises is that students remain grounded and centered while playing. In the game one can keep his/her body tense as a rock (Rock action) or move along with the movement of the opponent as water (Water action). In another exercise, students punch a bag on command of the R&W trainer who regularly interrupts the rhythm of commands to punch. This requires students to actively control their behavior, inhibiting the inclination to keep punching in the rhythm of commands. Yet another exercise involves a student who “stands strong”, that is, grounded and centered, so that another student can lean against this student. After each exercise, students reflect on how grounded and centered they were and discuss that sometimes a rock attitude was more effective during the exercises and other times a water attitude was more effective. The intervention’s theory suggests that with this approach students learn that a rock and a water attitude are on the same continuum and that students can shift between these attitudes. However, a good choice between a Rock action and a Water action can only be made when someone is centered and grounded. Additionally, R&W trainers stimulate students to think about how they can apply this in their daily lives. In these examples, playing the actual game represents the physical approach and the short moment of reflection the psychological approach. Figure 2. Example of “Chinese Boxing”.