02/27/2026
A Tribute to Margy Emerson:
Grace
When I think of grace I think of delicate flowers that enchant you with their beauty. Orchids, lotus, roses, lilies, trilliums, passionflower…just to name a few.
I think of large cats like tigers, leopards, and lions.
How they move with precision, swiftness, and strength. How herons and egrets fly and stand with endless patience. How each step is taken with graceful intention and subtlety. I think of hawks and eagles and how they majestically perch with observance, then swop down to catch their prey.
When a human embodies grace, they move with lightness, floating with an effortless effort. At the same time, they are rooted and grounded.
Soft and gentle yet strong and firm.
They move like the breeze and water. At times they can be gently rustleing the leaves or a trickling stream. Other times they may come through with a ferocity that cleanses and erodes away what needs to be to restore balance.
Those embodying grace are empowered and are empowering. Thoughtful, encouraging, questioning, and understanding. Wise with humility. They love, live, move, and speak with intentionality. They captivate those who are ready to grow while intimidating those who are too afraid to face truth.
This was Margy, my tai chi teacher and mentor. I admired her beauty and reverence. Her devotion to her practice, her community, Mother Earth, artistic expression, and restoring balance, especially through the divine feminine.
Her dedication to political activism and pouring her heart and soul into change and standing up for what was right.
She was reserved and expressive. Stoic and passionate. She had a gift of bringing people together and inspiring leadership. At the same time, there was no telling her what to do. How to live or how to die.
Her wisdom was anchored in an understanding that she knew nothing yet was all encompassing. Her friends and community were in awe of her wisdom and perspective. Her knowledge was vast, more than we would have time to learn.
Not only have we lost a beautiful and inspiring woman, mentor, teacher, and friend. A wisdom died with her, yet it still lives on with what we learned and experienced by her presence.
She lived with integrity and from the beginners mindset with philosophical exploration. She was guided by a passionate force within her and beyond just herself. She embodied a balance of both yin and yang with discernment of how to ebb and flow between the energies from moment to moment.
Her words were eloquent and thoughtful. Her humor was dry and lighthearted. Her passion and conviction inspired us all. She touched the lives and hearts of many, leaving us both heart broken and heart-filled, connected to something beyond us all.
I am not sure if she realized how grateful I was for the immeasurable gifts she gave me. How she significantly changed my life not only with a profound practice and rare tai chi form, but her encouragement to keep the Wu form alive and her blessing to continue teaching it.
There is no following in her footsteps because we are on different journeys but she did guide me on my path in many ways that I did not have a chance to thank her for and acknowledge to her the difference she made in my life.
When I met Margy, I was more lost than I realized. Wondering aimlessly trying to find my path. To find peace and acceptance. To feel connection. To find myself.
The confidence and grace I have now is because of her belief and trust in me. She saw something in me I was unable to see in myself at that time. Every time, I wanted to give up or question my journey, I remembered her words and her presence. They always bring me back to my purpose and give me strength to keep taking steps on my path and navigate the obstacles and rough terrain with grace and growth.
I don’t think I will ever be as eloquent and poetic as she was with her words, but I will aspire to achieve an understanding of the world, tai chi, yin and yang, and Taoism in my own way.
To become as good of a teacher and deepen my understanding of the beautiful gift she gave me, the Tai Chi Wu Form, Kao Style.
on
