Charlie at the Spring of Young Forest
Corinth, 16/01/2026. Eleven young Kung Fu fighters
from the Spring of the Young Forest school in Corinth, aged 5-6, set aside time
from their training to participate in the program “Charlie
the Rescuer.”
Step, breath, thought. A quiet awe arose inside me causing my heart to race. I longed to spread the precious knowledge carried by Charlie's tender and powerful story to those kid's hearts. And yet, “Would my words reach the simplicity of a child’s curiosity, or would they wait indifferently for me to finish?” My steps weighed down as I approached the school's door. I took a deep breath… “Don't overthink it!” I told myself, and went inside. I greeted my Shifu (addressing the master in kung fu), introduced myself to the children, explained the purpose of our meeting, and so the storytelling of Charlie began. The little fighters, listened with eyes full of life and anticipation. “Miss, I met a lifeguard at sea in the summer. He was really cool!” “Miss, I can save someone who's choking!” one said demonstrating the “Heimlich” technique. “That is a very important technique; but it's used for someone who is choking on land,” I replied. We moved to the starfish position the Wise One taught Charlie. “But miss,” a child protested, with certainty, “if I’m in the sea and I get tired, I’ll swim outward!” I paused for a bit. Then I asked them softly, “What did the Wise One say matters most in the water?” “To stay on top!” Shouted one fighter with a voice full of confidence. “To float” I answered smiling, “exactly right!” The story was reaching its end and Charlie’s early farewell cast a brief shadow across the children's faces, so I explained that Charlie went on to be a lifeguard in the sky and his legend will remain in our hearts. Time came to play Charlie’s quiz games and then came the “Beach Flags”. Beach Flags is one of the events in sport lifesaving. Our fighters loved it. They begged, “can we play it again?”, but unfortunately time caught up with us. “When will you come again?” they kept asking. “Phew… they liked it,” a thought of relief came to mind. We took one last photo and said our goodbyes. Our shifu looked proud, and the parents were happy, seeing bright smiles across the children’s faces.
The
school of Traditional Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Sanda “Spring of the Young Forest” in Corinth was
inaugurated in October 2007 and has operated as an Athletic and Cultural
Association since 2017, keeping the same name. In 2019 I joined the club’s
athletic team and went on to achieve 7th place
at the 2022 World Kung Fu
Championship in Emei, China,
thus securing my admission to the School of Physical
Education and Sport Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).
This would not have been possible without my invaluable shifu Christos
Panagopoulos.
This
teaching session took place within the framework of undergraduate studies at
the School of Physical Education and Sport
Science of the National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, with the support of the National Public Health Organization.
Educational material from the “Safe Greece”
project was used, provided by the Hellenic Union of Sports
Lifesaving, with the support of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Pictures:
Christos Panagopoulos.
