The Meanings of Attending the Kinesiology Conference
by Conrad Ho on December 11, 2018, written in Hong Kong
In 1998, Conrad Ho attended my first international kinesiology conference held in Victoria of British Columbia, Canada, a city with classic beauty and full of history. It was a fresh new experience, interesting and rewarding, both in knowledge and exposure. Apart from the conference, Victoria was also a tourist hotspot with beautiful scenery and culinary adventures awaiting to be explored. Since then, I attended minimum one kinesiology conference in every two years. After a few times, I felt that although there was always something new, there were not too many. I began to consider whether to go or not. With an attitude of really knowing the matter from inside out, I made up my mind to continue.
Gradually, I had something worthwhile to share in the conferences, too! Naturally, I had to go. Speaking to students from different countries with different cultures had subtle influences upon my teaching style. This kind of experience made me understand that basically all judgments which I believed to be right could be totally different in the eyes of students of other countries. I had learnt the significance of humility and flexibility, to be more able to respect my clients in my balancing sessions.
After about ten years, having heard the founders of different kinesiology streams talking about their experiences and original intentions in their works, I cumulatively became more aware of the framework or the overall perspective of the academic trends of kinesiology. For example, I have learnt how the educational and self-responsibility model of kinesiology had evolved from the therapeutic or medical model of applied kinesiology and eventually secured their own positions in the industry. This gave me a “map” to guide me along in my endeavors in academic development and company operations.
In the past five years, after having attended many international conferences and some other more local conferences in Germany, Japan and South Korea, and listened to many speakers from different countries, I began to have an overall picture of kinesiology worldwide and the trend of the whole market. It helped me in my formulation of company strategy and selection of materials to teach in my courses.
At the international kinesiology conference held in Damme, Germany in the summer of 2018, I was addressed for the first time by an international friend who was already a leading figure in kinesiology in her own country to be someone more senior. It suddenly dawned on me that I had been in this field for exactly 20 years. I had old friends from all over the world and I was considered as an “old” friend in the eyes of others. What I was doing was making certain contribution to kinesiology, no matter how little. Comradeship had been cultivated by attending numerous international conferences over the years.
Of course, while “drifting” around in such conferences, there had been encounters that had sparked commercial benefits. For example, I bumped into my good friend and business associate Renate Wennekes from Germany when I attended the conference held in Ottawa, Canada in 2007. That was why I had stated that the conference was a venue for instructors to find students and sponsors to locate instructors. In the ambience of friendly sharing in the conference, there was a grain of additional trust that one would seldom find in ordinary business settings.
In my own prediction, 2019 will be a turbulent year. In the domestic scene as well as abroad, there are uncertainties that are troubling China and the world economy. Training and personal growth courses are considered as a kind of luxury goods. This industry will be at the forefront of the shock in times of economic downturn or expected downturn. As these factors will last for at least several years while more and more personal growth courses will enter the China market from abroad and local development, it is expected that the Chinese training industry is entering a tough phase of intense competition and elimination. Only the strongest few may stay on in the market. This explains the background thinking of our moves in the 2019 conference. We are working to equip participants to emerge triumphantly in the keen competition ahead.
Through my relatively subjective personal experiences and relatively objective trend analysis, Conrad Ho is talking to the customers, especially registered/licensed kinesiology instructors and consultants, about the possible meanings of attending the 2019 conference. Look forward to meeting everybody in Liangzhu, Hangzhou in March 2019.
