On Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, VNC, in collaboration with Studium Generale University of Twente, is hosting a lecture by Bettine Vriesekoop on her latest book: Chinese Wisdom in a Ball; The Game of Tao.
In her latest book, her most personal to date, Bettine describes what she learned from the Taoist attitude to life, playing table tennis against and training with the Chinese.
What is this book about: Her love of table tennis led Bettine Vriesekoop to a deep interest in China. In her sports career and her further life, a Taoist attitude to life would give her support and guidance. So what does this Chinese philosophy of the sage Laozi entail, what has Bettine learned from it and what can we too learn from the Tao?
Bettine explains this through personal experiences: as a table tennis player who made it to the absolute top partly because of her Chinese insights, as a correspondent for NRC Handelsblad in Beijing, as a writer and nowadays as a table tennis coach.
In addition to these biographical sketches, Vriesekoop also provides us with a – modest – textbook based on verses from the Tao book Dao de jing. In doing so, she gives us simple exercises to find balance in the game. The Chinese wisdom she imparts with bat and ball thus make her training sessions also lessons for everyday life.
Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Time: 19:30-21:00
Location: De Vrijhof, De Veldmaat 5, 7522 NM Enschede
Admission is free. VNC members and UT students have priority.
