Each of us faces his own “Tai Lung”. No, a Tai Lung is not some strange Taiwanese delicacy that contestants are forced to eat on Fear Factor. In this case, “Tai Lungs” are your fears.
As your teen’s Kung Fu teacher, the ultimate goal is to prepare them to face and overcome their fears. This is what will ultimately build their self-esteem and self-confidence.
In the case of Kung Fu Panda, Tai Lung is a very bad Kung Fu guy.
The evil Tai Lung is now on his way to destroy the village. Po’s training with Master Shifu is complete and he is about to hand over the Dragon Scroll to him. Within this scroll is the secret of the ultimate power; the key to defeat all enemies and bring peace to the land. Po opens the scroll to find…it’s completely blank! Just a big fat panda staring at him.
You feel cheated! Cheated! How could this be? Has no sense.
Isn’t that how we feel sometimes? Especially when someone wise tells us the answer we’re looking for but it’s not the answer we expected?
Po is confused and scared. Shifu sees that Po is not ready to face Tai Lung, so since time is short, he sends Po to help the townspeople evacuate.
There will come a time when you will have taken your student as far as you can. You have taught them everything you know and they have the necessary life skills to succeed. But they are useless if the adolescent does not put them into practice. They are useless if the teenager still does not believe in himself.
True and lasting trust is based on action. A teenager will never believe in himself if he doesn’t try believe in themselves. Teacher’s mistake here was that he couldn’t keep believing in Po.
Po is crushed. I dream of him; all the hard work and training to become the Dragon Warrior. And for what? No way? The city will be destroyed and everything he loves will be gone.
While escorting the villagers to safety, Po meets his father. His father makes the most famous noodle soup in town with a secret ingredient he never told his son…until now.
mr ping: The secret ingredient is… nothing!
Post: huh?
mr ping: Can you hear me. Any! There is no secret ingredient. Post: Wait, wait… is it just noodle soup? Don’t you add some kind of special sauce to it or something?
mr ping: There’s no need. To do something special you just have to believe that it is special.
Po takes the scroll out again to look at it. He sees his own reflection.
Post: There is no secret ingredient…
A lesson is never really assimilated until the student discovers the answer for himself. Guiding your teen to discover the answers for himself is a more powerful teaching tool than giving him all the answers.
All his life, Po has only seen himself as a big fat panda.
When he was chosen as the future Dragon Warrior, everyone, including those who should have been his teachers, his peers, and his friends, just looked at him and treated him like a big fat panda.
Eventually, his master saw him for what he really was. His father saw him for who he really was. And that was enough to help Po see himself as he really was. At that time, Po discovered for himself the secret of the ultimate power. The secret to unleash the Dragon Warrior within you.
Po confronts Tai Lung again.
tai lung: Who are you?
Post: Dude, I… am the Dragon Warrior!
tai lung: You? It’s a panda! You are a panda! What you gonna do, big guy? sit on me?
Post: Don’t tempt me.
Finally, Po understood that true power lies in accepting who you are and being true to who you are. Once that happens, nothing can stop you. His job as your teen’s Kung Fu master is to help him unleash his own Dragon Warrior. To do this you must:
- believe in them
- be humble and teach your learning style
- help them discover the answers for themselves
- inspire them to take action
Once you do this, they will have the courage and confidence to face the Tai Lungs in their life…
tai lung: You can’t beat me! You… just a big… fat… panda!
Tai Lung, now weak, throws a punch at Po. Po catches him by the finger.
Post: I’m not a big fat panda. I am THE big fat panda.