Try It, You Might Just Like It

I have always been so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend multiple T’ai Chi Chih events annually. And I felt that having Antonia, Pam, Dan, Sandy, Janet, Bill and Dorene (all of whom I call the Dream Team) as teachers couldn’t possibly get any better. But I was wrong. I attended Carmen’s September TCC retreat in Albuquerque and was blown away from the very beginning when we spent over an hour on Rocking Motion. Who would have thought that 30 people could spend that long on a movement that already felt soft, flowing and full of Chi?

One tiny change – totally letting go of all the tension and effort when the fingertips are pointing downward – changed everything for the entire room. No one became the least bit bored as Carmen kept us going until every person felt it. Now my Rocking Motion really feels like the effort of no effort.

As the retreat proceeded, there was one small tweak in each and every movement that increased the flow of Chi exponentially for me. Because of my Dream Team’s superb teaching skills and techniques, I reached a point where I was able to accept and implement Carmen’s modifications.

There has been a little controversy around the different styles between the Albuquerque and other TCC communities. Not too long ago some non-Albuquerque communities embraced standing up between movements and allowing the knees to relax because it felt good. (I felt a little like a traitor to my teachers when I started doing it.)

I think it’s time for the entire community to note some of the subtle (and the not so subtle differences as in Push Pull) that Carmen teaches. I am not advocating changing the form or deviating from Justin’s teachings. It seems as if the Photo Textbook has become TCC’s bible, but even the actual Bible is subject to interpretation.

I never met Justin, but I know he certainly wasn’t shy. I cannot imagine him allowing Carmen to produce television shows and instructional DVDs if he didn’t think she was doing it correctly. Surely Justin would have told the Albuquerque teachers during their many weekly meetings if they were doing the form incorrectly.

At events I attend — even those where all attendees have been trained strictly in the ways of our teacher trainers — I marvel at how much we move as one. But we also move a little differently at the same time. And the Albuquerque contingent moves in slightly more different ways, but they follow all the principles of TCC.

Hopefully more of the community will be open to experimenting and will attend an event lead by an Albuquerque-trained teacher. You might experience the same increased energy that I did.