Letter From a Teacher Candidate

This letter to Justin was reprinted from The New Mexico T’ai Chi Chih News.

Dear Mr. Stone:

As you can see by the address, I am currently incarcerated in Folsom State Prison. I have been in prison for 15 years.

A number of years ago, I learned from a Vietnamese friend of mine a version of T’ai Chi. This was most useful for relaxation from the stress of this sometimes violent and confining life style. Two years ago, I founded a meditation group for inmates here at Folsom Prison. It is called the Contemplative Fellowship. We have an average membership of just under a hundred inmates. The type of meditation we do is very similar to the Great Circle Meditation in your books. First relaxing the body using your technique, we quietly shut down the internal dialogue. We then move into what is called by a 14th century anonymous writer, the Cloud of Unknowing.

About the time I started the Contemplative Fellowship, I sent for a copy of your book, Joy Through Movement. The basic problem with the form of T’ai Chi I was practicing was that it looked like aggressive martial arts, even when done in the fluid style of T’ai Chi. T’ai Chi Chih was the answer to my problem for three reasons. First, the names of the movements are all non-threatening in a prison setting. Second the movements did not appear to be aggressive to the untrained eye. Third, the twenty movements with a slight modification can easily be learned for use in a Folsom prison cell. The space available in a cell is approximately 6 feet by 20 inches. The total cell size is 11 feet by 4 1/2 feet. The beds, toilet and sink take up the lion’s share of the available square footage.

The only modifications T’ai Chi Chih needed were to change the diagonal step movements to lateral movements.

I contacted Good Karma Publishing as a result of your books and two video tapes were donated to the Contemplative Fellowship. I found that, after viewing the video tapes, I was making some errors in the movements. I corrected the mistakes, and began to teach it to other inmates who belonged to the Contemplative Fellowship. It has become so popular that we have incorporated it into every meeting as a prelude to our silent meditation.

Last month, Ms. Tara Stiles-Therman, a T’ai Chi Chih certified instructor, volunteered her time and gave a class here at Folsom Prison. She was very well received and appreciated. After the class, I asked Tara about becoming a certified instructor. She told me to write to you in care of Good Karma Publishing. In addition, she said if you had any questions about my abilities as an instructor or my form, she would be happy to answer them. If possible, please let me know what I must do to receive certification.

The acceptance of T’ai Chi Chih by the Folsom Prison Administration as an inmate program used in conjunction with Contemplative Meditation is a giant step. As you can imagine, Folsom is the most conservative of the California prisons.

I would like to thank you for your lifetime of effort. You have brought change to the lives of so many men who would have otherwise lived their lives in chaos. Thank you so much for your lifetime of service.

– JKH