Teachers’ Training, Minneapolis, MN

June 1-6, 1998

Welcome, with me, twenty new T’ai Chi Chih teachers, accredited by Ed Altman on June 6, 1998! Also I want to thank the twenty-five auditing teachers who made themselves available throughout the week to assist Ed, me and the candidates and to renew their own practice. A great and wonderful flow of Chi and serenity enveloped us all, even in the anxious times.

The week went slowly and yet too quickly and candidates corrected, refined and softened the movements they thought they knew when they came! Everyone — candidates and auditors alike — worked patiently, diligently and sincerely as they deepened their inner as well as their outer practice.

And we had fun, too, showing our joy through our movements, as well as through our assistance and interactions with each other.

At the final practice the soft flow of Chi was apparent in individuals and throughout the group. We were filled with joy as we prepared to go forth to deepen our own practices and share the Chi with others.

Thank you, Justin, for giving us this way to one of the great “secrets of life” — the knowledge of how to balance and circulate the Chi. We are very grateful for your legacy to us and to the world. All you ask of us is that we do T’ai Chi Chih well. We will.

Along with other reminders, we learned again, but more deeply:

• shift our weight fully
• bend your knees before the weight shift
• let the upper body float, following the weight shift
• relax wrists and waist
• ground the Chi which always wants to rise
• Chi follows thought
• and remember, we are all students even and especially after we are accredited

– Rita Foster, host

The Twenty New Teachers are:

Jody Bechtold, Hanover, MN
Viola Bens, Christopher Lake, SK
Sandy Brintnall, St. Paul, MN
Cathy Dalton, St. Paul, MN
Joyce DeGidio, Chanhassen, MN
Richard Detert, LaCrosse, WI
Marie C. Dotts, St. Paul, MN
Clarence Emon, Colombia Heights, MN
Cary Fellman, Shawano, WI
Chery Ann Hoffmeyer, Sherwood Park, AB
Carol Houtkooper, Yankton, SD
Jan Johnson, Moundsview, MN
Mary Pauletta Kane, SCN, Henderson, KY
Lenore Listiak, Hopkins, MN
Janet Marshall-Thoreen, Spearfish, SD
Donna K. McElhose, Wildwood, IL
Sandra Skach, St. Paul, MN
Sharon Sloper, Colombia Heights, MN
Jo Trautmann, Georgetown, TX
Nancy Werner-Azarski, Minneapolis, MN