The Vital Force Archive

Short aphorisms from Justin Stone on posture as a reading of character, Paul Reps's answers about belief and vinegar, the Ryoan-ji temple sign, and why T'ai Chi Chih should never be hitched to other causes.

Justin Stone recounts arriving unannounced at Rammurti Mishra's Manhattan ashram, the Indian teacher's reading of his recurring vision of a burning golden Buddha head, and his koan-like reply about mistakes.

Lorraine Lepine describes the four-days-a-week Zoom practice she has led since March 2020, letting the Chi teach during silent practice, with testimonials from Melissa, Steve Geer, John Marquez and Nicky Mendenhall.

Amy Tyksinski gathers quotations recorded in small group sessions with Justin Stone around his metaphor of dyeing the cloth, linking devotion, faith and letting go to becoming large-hearted.

Diana Daffner describes how she and her husband Richard included T'ai Chi Chih in twenty-five years of couples coaching, finding that partners facing each other while moving developed a heartfelt connection.

Laurie Jacobi recounts how pandemic isolation in Minnesota opened a fruitful emptiness, drawing on Lao Tzu, Japanese flower arranging and the slowed transitions between movements, followed by readers' Pyramid Poems.

Patty Stupca uses the Zen parable of the overflowing teacup to ask what expectations, shoulds and judgments students bring to practice, offering gratitude as what to fill the cup with instead.

Ann Rutherford defends the closing position as grounding rather than ornament, recounting a student whose ungrounded chi threw Ann into spasms of pain, plus her lightning-rod and kelp teaching images.

Guy Kent compares solo and group practice after the 2022 teacher conference, recalling forty-minute sessions with Justin in Albuquerque and suggesting practitioners time their own practice against that mark.

Sandy McAlister explains why Justin Stone wanted teachers to educate themselves rather than take formal courses, and how conference talks on Taoist philosophy, grounding, meditation and Justin's own travels deepen a teacher's understanding.

Eliza Fulton maps the body's subtle anatomy - the toric field, chakras, the shushumna and the koshas from physical to bliss body - and argues TCC's circular movements rebalance them; a short poem by Terry Gay Puckett closes the piece.

Daniel Pienciak, a conservatory-trained musician, compares solo piano practice and choral singing to TCC, arguing that group flow delights but daily solo practice carries the inner discipline Justin Stone described.

Linda Prosche describes attending the virtual 2022 Teacher Conference with 150 others, lying on the floor to rest her back, and finding that less effort meant she learned more.

April Leffler uses Justin Stone's image of teachers as the jewel of T'ai Chi Chih to recount the 2022 conference rededication ceremony and her own resistance to seeing teachers stand up after grounding.

Lynne Roberts recounts the 2022 virtual conference with 60 volunteers and 163 teachers, praising new presenters and April Leffler's tip of mentally placing dimes on the soles of the feet.

Lisa Stroyan admits she has never practised steadfastly alone, and describes how Zoom group practice and a Seijaku class question from Carmen gave her the phrase "supportive cohesiveness."

Paul Ciske argues from the physics of the center of mass, which shifts with posture and can fall outside the body entirely, that the t'an t'ien is dynamic, empty and representative of the universal.

Trish Winger names the commitment that a daily group practice creates after 20 years of putting her own practice last, alongside the freedom of solo practice to choose movements and pause.

Rosemarie Berezin signed up at the Clarkstown Community Learning Center thinking T'ai Chi Chih was formal T'ai Chi, and found in Oreann's class a practice that feels like floating in the Caribbean.

Denise Alire found joy in worldwide Zoom practice during years of solitude, favors practicing alone along the beach until a place invites her to stop, and still loves the stronger cosmic vibrations of moving as one in person.

Kathy Plachy describes a year in Oreann's class at the Clarkstown Community Learning Center, where slow repetitive movement eased her arthritic hands and steadied her enough to enjoy a steep rocky trail without fear.

Drawing on three decades as a Special Education teacher, Linda Braga argues that partner practice, where classmates observe each other and trade feedback, should be a standard part of every TCC class.

Joyce Kanyuk credits her teacher Oreann with bringing students into peace and calm, and describes looking forward to the camaraderie of Monday morning class and feeling the energy of the movements; Pyramid Poems by Johnnie Lee Marquez follow.

Sue Bitney describes the beginning class she started at a senior co-operative housing building during COVID, where a core of eight practise twice weekly and one man moving only one hand practises with them.

Lisa Stroyan gathers teachers' views from April Leffler's July Second Saturday practice on whether and how to teach the hip swivel, including Justin's one-finger ellipse and Carmen Brocklehurst's "tiny hula in the tan t'ien."

John Marquez describes a 5:30AM Saturday with his cat Bella, arguing with his own laziness, and finds that beginning one movement, or even a weight shift in a checkout line, builds consistency.

Rosalind L Braga praises the 2022 conference for its easy attendance and the fact that no one had to choose between presentations, and for awakening a lasting sense of belonging among longtime teaching colleagues.

Laurie Jacobi takes a student's description of T'ai Chi Chih as a tool for transformation and applies it to her own foot placement, Push Pull and Passing Clouds, watching physical corrections change corresponding areas of her life.

Ron Richardson turns five things his parents told him as a child, from "Pick up your feet" to "Stand on your own two feet," into practical reminders for TCC students about posture, stepping, breathing and independence.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts how Eliza Fulton and Anita Vestal built a virtual 2022 teacher conference for 156 Zoom participants, and how Patty Stupca's talk sharpened her own teaching of grounding the Chi.