The Vital Force Archive

Ann Rutherford, finding few accredited teachers willing to teach Seijaku, describes Justin Stone's confirmation that it is a Heightened Awareness discipline and her method of having students pass through a chosen wall of resistance such as anger.

Justin Stone on what makes an article worth reading, the circulation of Chi beyond physical benefits, and TCC's need for more teachers as trainings spread to Italy, France and Canada.

Hannah Hedrick reviews a Respiratory Care pilot study of T'ai Chi for COPD patients, praising its 61-item bibliography and two T'ai Chi Chih citations, then previews the 2011 Ohio teacher conference at Sawmill Creek Resort.

Pete Gregory challenges teachers who blend T'ai Chi Chih with dance, weights or other forms, recalls a student who renamed his altered version, and notes the wide differences in movement he saw at his first conference in 2004.

Justin Stone recounts a revelation that time itself is Maya, comparing ordinary life to a play within a play, and describes turiya, the fourth state of consciousness, and Zuigan's enlightenment.

Larry Bloom practices on the morning after Atlanta's first white Christmas since 1882, watching snow on his palm trees and describing how movements now move on their own after years of committed practice.

Sue Bitney describes the Minnesota TCC community's November gathering near Justin's birthday: a circle practice, a teacher-provided potluck, 18 people saying what TCC has meant, then cake and ice cream.

Judy Hendricks recounts corrections Justin Stone gave at an Albuquerque teacher practice, covering fingertip placement in Push Pull, the yang hand in the Taffy movements, standing between moves, and fluttering fingers as a sign of Chi.

Carmen Brocklehurst describes Justin Stone's 94th birthday gathering in New Mexico, with a noon practice at the country's first TCC center, jazz musicians, visiting teenagers, and three-year-old Leila Berg.

Dennis McCann compares T'ai Chi Chih to the bottomless Lake Pharaoh of his boyhood camping trips, describing how deep practice took him beneath body, emotion and thought until something began mirroring his Pulling Taffy and Passing Clouds.

Charles Hintz poses a one-line riddle about kesa, zafu, zazen and na fu, then glosses each term, from the Ganges cremation sheets behind the robe to na fu as comfortable retirement.

Rodney Anderson, a mail carrier for 37 years, describes the knee pain that stopped his teaching, Nancy Werner-Azarski's blunt push toward surgery, and the weight shift that finally felt like nothing.

Christine Burel returned to a beginners' class after letting her practice lapse for four years, and describes how fifteen minutes of morning practice before work and children's appointments restored her sense of control.

Newly accredited Sandi Huebel found her first students among the egg customers of her chicken farm, then converted the garage into a part-time studio and watched the phone start ringing.

Chris Weber, an artist of 60 who had spent years as a busy bee, came home from an Albuquerque retreet with a painting called "Vital Force" and a sonnet on Rocking Motion.

Sr. Antonia Cooper recounts visiting Judy Trethewy's twelve-year weekly class in Greystone Chapel at Old Folsom prison, where inmates call T'ai Chi Chih an instant vacation and describe finding internal freedom, balance and calm.

Barbara Pence signed up for what she thought was T'ai Chi, got confused by Passing Clouds, and a year later reports no falls, easier arthritis, returning hearing and blood pressure down 30 points.

Sandy McAlister asks why practitioners look so solemn during Joy Thru Movement, describing her own ah-ha moments, unexpected tears, and the value of sitting in silence after practice.

Lucille Porter, at 80 and with a history of lower back trouble, describes going to her T'ai Chi Chih class despite stiffness and pain, and finding her back fine within minutes.

Pam Towne lays out how to prepare for Seijaku accreditation: daily practice sandwiching three Seijaku movements between TCC repetitions, repeated viewing of Justin's Seijaku DVD, six months of practice, and work with an accredited Seijaku teacher.

Amy Tyksinski asked her high school students to let one quality pick them, and Cole Helsell, Haley Maness and Kriti Prasad describe practicing with softness and the effort of no effort.

Andrea Skillman recounts five years of teaching T'ai Chi Chih to holistic nurses at their annual conference, where beginners moved so well she had them pair up for mirrored Push Pull.

Judy Chancey traces her practice from the self-conscious mechanics of weight shift and wrist movement to the moment awareness dropped into the t'an t'ien and TCC began doing TCC.

Donna McElhose lists what teachers and teacher candidates each gain from an intensive, from learning the 'second signature' role to previewing the first half of teacher training.

Sheila Leonard collected testimonials from her Newfoundland students, including relief from torn rotator cuff pain, night knee pain and migraines, plus a lunchtime employee wellness session and an NTV news segment featuring Sharon Snow learning TCC.

Ron Richardson traces his own new beginnings, from Director of Pastoral Care to 2003 accreditation, then prints a letter from Pete and Kathy on their first two months in his Wellness Center class.

Amy Tyksinski details pushing down first to break the connection with the past, the goal post arm position and slow circling wrists, plus Carmen's suggestion that advanced students emphasize the middle fingers at the temples.

Cheryl Hall describes eight years of teaching T'ai Chi Chih to first and second graders in her Oregon classroom, where a small daily group learned every movement and grew visibly calmer.

Ten pyramid poems from Dianne Moody, Jim Shorr, Nancy Little and others on letting go and chi, followed by five of Sharon Sirkis's funniest moments teaching at an MS day group and a retirement home.

After a 2010 car accident left her back and knees painful, Judy George swapped the chair for a large exercise ball, then coached an 82-year-old student through her fear of falling onto it.