The Vital Force Archive

Loretta Shiver describes the final session of her eight-week course, leading students through the whole form for the first and last time, then closing with Steve's meditation tape.

Dan Fiore recounts Don Fiore's third T'ai Chi Chih retreat in the high desert above Tucson, where twenty-five people practised, discussed lasting relationships, hiked to petroglyphs and heard thirty Tibetan bells.

Sandy McAlister of Hayward, California passed along the Buddhist dedication read after practice in her meditation group, a wish for all beings to be free of sorrow and live in equanimity.

Marian Massman writes from her sabbatical at Shantivanam, a 120-acre woodland retreat, Jennifer Biehn prepares to present TCC at Quaker Center, and Carol Glinski fills two Jacksonville classes by word of mouth alone.

Steve Ridley offers three short contemplations: a student-teacher exchange on constant change, a secret of fulfillment in blessing whatever arises, and the claim that chi rests on cosmic love.

Two brief poems by Steve Ridley, one instructing the reader to sit down, be quiet and breathe, the other offering deep free breath in tribute to earth and sky.

Rich Axline, accredited in San Diego in 1994 and teaching his second class, admits presentations still challenge him, then recounts two students whose back and leg pain vanished during his first class.

Barbara Sommers recounts how, after moving from suburban Chicago to rural northwest Wisconsin, natural foods Co-op members and students organized demonstrations and classes for her in Rice Lake and Turtle Lake.

Steve Ridley condenses his Teacher Trainer Tips contribution into a single line of guidance for practitioners: "Economize, yet be plentiful in your efficiency."

Eddy Perez of Newark, California recounts how a year and a half of fruitless doctor visits for constant fatigue led him to T'ai Chi Chih, and why he now teaches.

Steve Ridley's pyramid poem traces the daily work of practice as a gradual release, each day letting go of a little more and returning to nothing, which is everything.

Anne Doering, who has epilepsy, recounts team teaching at the Serenity Shop bookstore with her student Barbara, and catching Louise as a seizure struck her mid-practice.

Lisa Langer's piece from OT Week describes t'ai chi as an occupational therapy intervention, citing studies on postural control in the elderly, rheumatoid arthritis patients, and NIH-funded balance research at Northwestern.

Justin Stone links the Zen master Zuigan's discovery that he was "completely dead to himself" with the T'ai Chi Chih saying that no one is doing T'ai Chi Chih, asking whether Zuigan lost or gained.

Carol Glinski answers the pull to submit something to the Journal with a run of limericks about her daily practice, her packed classes, and her refusal to be solemn about chi.

Reprinted from Let's Live, Roberta Wilson's health-magazine piece quotes Carmen Brocklehurst and Justin Stone on the 19 movements, the balance of yin and yang chi, and how TCC differs from t'ai chi chuan.

Letters from Meara Joy Norice, Marian Massman, Steve Ridley, Connie Hyde, Carol Glinski and Mary Anna Paul praising the journal's new format and anticipating the Denver Conference.

Carmen Brocklehurst uses a shy young student's new habit of daily practice and weekly class attendance to argue that T'ai Chi Chih discipline spreads into relationships, work and money.

Justin Stone's chapter "The Lotus Blossoms in the Mud" walks the cold stone path of a Kyoto temple at night, where streetcars and motorcycles on Karasuma Street blend into the solitude.

Steve Ridley suggests opening and closing every class with an inward facing circle of 18 to 36 rounds of Rocking Motion to build unity among class members.

Carmen Brocklehurst answers a student curious about T'ai Chi Ch'uan and martial self-defense, offering the Chinese saying about defending oneself against oneself and Hakuin's words on enlightenment.

Judith Jones of Redmond recommends the Good Karma audio tape Justin Stone Speaks on T'ai Chi Chih, which on a recent listening finally made clear why concentration rests on the soles of the feet.

Steve Ridley condenses a single aphorism for teachers: the "shouldisms" we carry must persist until re-Awakening arrives as the complete spiritual Heart, with no further commentary offered.

Richard Brier tells a deliberately exaggerated tale of a 100-year-old teacher, his wife and their 63-year-old cat, who walk at dawn, teach in silence and live entirely in the perfection of NOW.

Steve Ridley names two primary responsibilities of a T'ai Chi Chih teacher, continually cultivating one's own practice and teaching as clearly as possible, offered as unconditional service students may use as they choose.

Four aphorisms from Ho Hu Tzu on the oneness of Reality and Realizer, the work of arriving at being nothing, and alignment as the foundation of balance and harmony.

Justin Stone warns that popular Zen books are often written by scholars and translators who have realized nothing, and that their monastic "cases" were never meant for readers with jobs, children and spouses.

Jamie McDonald describes how Seijaku practice dissolved old mental frameworks, bringing violet auras in sleep, a need for more rest and less food, and days of pulling back to let the process balance.

Justin Stone contrasts Zen's arduous mind-control and koan work with T'ai Chi Chih's easier route through the Chi, noting the health benefit he calls the great bonus.

Leona B. Dees reports that her triglyceride level dropped 173 points during a quarter of Seijaku class after heart bypass surgery, then climbed again once she stopped practising.