The Vital Force Archive

Jeanne Jacobs of Arlington, Washington plays on the syllable "sum," from dim sum as barely perceived chi to summit as transcendent chi, with intermittent practice as "some-times."

A one-line exchange collected at conference, in which a question about whether Seijaku's resistance is mostly mind or body gets the deadpan answer 60-40 going left, 40-60 going right.

Writing from Guam, Sister Mary Joseph Quichocho practises daily and did T'ai Chi Chih at the beach, where a man teased that Pulling in the Energy was calling in the fish.

Richard Brier walks through the movements one by one, giving each a personal symbolic meaning, from varying circle size in Around the Platter to the student whose 35-year insomnia eased with Passing Clouds.

Steve Ridley sets out three expectations for those recommending teacher candidates: expert, unhesitating execution of every movement, a stable and caring temperament, and an "empty cup" respect for the 24-hour accreditation process.

Lucy Hocking writes from Mount Desert Island, Maine, home to Acadia National Park, inviting East Coast students and friends to practise with her and hoping to sponsor a New England teacher training.

William A. Nielsen, Jr. recalls Justin Stone repeatedly correcting his bent rear knee at the 1988 Albuquerque accreditation, then finding himself a student again at Steve Ridley's Chicago teacher candidate class.

Barbara Peller thanks Steve for the Chicago teachers' course that taught her to move the Chi with confidence, and Jayne Uchacz credits T'ai Chi Chih with giving her strength after a recent great loss.

A letter from Tamzan Johnson, newly accredited after the course in Victoria, thanking Steve Ridley, Justin Stone and the journal while settling into steady daily practice at home.

A pyramid poem by George Balliet of San Mateo, California, surveying a world of crime, decay and few who pray, and ending with his gratitude at having found the Way.

Justin Stone argues that people cling to habitual thinking even when it makes them unhappy, so reformers and missionaries waste their effort, while T'ai Chi Chih and meditation, offered when asked, let habits change as people evolve.

Writing from Palm Desert after his Teacher Training week, Bill Fisher asks for letters and news clippings from back issues of The Vital Force to back up upcoming radio and TV talk show appearances.

Amy Hackenberg's poem traces hands resting on her shoulders, light draining down through loosening leaves, and dark liquid collecting deep as a smooth black vase holding her blood.

Rosalind Braga's linked haiku, written at a June 1991 teacher renewal, trace hands floating like passing clouds, legs rooted earthward, yin-yang balance, resting pose and the grand circle of chi.

Roxann Post describes how eight newly accredited teachers in the Bullhead City area keep meeting monthly in each other's homes, running the movements to tape, refining moves together, then taking turns leading.

Sharon de Keyser Davidson, a student of Carmen's, thanks her for calming, encouraging sessions, credits her sister at Laguna Leisure World for the nudge, and plans to keep practicing with book and music after leaving Albuquerque.

Steve Ridley argues that joy is innate rather than conditional, an aspect of essential Identity obscured by conditioned mind, and that chi is the inexhaustible fuel practice makes tangible.

A roster of the three teacher training courses held in Alameda, Victoria B.C. and Chicago in June and July 1991, naming each newly accredited teacher, course host and visiting teacher.