The Vital Force Archive

Steve Ridley answers a student's question about what to think about during practice with a single instruction, be the movement at hand, then adds a master-and-disciple exchange about naming the unnameable.

Steve Ridley's pyramid poem traces the slowing of T'ai Chi into self-nurturing ease, rhythmic blending and alignment through heaven and earth, where the wu chi heart of motion resolves every impression.

A reprint from QualMed's Being Well magazine profiles accredited teacher Suni McHenry, who describes T'ai Chi Chih as a path to relaxation after hectic computer days, with McHenry noting the article's inaccuracies.

Sandra Tanner's account of the August 1994 Vallombrosa conference, where eighty-nine teachers gathered for silent practice, corrections sessions, gypsy dancing and a walking meditation marking twenty years of T'ai Chi Chih teacher training.

Richard Brier of Mill Valley describes why we practice: to awaken intuition, open to cosmic chi, and dwell in the present moment through what he calls mind-fasting, the empty cup.

Steve Ridley's pyramid poem casts human beings as spiritual agents of wisdom-love, temporarily identified with thought and creation, serving the greater evolutionary thrust of Life.

Steve Ridley's pyramid poem calls for deep contemplation of the Refined Intelligence and Compassionate Force that designs and breathes all living beings into expression through itself.

Merced Sun-Star writer Debra Salonen profiled George Balliet, whose pain and depression after a 2-by-12 struck his head eased with his first T'ai Chi Chih movement; he now teaches using a Slinky.

Jean Katus, writing after the summer conference, notes the wide range of personalities among the teachers gathered there and argues for setting ego aside so T'ai Chi Chih itself remains the binding center.

Rosalind Braga recounts the Saturday evening talent show at Vallombrosa, where Justin Stone played improv jazz, Richard Brier read from "Chi Lanka," and Lia Ridley closed with Romanian gypsy dancing and drumming.

Carolyn P. Shaw's first teaching after breaking her leg: a two-week class for 19 seniors in the Getaway Program, with Tao Te Ching readings, chair practice, and a man with a lung ailment performing at the final banquet.

Marking Good Karma's reissue of his long out-of-print Zen Meditation, Justin Stone questions Soto Zen's long cross-legged sitting, cites Hui Neng and Hakuin on realizing one's own nature, and links the chi's revulsion to enlightenment.

Barbara Riley returned from the conference with greater connectedness and inner softness in her practice, and proposes a tribute fund letting teachers donate in someone's honor once non-profit status arrives.

Sr. Alice Holden describes teaching T'ai Chi Chih to homeless women in El Paso, where students found inner strength and one woman quieted a screaming infant on a city bus by sending peace energy.

Short birthday greetings sent in by teachers and students for Justin Stone's 78th birthday, thanking him for the gift of T'ai Chi Chih and wishing him many more years.

Hope Ridley recounts two class moments that made her smile: students veering left in unison when reminded about equal weight in Cosmic Consciousness Pose, and the whole class turning sideways when she did.

Joanne Sultar of Berkeley sets her thanks to Justin Stone to the tune of Julie Styne's "Just In Time," crediting him for the form and for bringing practitioners together.

Florence Okie of White Bear Lake donated part of the proceeds from her first class as a teacher, reporting better balance, coordination and softness among her six students after just two sessions.

Teachers including Timothy Stuetz, Pam Towne, Ellen Greyson and Lavana Kilborn record what the 1994 Vallombrosa conference gave them, from Justin's Saturday talk and Seijaku practice to pleas for a set schedule and more vegetarian meals.

Joan Alvord, a student of Jean Katus, describes how softness, continuity and centeredness in the soles of her feet work on her, and how practising on her porch amid snow, birds and wind renewed her sense of the gift of life.

Carmen Brocklehurst credits Sandra and the Minnesota and California teachers for the ninth annual conference at Vallombrosa, where the "Catching the Dream" theme came with a dream catcher in every packet.

Chris Worcester limits his eight-session Truckee class to eight students, George Balliet presented TCC and Seijaku in the "Self Care" segment of a Merced home business conference, and Jeanne Beatty-Jacobs demonstrated for 350 mostly black-belt karate students.

Justin Stone argues that T'ai Chi Chih benefits accumulate only with regular practice, comparing lapsed practitioners to pianists who do finger exercises once a fortnight and citing the chi stored in the t'an t'ien.

Darlene Ross recounts a Vallombrosa staff member who watched the conference group moving together on the lawn, found it calming for a hyper person, and asked about taking a class.

Ralph Garn's pyramid poem traces a current rising from the center through an opened pathway, erupting, cleansing, then dissipating like a closing umbrella until the next reign.

Letters from Linda Reicks, Chris McLain, Steve Ridley, Susan Brown and Loretta Shiver thanking the journal and praising the 1994 teacher training courses in Albuquerque and Fargo.

Carmen Brocklehurst's pyramid poem, dated August 15, 1994, moves from dreams alive with music to the poised standing start of the movements, called simple, graceful and beautiful.

Ralph Garn reports on planting seeds in Syracuse, including a free Sunday morning 'T'ai Chi Chih in the Park' where the Seneca River meets Onondaga Lake, and Pat Lenard Eagle leads nearly 30 sports camp staff in twilight practice under a full moon.

Four short letters praising the June 1994 issue and the Special 20th Anniversary Issue, from Justin Stone, Connie Hyde, Darlene Ross and Hope Burla, who was still elated after the Conference.

Justin Stone compares enlightenment in Zen and Indian thought and argues no one is truly unenlightened, since habit energies merely obscure the sun, and students who abandon practice never let the wind clear those clouds.