The Vital Force Archive

In a letter thanking Justin Stone for his note of congratulations, Beverly Weil describes the inner shift she experienced during her accreditation week under Ed Altman's guidance.

Aida Wilks outlines plans for the first Day of Joy Thru Movement on November 20, 2000, suggesting campus, mall, bookstore and workplace demonstrations, posters and flyers to honor Justin Stone.

Louise Bureau writes to Justin Stone about coming to T'ai Chi Chih after an early breast cancer diagnosis, staying calm during her father's emergency bypass surgery, and her accreditation with Ed Altman.

Christeen McLain offers to share curriculum guidelines and procedures with anyone wanting to teach TCC for college credit, drawing on her classes at Minnesota State University Moorhead since 1996.

Ed Altman asked Justin Stone directly about reports that the TCC movements had changed, and relays Justin's answer: the movements are consistent, but the present emphasis on principles and how to move makes them seem different.

Teachers from Guy Kent to Mary Stebbins report back on the 15th International Teachers Conference at Xavier Center, praising Ed Altman's tension checklist, Justin Stone's talks and the joy of practicing in unison.

James K. Hecker thanks Jean for donated Justin Stone books that keep Old Folsom inmates committed to TCC over other chi kung forms, and anticipates Ed Altman's June 22 visit.

A Grayslake Times piece by Michelle Habrych on Donna McElhose's classes, where students from their 20s to their 70s describe feeling energy in their hands, easing aches, lowering blood pressure and relieving stress.

Catherine Brieussel describes recruiting eight volunteers from a French secondary school, among them a shy boy whose father had just died and who asked to join her class the following day.

Donna McElhose's letter to the Grayslake Times corrects a local newspaper story, insisting that Justin Stone originated the twenty movements rather than found them, and that she is an accredited instructor, not a master.

Jan Linthorst found Orange County senior centers and parks programs already crowded with Qi Gong and T'ai Chi Ch'uan classes, so she began showing movements to individuals one at a time until a weekly practice class formed.

Four poems: Chery Ann Hoffmeyer on auditing the Edmonton teacher training, Linda Skuta's "Rejoice, Rejoice Grow Deeper Still," Jean Krumboltz on surrender and serenity, and short verses by Donna McElhose and Noel Altman.

Sandy McAlister travelled home from the conference feeling calm rather than chatty, yet strangers smiled, started conversations and carried her suitcase, which she credits to her heightened state of chi.

Donna McElhose thanks student John Nemeth, who canvassed local newspaper offices, cable stations and built a web page to publicize her free monthly T'ai Chi Chih practice sessions.

In a letter to Jean Katus, Fr. Gregory Buss describes standing up after three hours of previewing parish videos and doing the whole TCC form in place, finding the energy terrific and his T'ai Chi Ch'uan slower afterward.

Donna McElhose made more than 200 phone calls to gather students from a dozen class locations into a free room at the State Bank of the Lakes, drawing 35 practitioners.

Garret Tayler credits a full set of T'ai Chi Chih an hour before a job interview with the groundedness that won him the position, while Marilyn Wilson describes letting old worry and anger drop away.

Seven short anecdotes from Ed Altman, Amy Hackenberg, Sharon Sirkis and Bitsy LeBlanc, including a beginner who tried to swim through Working the Pulley and said she was drowning.

Carmen Brocklehurst describes practising the day after the 2000 New Jersey conference, noticing corrections that felt awkward and arguing that any teacher's correction deserves an open mind.

Five pyramid poems written at the Conference by Sr. Alice Holden, Sharon Sirkis, Marie Dotts and Guy Kent, in the form Justin Stone originated in Climb the Joyous Mountain.

Denise M. Clark recounts Ed Altman's Memorial Day workshop in Danville, where fifty-one practitioners let Rocking Motion lift naturally, worked the weight shift flat-footed, and softened the waist for Perpetual Motion Taffy.

RoSanna Braccioforte, a student of Noel Altman with only five classes behind her, talks herself into attending Ed Altman's May 28 workshop and finds twenty-year practitioners still learning alongside her.

Sr. Alice Holden recounts how a press release brought FOX TV's "The Edge" to film Ed Altman and candidate Ann Sollars at the June 2000 San Antonio teacher training, and the founding of SARA of TCC.

Four letters: Bob Slone asks to be relisted, Sr. Marie-Ann Main writes from Durban about teaching 62 third graders, RuthMarie Arguello-Sheehan practises in deep water while her partner undergoes cancer treatment, and Henry C. Smith asks about tingling hands during Light at the Top of the Head.

Sandy McAlister hosted the July 10-15 teacher training in Berkeley, reporting on Ed Altman's instruction, the 16 new teachers, three candidates asked to keep working with their teachers, and one deferred certificate.

Justin Stone distinguishes crammed knowledge from Prajna, the inherent wisdom, recounting a meditators' gathering where his comments anticipated Ramana Maharshi's words, and the day he bought his Albuquerque house by letting the car choose.

Pam Towne, a teacher of 16 years, recommends auditing the Berkeley Teacher Training as both a way to deepen one's own practice and a chance to serve by assisting new candidates.

Ed Altman recounts kneeling beside a tethered dog being taunted by inner-city kids, and draws from that wordless intervention a lesson on softness as a repeated decision that builds inner strength.

Patricia Strand recounts being told at the Berkeley teacher training that nothing about her Pulling Taffy was correct, the warning she might not be accredited, and the night she woke feeling her body on fire.