The Vital Force Archive
Forty years of The Vital Force (1985-2025), the journal of the T’ai Chi Chih community. Search for a word, a teacher, a movement or a place, or browse by category and topic.
Summer 1986
The Summer 1986 issue opens with Justin Stone tracing suffering to our refusal to accept impermanence, citing the I Ching and Professor Huang. He previews what he will teach about chi at the August Teachers’ Conference, and announces that Steve Ridley will lead future teachers’ training and accreditation. Jean Katus writes about the gap between her inner calm and her outer turmoil.
Steve Ridley describes the ongoing practice class he runs for graduates of the beginning course, including his six-week format, $25 tuition, $5 drop-in option and offer of private one-on-one guidance.
Steve Ridley
A pyramid poem for summer, built from the image of escaping the heat in cool breezes moving through a bamboo grove, printed alongside Chinese calligraphy.
Jean Katus quotes Justin Stone on T'ai Chi Chih as a Way of Life, then describes the gap between her grounded inner calm and the turmoil of her outer behavior, and her decision to forgive her own human setbacks.
Jean Katus builds a pyramid poem around the idea that softness and continuity come only by giving way and letting go, with the flow arriving of its own accord.
Justin Stone recommends his newly recorded audio tape to all students and teachers, suggesting it can sustain enthusiasm, convey deeper meanings, and substitute for in-person presentations when attracting new students.
Justin Stone
Justin Stone announces that Steve Ridley will conduct future teachers' training courses and will accredit those who pass, followed by Ridley's four requirements for hosting a course, including a minimum of nine prepared candidates.
Lee Muller offers five short poems moving from silence and breath through an opened door, an arrow piercing a dark cave, and wood laid at a distance before the fire is lit.
Justin Stone traces suffering to our refusal to accept impermanence, citing the I Ching on change, the falling and returning leaves, and Professor Huang's saying that the Sage wants spring to follow winter.
Justin Stone
Letters from Lee Muller playing at sunset in Taos, Joe Wythe teaching daily in Guadalajara, Jane Klingensmith starting her first class, Lillian Susumi adapting for left-right disordered students, and Christeen McLain-Curran on TCC being almost too easy to trust.
Justin Stone announces plans to teach transition and transmutation, the Law of Impermanence, and how chi accumulates while nearly motionless at the August Teachers' Conference, warning he will cancel if fewer than 30 register.