The Vital Force Archive

After seeing gentle exercise everywhere on a 2008 trip to China, Richard M. Lukesh joined Margaret O'Connor's class, watched his blood sugar drop twenty points, and finished a long-stalled poetry book.

Michael S. Isaacs practices reluctantly during a flight delay and finds effortless flow by Around the Platter, followed by Seth Ambrose's account of recovering from a suicide attempt and craniotomy with TCC.

Sandy McAlister has students play Around the Platter deliberately too large, then too small, then let go into the effortless middle, with focus dropping to the soles of the feet; Pam Towne urges learning or rededicating to Seijaku.

Meg Scinto lays out her step-by-step method for teaching the Around the Platter Variation, from rubbing palms to feel energy, through arms-only practice, to carrying and releasing the ball at center.

Ev Hanson walks through the forward and backward weight shift and the polarity of the ball in Around the Platter Variation, while Ron Richardson explains why students open their hands and how he demonstrates cupping the energy.

Detailed refinement notes from a retreat, covering hand angle and wrist release in Rocking Motion, the Chi between the palms in Bird Flaps Its Wings, and letting the T'an T'ien initiate Around the Platter and its Variation.

At Justin's Life Celebration, Sr. Antonia interviewed Justin Stone, who recalled Professor Wang's three warm-ups, the week the TCC movements came to him named and complete, and refusing teachers' tithing checks.

Four teaching approaches to Around the Platter: Alice Holden's student brought a cardboard pizza plate to class, Anna Gunderson and Pat Flynn break down the yin/yang step, and Carmen Brocklehurst adds thumb and t'an t'ien refinements.

Sharon Sirkis recounts three encounters: an adult daycare student's quip about wine, a UMBC student demonstrating Around the Platter with her legs on the floor, and a skeptic in back pain who conceded she had a point.