The Vital Force Archive

Lisa Stroyan describes offering suggestions rather than corrections in ongoing classes, from a nervous newcomer discovering effortless rise in Light at the Top of the Head to catching her own unrolled right wrist in Bass Drum.

Tara Stiles recounts coaxing travel companions into doing T'ai Chi Chih in airports before long flights to Australia, and choosing grounding movements like Bass Drum in a cramped courtroom corridor.

Lisa Stroyan describes locating her tan t'ien lower and deeper than expected during April Leffler's online accreditation, and A.B. of Albuquerque finds Bass Drum and Around the Platter blurring the boundary between self and cosmos.

Jim Shorr collects statements from four Oregon senior students naming the movements that matter most to them, from Ellen H.'s swimmer's affinity for Working the Pulley to Linda L. feeling God's presence in Passing Clouds.

Dina Ajlenberg found that Israeli students, unlike Canadians raised on parades and big bands, had no image of a bass drum, so she teaches the arm movement as a train's wheels.

Diana Daffner mistook Bass Drum for a drum beaten on top, substituted the image of caressing a tree trunk, and later told beginners the story when teaching the movement.

Daniel Pienciak explains why he teaches Bass Drum before Around the Platter and Pulling in the Energy, breaking each into hand circle, weight shift, then both, with eyes forward for balance.

Debby McLister recounts teaching Bass Drum in her first beginner class, where a fist-and-release hand exercise worked until week two, so she brought 12-inch balloons to keep hands cupped and apart.

Pyramid poems by Leya Cragin, Veronica Fleming, Brock, Jerry G., Larry Saun, Corine, Joyce Veerkamp and Donovan on Rocking Motion, Bird Flaps Its Wings, Bass Drum and Around the Platter.

Barb Shambach audited the November 2015 Albuquerque accreditation with trainer Dan Pienciak, Carmen Brocklehurst and Dora Wiemann, recounting a candidate steadying himself with Bass Drum, the "random sacks" mix-up, and a reading of "Shadows."

Anita Vestal recounts the 2015 Black Mountain conference, where Susan Quinn used chocolate and candy to locate the perfect moment, April Leffler told of a fly landing on her nose, and Sandy McAlister taught gliding into a full weight shift.

Daniel Pienciak, told a year after accreditation that his wrists needed more softness, shows where give belongs in the wrist joint using Bass Drum, Push Pull and Rocking Motion.

Justin Stone gives teachers the keys to the first five movements, from flattening the feet before raising the toes in Rocking Motion to keeping the hands a steady distance apart in Bass Drum.

In a video address to the 2009 conference, 92-year-old Justin Stone corrects four points for teachers: the hand "turned up to the sun" in Pulling Taffy, cupped hands and wrist work in Carry the Ball to the Side and Bass Drum, and yinning and yanging below the waist.

Pam Towne asks practitioners to check their circularity in a mirror, movement by movement, from the "D" shaped platter and Bass Drum to wrist circles, Working the Pulley and Passing Clouds.

Sheryl Adair breaks down how she demonstrates Bass Drum to students, from the cupped hands to the letting go of the wrists, followed by Jim Eagle's account of how the movement unlocked his stiff hips and introduced him to his T'an T'ien.

Three takes on Bass Drum: retreat notes on feeling chi between the hands and rolling over at 4 o'clock, Ev Hanson-Florin's warm-bath abandonment and UK "Water Wheel" nickname, and Stephen Thompson on holding the stillness.

Sandy McAlister urges precise cueing, saying "Bass Drum, left foot forward" rather than "on the left side," and describes a class exercise focusing on the downward-moving top arm in Pulling Taffy.