The Vital Force Archive

Adam Lacey and Laurin McDonald outline the UK effort to train new TCC teachers, from the first two candidates in 2008 through to four preparing for accreditation in 2025, with timelines and costs.

Sue Kenney notes that most TCC groups gather similar people, and challenges teachers to carry the practice into mental health clinics, public housing projects and drop-in centers, raising funds to pay teachers when students cannot.

Bonnie LeBlanc describes how four Cape Cod teachers sustain a TCC community through Sunday Zoom practice reaching Ireland and Florida, library and church drop-ins, weekly teacher workshops and regular coffee hours.

Steven Huskey, accredited in November 2024, sets out what his accreditation week gave him in an acrostic spelling T'ai Chi Chih, from grounding and coaching students to establishing new classes and camaraderie.

Vanessa Petterson, accredited in December 2022, describes building two Village Hall classes despite weak marketing skills, the laughter and loving kindness at each class ending, and her growing confidence as a teacher.

Laurin McDonald and Adam Lacey describe how a breakout session at Mindfulness Now's 20th anniversary conference in Birmingham drew twelve therapists, four of whom are now Zoom students heading toward accreditation.

Anita Vestal recounts ten years of offering free Spanish-language classes in rural Costa Rica, where clubs supplied transportation and space, and calls for Foundation grants and a new video of TCC worldwide.

Darlene Benton, newly accredited after years of teaching qigong and T'ai Chi Ch'uan, filled her first classes with massage therapy clients aged 18 to 80 who kept returning and brought friends.

Marilyn Griffin describes co-leading a bi-weekly open practice at her YMCA with fellow new teacher Russell Stith, building her confidence while navigating the Y's rules about who teaches what.

Kay Rydeen presented "T'ai Chi Chih for Body, Mind, and Spirit" at a Minnesota occupational therapy conference, teaching two dozen OTs about weight shifts, softness, and joint range of motion.

Sharon Sirkis and Kathy Grassel collect classroom mix-ups and comebacks, from a college student renaming Rocking Motion "Rocking Horse" to a retirement center resident asking permission to complain about the cold.

Regina Otero-Sabogal, a psychologist and Colombian immigrant, describes recruiting students for free Spanish-language T'ai Chi Chih classes at Galería de la Raza's Casa Adelante housing and Berkeley's Latino Family Engagement Program.

Gail Terriff returned from the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque after years of inactivity and pain, talked about T'ai Chi Chih at a neighbourhood block party, and set an August 8 start date for an outdoor class in her cul-de-sac.

Mary Karpin recounts the in-person 50th teacher conference and Sandy McAlister's closing charge, suggesting ways to spread TCC: sharing newsletters and the Vital Force, and demonstrating movements for mothers at the playground.

Laurin McDonald recounts the first 800 hours of teaching after her 2018 accreditation, from a chance encounter at a business showcase to classes in wheelchairs, a mosque, and her Seijaku accreditation in 2021.

Sandy McAlister outlines the volunteer-run pieces of the TCC organization and urges every teacher to pay for a listing on the taichichih.org find-a-teacher page, after a researcher searching for a teacher found no names.

Dr. Anita Vestal reports from the inaugural Science of T'ai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person Health Conference, where Dr. Helen Lavretsky could not locate a TCC teacher for a study through the website directory.

KG accounts for the taichichih.org teacher listing pages, the 250 hours spent contacting 1500 teachers, why the PDF directory was never public, and the new map and single-page teacher search.

Judy Kistler-Robinson turned shut-down recreation center classes into Zoom sessions that drew friends across the country, and she still offers a free monthly online practice from Albuquerque, including one student's husband with Parkinson's.

Terry Gay Puckett recounts how student Denise Richter contacted a San Antonio Express News columnist without telling her, and the resulting article filled her senior center class and a waiting list.

Jessica Lewis, who teaches veterans in chronic pain for the Federal T'ai Chi for Veterans program, describes using very few words in a first class so students discover the Chi themselves.

Margery Erickson traces a career in juvenile detention outreach, crisis intervention, sheltered workshops and special education that preceded her TCC accreditation, then lists community settings where she now hopes to volunteer.

Marija Hillis recounts how COVID-19 closures pushed her new teaching from an uneven park to three friends' backyards, growing to four weekly classes and 24 masked, distanced students.

Donna Aldous recounts selling her Mesa, Arizona property after 13 years as a snowbird, settling into a co-operative suite, and starting classes at Queen's House Retreat Center and her Manor.

Lisa recounts how she and Sandy Roerig found students not among neighbors on their block but in a 55+ community meditation group, forming an outdoor practice group they named the Woo Woo Warriors.

Judy Kistler-Robinson learned Tai Chi Chih from Justin's photo textbook, DVDs and FaceTime sessions with Lubbock teachers, then found that Sandy's Zoom practices supplied the angles and words she had missed.

KG reports on the 350+ teacher webpages now live at taichichih.org, how to get listed or edit one, and asks readers what they need The Vital Force to be.

Sandy Roerig's November 2019 visit to fellow teacher Lisa in St George led her to sell her house, move within two months, and finally commit to a daily practice.

Lesley Nell describes how she and Laurin McDonald, accredited in 2018, ran a Discovery Workshop in Banbury for wellbeing coaches and therapists in March 2020, just before lockdown.

Sue Kenney notes that most T'ai Chi Chih teachers are white women of middle and older age, and proposes demonstrations, diverse-led DVDs and YouTube materials, Zoom mentors and funding to reach younger people, men and people of color.