The Vital Force Archive

Marc Heeg, a concert pianist in Boulder, finished his teacher accreditation amid a packed summer, began an October class with eight students, and had ten more waiting without any advertising, plus his brochure's account of yin and yang.

Barbara Riley's piece from the Jan.-Feb. 1995 HEALTH 2000 Newsletter introduces T'ai Chi Chih's twenty movements to newcomers, citing lower blood pressure, easier arthritis pain and better balance, and announcing her eight-week class series.

Letters from Sr. Claire Whalen, Joan Torrence, Bryan James, Joy Barbour and Ralph Garn report first classes, five-session evening formats with treats, a monthly city-wide Denver practice in Washington Park, and a New Jersey teachers' weekend.

Virginia Shilson recounts offering her teaching free of charge to senior citizen centers after accreditation, where classes of eight to thirty students built the confidence she needed to eventually advertise and charge.

Steve Tang recounts the year after his June 1993 accreditation: assisting Elizabeth Salada's classes, leading monthly park practices, flyers nobody answered, then two Sunday classes at a kung-fu studio and a church.

Timothy Stuetz outlines which state nursing boards must approve continuing education providers, the plan to let teachers in other states work under one approved provider, and Transformations' bid to serve attorneys and accountants.

Noël Altman describes the "Ongoing Practice" continuing class she and Ed lead, where students pull the teaching from them, mature students strengthen the group chi, and beginners watch the second half of the form.

Teachers from Anaheim to Albuquerque answer a Conference evaluation question about continuing classes, describing refinement of moves, connected form, Seijaku breath work, circle and outdoor practice, discounts and mailing lists.

Darlene Ross recounts a Vallombrosa staff member who watched the conference group moving together on the lawn, found it calming for a hyper person, and asked about taking a class.

Justin Stone instructs teachers never to answer "yes" when asked whether T'ai Chi Chih will help arthritis, offering case histories instead of claims, and calling illness a spiritual purification.

Chris Worcester limits his eight-session Truckee class to eight students, George Balliet presented TCC and Seijaku in the "Self Care" segment of a Merced home business conference, and Jeanne Beatty-Jacobs demonstrated for 350 mostly black-belt karate students.

Ralph Garn reports on planting seeds in Syracuse, including a free Sunday morning 'T'ai Chi Chih in the Park' where the Seneca River meets Onondaga Lake, and Pat Lenard Eagle leads nearly 30 sports camp staff in twilight practice under a full moon.

A thirteen-segment television series filmed with Carmen Brocklehurst and Justin Stone premieres on Albuquerque's PBS station KNME in October, and teachers are urged to have students request it locally.

Ellen Tatge, given only five minutes before hospital employee wellness delegates in Albuquerque, dropped the talk and simply did two movements, watching the room relax and later fielding numerous calls.

Theda Gillespie recounts hosting the visiting Mayor of Monte Sereno, California in Napier, who found Jane Fonda tapes boring and yoga unsustainable, and asks TCC teachers near her to make contact.

Darlene Ross reports her small new class at Fremont's Center for Wellbeing will continue, while Elizabeth Tyler of Lake Oswego describes her "Paths to Wellness" brochure and the anonymous breathing poem she uses in class.

Acupuncturist Margaret Weber, Ph.D. spoke on T'ai Chi Chih to nearly 100 people at the April 1994 Whole Life Expo, with Bay Area teachers performing the form and a seated version demonstrated.

Theda Gillespie traces her path from private lessons at Rio Caliente Health Spa in Mexico to the 1983 teacher training in Denver, and her classes in New Zealand, including a demonstration for 200 guests at a Chinese New Year dinner.

Connie Hyde reports that seventeen Albuquerque teachers met in January to plan a T'ai Chi Chih Center, weighing nonprofit status, start-up money, staffing hours and the requirements for a 1800 square foot site.

News from the Colorado instructors' newsletter: three new teachers bring the state total to 23, Merry Lynn Noble takes over the newsletter, and Bryan James reports record class sizes around Denver.

Elizabeth Tyler of Lake Oswego describes the flyer she uses to promote classes, her twelfth eight-week series, early morning classes for school district teachers, and a presentation to fifty inmates at a Portland prison.

Susan Webster reports on the nineteen graduates of Steve's August 1993 accreditation course, new classes for San Diego city employees, Mercy Hospital and an AIDS program, and her bid to add TCC at Grossmont College.

Sr. Antonia Cooper traces her teaching from a first class of two students in 1991 to a full spring calendar, including seated classes for chair-bound residents of St. Ann's Home in Jersey City.

Press coverage of two teachers: Barbara Riley's classes at the Rossmoor retirement complex, where a student with a hip replacement praised the gentle motion, and Lynne Blackford's full-page feature in the Missoulian.

Steve Ridley thanks teachers for passing on T'ai Chi Chih as class sizes grow, naming Justin's meditation retreat, the Chicago Teachers' Conference and training courses held that year, and the 1994 northern California Conference ahead.

Barbara Peller counts up a year of senior classes that keep finding her: a seated half-hour group at an Alzheimer's day care, a college class grown from 12 to 31, Tribune coverage, and 130 students a week.

A fictitious announcement of a week-long conference at an International T'ai Chi Chih Center in Albuquerque turns out to be a proposal, as local teachers weigh creating a shared teaching space and referral hub.

Two newspaper write-ups: the Milpitas Post quoted a skeptical senior in Susan Hudgen's class who now reports less stress, and Al Stanbridge of the San Mateo Times visited Hope Ridley's Foster City class.

Roxann Post reports on the moves of John and Joy Barbour to Payson, David Smith to Idaho and herself to Nevada, with Loretta Hopper and Della Alberson taking over the Mohave Community College classes.

Barbara Riley describes her first group presentation of T'ai Chi Chih at the Rossmoor active adult community, where more than 60 people attended the free demonstration and two full classes resulted.