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.
Libraries and Community Centers
Public libraries, recreation centers and community halls are common places to find a T’ai Chi Chih class. These articles come from teachers who set up classes in such spaces, describing how students found them, the varied audiences they met, and the rewards of teaching close to home.
Luba Blumberg reports on teaching T'ai Chi Chih to Danny Glover's Actors Workshop, a Monday class at the Orinda Community Center, and a lecture-demonstration for a Transactional Analysis seminar after her October 1987 teacher training.
Luba Blumberg
Oakland, CA
Carlos Magana reports martial arts students at the Brisbane Community Center and San Francisco Y.M.C.A. getting good results from Seijaku, Justin Stone's beginners' class fills at Monterey Peninsula College, and Joan Roulac finishes her first class.
A Sierra newspaper piece by staff writer Matt Miller profiles instructor Chris Worcester, whose Recreation Department class draws construction workers and others to moving meditation that eased his own back trouble.
A Princeton Packet description of T'ai Chi claiming it "improves book circulation" was caught as a newsbreak by The New Yorker, with a note of attention to librarians.
Adele Wenig reports on senior classes at a Jewish Community Center, chiropractic center sessions, and a Stroke Club presentation where three students gained relaxation and balance while one grew fatigued from trying too hard; plus notes from Bonnie McKenzie and Carolyn Shaw.
Christeen Curran contracted to teach 20 hours at a Fargo nursing home, Mary Kim Candell moved from home classes to the Orinda Community Center, and Jean Williams filled Oklahoma City classes from one small newspaper ad.