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.
Nebraska
Articles written by T’ai Chi Chih teachers and students in Nebraska: their classes and practice groups, retreats and events, and personal stories of practice.
Rita Otis recalls a rafting trip where a retired man shouted with delight at feeling the energy ball, and describes wanting that bubbling joy rather than a correctly done form.
Rita Otis
Omaha, Nebraska
John Valentine takes the Wicked Witch's skywriting from The Wizard of Oz as a mantra, distinguishing sincerity from seriousness and citing Justin's line that if it isn't fun, it's better left undone.
John Valentine
Omaha, NE
Colleen Wuebben, diagnosed with Parkinson's at 52, describes moving from gym weights and cardio to a six-week beginners' class where her tremors eased and movement became sacred.
Colleen Wuebben
Omaha, NE
Bette-B Bauer bikes to a Key West pier at dawn to practice, watching great blue herons, gulls and a brown pelican gather close, which her teacher Rita says the energy drew in.
Bette-B Bauer
Omaha, NE