The Vital Force Archive

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts years of struggling with Justin Stone's instruction to "come to a graceful conclusion" until a Tuesday morning practice when she simply followed him and her wrists went soft.

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.

Amy Tyksinski describes the "Flowing River Moments" she offers her high school class, then prints students' own written reflections on self-love, the effort of no effort, polarity and balance.

Carmen Brocklehurst links everyday acts of kindness, including a boy who unbuckled his seat belt to save a cat, to the wholeness felt when a group ends a movement together and Justin asked, "Did you feel that?"

Amy Tyksinski uses Around the Platter Variation to teach polarity between the palms, suggesting the base of the palms come slightly closer to activate the wrist meridians and awaken felt Chi.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst argues that T'ai Chi Chih movements never change, only our perception of them, and that teachers must admit mistaken understanding, citing Hakuin and Justin Stone's chapter "The Growth of Certainty."

Ann Rutherford defends the closing position as grounding rather than ornament, recounting a student whose ungrounded chi threw Ann into spasms of pain, plus her lightning-rod and kelp teaching images.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts how Eliza Fulton and Anita Vestal built a virtual 2022 teacher conference for 156 Zoom participants, and how Patty Stupca's talk sharpened her own teaching of grounding the Chi.

Guy Kent compares solo and group practice after the 2022 teacher conference, recalling forty-minute sessions with Justin in Albuquerque and suggesting practitioners time their own practice against that mark.

Amy Tyksinski gathers quotations recorded in small group sessions with Justin Stone around his metaphor of dyeing the cloth, linking devotion, faith and letting go to becoming large-hearted.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst gives practical instruction for seated practice in a straight-back chair, working the weight shift through the sits bones in Rocking Motion and Around the Platter.

Ann Rutherford recounts a Tibetan Buddhist class where the lama, his translator and a sangha member warned that T'ai Chi was dangerous, and argues that holding the close position grounds circulating Chi.

Carmen Brocklehurst credits Zen master Paul Reps with prompting Justin Stone to leave the stock market, explains why TCC was originated rather than created, and urges attention over habit energies; Clare Bradley's pyramid poems follow.

Ann Rutherford recalls being invited to a class combining soul travel with T'ai Chi Chih, and Justin Stone's dismay at a mechanical accreditation checklist he said pulled the wings off the butterfly.

Ann Rutherford gathers memories of Michael O'Connor, an Albuquerque teacher and physical therapist who died after relapsing, from Bruce Childs, Molly Grady, Beth Cameron, Kathy Grassel and Sr. Antonia.

Anne Rutherford recounts asking Justin Stone whether Turiya meditation alone sustains awareness, then embedding a chosen ego fixation as a felt sense in Seijaku's resistance section, with self-inquiry questions for students.

Carmen Brocklehurst introduces Fast Track as Justin Stone taught it, the third speed after T'ai Chi Chih and Seijaku, naming which movements use the hop and which are left out.

Christa Keller's prose poem, written out of her Seijaku practice, holds to the single moment, the breath of life, and moving through the perceived hardness of life with softness.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts seeing a video of a teacher shifting forward onto two bent knees, and argues that keeping the back knee straightening preserves the balance Justin Stone taught.

Judy Hendricks recalls Tuesday morning teacher practices at the TCC Center, where Justin Stone offered no new material, only corrections to bend the knees and turn the waist, and she still hears him on DVD.

Carmen Brocklehurst recalls Justin Stone asking "What does that have to do with TCC?" during their conversations, and how his remarks about the blue sky taught her awareness beyond the movements.

Dora Wiemann recalls Saturday evening meditation and Teisho at Justin Stone's house, where he answered his own question about why they gathered, and Judy Hendricks describes learning from his DVDs and CDs.

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.

Judy Hendricks describes the move of the Albuquerque TCC Center to Osuna Road, with two classrooms, an office, Justin Stone's paintings on the walls, and the free practice schedule for visitors.

KG announces a 10-day asynchronous course drawn from Justin Stone's DVDs, streaming instruction and writings, starting January 1 with the first five days free and a private Facebook discussion group.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst answers a friend whose practice had not shifted his pile of problems, using Hurricane Rita's aftermath in Louisiana to show how TCC opens the eyes to good amid destruction.

After a question about Bird Flaps Its Wings arose in Sandy McAlister's Zoom teacher practice, Amy Tyksinski returns to Justin's written notes on flipping the wrists quickly while returning slowly.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst writes on what practitioners say after taking up the 19 movements and one pose, and argues that amid COVID-19 uncertainty TCC people can lead with peace and equanimity.

Jim Hecker recalls Justin Stone asking him whether he had done T'ai Chi Chih that day, once or twice, and the answer Justin gave when asked why nine repetitions.

Asked in Carmen's Seijaku class to describe the form in one word, Shari Holmes chose "freeing," and explains the release felt moving from strong phase to soft, and from Seijaku into Fast Track.