The Vital Force Archive

Lois Vermilya's prose poem gathers energy from the most distant star into fingertips and soles, naming a paradox of force and letting go that might fuel her activism of fierce hope.

Lanni Lantery recounts a 2003 TCC presentation where built-up Chi made her karate demonstration so fast she split her student's groin cup, plus a beginner's George Clooney remark during Pulling in the Energy.

Paul Ciske recalls the breeze he felt between his hands at a cardiac rehab demonstration, his 1991 accreditation with Steve Ridley, reversing his arms in Working the Pulley, and the veil lifting in a Hong Kong park.

Sharon Sirkis Columbia collects three teaching mishaps, including a retirement community student whose hearing aid batteries died mid-class and a college student who decided Pulling in the Energy causes heart attacks.

Daniel Pienciak explains why he teaches Bass Drum before Around the Platter and Pulling in the Energy, breaking each into hand circle, weight shift, then both, with eyes forward for balance.

Sandy McAlister retells Justin Stone's story of the unlettered mantra practitioner who ran across the water, and uses his shrugged answer about hand height in Pulling in the Energy to argue that correctness is found by feeling.

Justin Stone's point-by-point reminders for the movements a beginner has just learned, from loose arms and flat landings in Rocking Motion to drawing energy from the most distant star in Pulling in the Energy.

Bob Poland, a diabetic whose fingertips are calloused from daily blood sugar tests, describes feeling energy through his palms for the first time, plus relaxing his knees and fully unweighting the opposite foot.

Stephen Thompson's conference notes give three partner exercises: a paper plate shared between Pulling in the Energy and Around the Platter, mirrored Working the Pulley, and a hand-hovering energy circle with weight shifts.

Art Loche returns to T'ai Chi Chih as a moving meditation, describing how the circularity of Pulling in the Energy, attention in the t'an t'ien and imagined ocean motion inspired his published sketch.

Laurie Jacobi credits a Robert Graves line about Celtic poets treating their fingertips as oracle agents with transforming her feeling for Pulling In the Energy, especially outdoors among birds and trees.

Donna Deffenbaugh's poem traces one pair of hands from infancy through muddy play, motherhood, keyboards and stiff buttons to timid hands rising at heart-height in practice, reaching for the universe.

Bonnie Schowalter dedicated her first practice to her sister, who died unexpectedly in October, and visualizes holding her heart in her hands during Around the Platter and Pulling in the Energy.

Jean Katus relays what her monthly practice regular Carol reports: calmer nights, better sleep, lower blood pressure, and balance regained after knee replacements, plus dropping the Pulling in the Energy visualization before bed.

Linda M. Barrows recounts a few years of practice: tiring legs before Cosmic Consciousness Pose, her teacher Monica's shift from "most distant star" to "healing energy," and Six Healing Sounds under a backyard oak.

Justin Stone's teaching keys for Pulling in the Energy and all four Pulling Taffy variations, correcting flat feet, horizontal palms, waist turns and weight shifts timed to the pulling hand.

Cleo Royal links the give and take of Pulling In The Energy to the American Indian Potlatch tradition, and suggests TCC teachers host their own giving events.

Donna J. Moore offers the verse she recites while practicing Pulling In The Energy, gathering vigor from red berries, strength from rocks, flexibility from fir trees and joy from the sun.

Evelyn Van Nuys, an artist who works on a potter's wheel, likens the circular movements to centering clay, Pulling in the Energy to holding a star, and Janet Oussaty's class circle to a collective mandala.

Robert Montes de Oca describes a Tuesday morning teacher practice in Albuquerque where Carmen's remark about the flow of chi led him to trace it through his fingertips, heart center and t'an t'ien during Pulling In The Energy.

Jeneth Rundle's poem traces Pulling In the Energy from the receptivity of the fingertips and open palms, through humility's door, to dissolving into an Essence bath of Peace.

Sharon Sirkis gathers written comments from her college students, who describe discovering what grounding feels like, using Pulling in the Energy to focus while tired, and easing an asthma attack with the Six Healing Sounds.

Judy Tretheway describes two contrasting prison classes: at New Folsom, grieving a suicide, she let the men initiate the Chi, while at Old Folsom she led with visualizations and unsynchronized Working the Pulley.

Cleo Roemele links the give and take of Pulling In The Energy to the American Indian Potlatch tradition, and proposes generous giving as a collective goal for the TCC community.

Sandy McAlister recalls offering students a long list of things to visualize during Pulling in the Energy, and Justin Stone's flat reply that it is simply energy from the most distant star.

Harriet Marquit connects softness to Working the Pulley, which she likens to a machine that keeps moving without us, and describes beach practice where sinking sand moves her along and porpoises appear during Pulling In The Energy.

Cathy Dalton admits Pulling in the Energy is not a favorite movement, then traces her resistance to the upturned palms' openness to change and finds a blockage in her own chi flow.

Rita Foster, a former science teacher, recalls first feeling the Chi during Pulling in the Energy, and passes on Justin's visualization along with pointers on chin position and the five colors.

Sandy McAlister argues that teaching images like tracing a plate's edge or a bass drum should be dropped once a student knows the shape, since visualizations and energy-directing thoughts limit the Chi's natural flow.

Donna Aldous asked her poolside class what T'ai Chi Chih had done for them, and students reported less arthritis medication, easier flying, steadier footing on a bicycle and tingling fingertips from Pulling in the Energy.