The Vital Force Archive

Julie Heryet's account of the Minnesota conference, from April Leffler's group exercise where she was the "dreamer" to leading Sunday practice and Carmen's corrections to her weight shift, Wrist Circles and Light at the Top of the Head.

Donna McElhose recounts organizing an After Conference Workshop for area teachers who could not attend, sorting her notes on the teacher trainers' comments, KG's media talks and the YouTube presentation videos.

Sandy McAlister asks teachers to honor the brief pauses in Carry the Ball to the Side and Pulling Taffy, and offers the cue "glide, arrive" for fully receiving weight.

Jackson Rains makes the case for mirroring when facing a class, with practical advice on pointing toward the students' left, handling the waist twist in Carry the Ball to the Side and Pulling Taffy, and counting repetitions in reverse.

Janet Mayers recounts her first year of classes with teacher Lisa, from sore knees in Rocking Motion and over-turning in Pulling Taffy to naming the movements to fall asleep.

Ann Rutherford taught all 19 movements in six consecutive two-hour days over a December break, surveying her students afterward and finding sore muscles, vivid dreams and unanimous preference for the intensive format.

Judy Hendricks recounts corrections Justin Stone gave at an Albuquerque teacher practice, covering fingertip placement in Push Pull, the yang hand in the Taffy movements, standing between moves, and fluttering fingers as a sign of Chi.

Amy Tyksinski offers prompts for Pulling Taffy Perpetual Motion and Working the Pulley, including Justin's weight-loss remark, Carmen's front-to-back comparison, and why the head stays forward during the waist turn.

Deb Bertelsen describes Pulling Taffy: Perpetual Motion as ocean waves and willow branches, a rhythm that grounds her, releases judgment and perfection, and renews her gratitude each day.

Nancy Werner-Azarski traces how being told the Pulling Taffy movements were difficult made them difficult, and how she caught herself repeating those words to her own students in Minnesota.

Neal Roy joins Steve Marsh, Jim Shorr and thirteen others in Portland's Chinese Garden, where watching hips rise and fall during Pulling Taffy Perpetual Motion sharpens his own movement.

Jim Shorr details the Pulling Taffy refinements he picked up at Carmen Brocklehurst's Albuquerque spring retreat, then describes the Portland outdoor practice circles where one new refinement opens each session.

Diana Daffner recalls her husband Richard using Pulling Taffy's Perpetual Motion to stay warm during their subzero 1991 Bemidji teacher training, and their fifteen years of sunset beach practice in Florida.

Holly Sanders offers a short New Year meditation drawn from Pulling Taffy Variation #3, Perpetual Motion, equating letting go with surrender, forgiveness, acceptance and love, and asking for Grace.

Terry Slaney recounts Justin Stone's reassurance that she was doing fine, then traces the flow through Basic Pulling Taffy, the Anchor, Wrist Circles and Perpetual Motion.

Mary Ruiz offers three short meditations: Chi circling the t'an t'ien during Pulling Taffy Wrist Circles, the gift of yourself waiting to be unwrapped, and gratitude flowing through the feet into the earth.

Justin Stone corrects the common errors in Pulling Taffy: the upturned hand must travel horizontally from the opposite elbow, both feet stay flat, and the weight shifts only with the pulling hand.

Amy Tyksinski explains how coming up on the balls of the feet in Wrist Circles sends energy from the soles over the head and back down, and why tightening fingers signal blocked chi.

Sandy McAlister traces how T'ai Chi Chih, teacher training and eventually teacher trainer work came to her unplanned, and begins January 1st with a practice that taught her something new about Pulling Taffy.

Ev Hanson-Florin breaks the Anchor variation of Pulling Taffy into its four parts, then offers a teaching sequence: demonstrate, teach footwork and waist turns alone, then add the arms mirroring and back-to-class.

Amy Tyksinski's teaching tip for the Anchor variation of Pulling Taffy: check the heels before the forward step, quoting Justin's warning about an unanchored back heel, and grounding through conscious attention rather than holding the resting pose longer.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst counters frustration with Pulling Taffy by having students affirm their love for it, then teaches the small circular hip swivel that keeps the shoulders still and generates chi from the waist.

Jean Katus shifted her emphasis in Pulling Taffy from the tan t'ien to the side movements, picturing a fine filament from the center and recalling Justin's marionette image.

Donna McElhose teaches Pulling Taffy through the motions of making ice cream, scooping left at waist level, circling a topping on with the right hand, wiping the dish and serving it to a friend.

Amy Tyksinski gives a beginner's cue for Pulling Taffy: touch the leg that is about to move with the same-side hand, then keep that hand going, with the hands passing over the first leg.

Caroline Guillot names the circularity of the waist and the ellipse traced by the t'an t'ien as what she loves in Pulling Taffy, a movement she managed even with her arm in a cast.

In a video address to the 2009 conference, 92-year-old Justin Stone corrects four points for teachers: the hand "turned up to the sun" in Pulling Taffy, cupped hands and wrist work in Carry the Ball to the Side and Bass Drum, and yinning and yanging below the waist.

Justin Stone names the aimless hand-waving he sees in Bird Flaps its Wings, Pulling Taffy Variation #2, Light at the Top of the Head and Daughter in the Valley, and explains why he corrects it at Albuquerque practices.

Ann Rutherford, prompted by the Nebraska teacher conference, locates the yang elements of T'ai Chi Chih in grounding the chi, the hands descending at each close, and the substantial hand in Pulling Taffy.

Diana Reding recounts the group practice at the 2009 conference and how Justin's DVD changed her feeling for Pulling Taffy, where she now senses resistance across the t'an t'ien.