The Vital Force Archive

Jean Katus describes how corrections to her basic movements at a TCC event left her defensive and doubting her teaching, and what the humbling taught her about how she corrects her own students.

Dale Buchanan recounts opening the for-profit T'ai Chi Chih Studio in Great Falls, Virginia in 1997, with his class formats, seasonal scheduling, course prices, and advice on charging what the market will bear.

Doug Harned describes teaching his first class, from faltering words to a looser rhythm, adding Around the Platter Variation with spare time and seeing students report warm, tingling hands.

Shannon Marie Cooley writes from Bozeman, Montana, where she closes every class by reading aloud an article from The Vital Force, and her students especially love the letters from practitioners.

Sharon Sirkis collects five classroom mishaps, including the senior center gentleman who wanted to push away his wife, a student aware only of his bladder, and a newsletter that billed her as Sharm Sinkis.

Carrie Kinsey of Concord credits the experienced teachers near her with carrying her through her first year and a half of teaching, and suggests visiting one another's classes or writing to The Vital Force.

Ed Altman offers two teaching images, a rocking chair and an hourglass of falling sand, to help students shift weight gradually from the center and move with softness and continuity.

Linda Braga recounts teaching Dennis, a blind student who walked to class with a white cane, and lists the verbal cues, seating choices and sound cues that helped him learn the standing form.

Susan Evans describes her first year of teaching: twenty signups split into back-to-back classes, nights awake until 3am from the chi, a Good Karma book of students' comments, and sticky circles marking who wants correcting.

Tara Stiles hands out crayons and blank paper after practice for two minutes of "Chi Drawing," then invites show and tell, which opens conversations about students' inner experience of chi.

A countdown of ten teaching words drawn from Justin Stone's and Ed's conference presentations, from Float, Turn and Bend down through Ground, Soft and Allow to Flow at number one.

Shannon Cooley writes to Justin Stone a year after accreditation, recounting her first eight-week class in Bozeman, students frustrated by T'ai Chi Chuan, and two women who finally found joy.

Barbara Sommers describes a year-long seated class at a Senior Day Care Center, where foot stamping built awareness of the soles, chairs in a circle curbed wandering, and the first ten movements were adapted left foot then right.

Teachers answer Sandy McAlister's question on conveying softness and continuity: Amy Hackenberg passes around a violet silk scrap for students to describe, while Dale Buchanan argues words get in the way and only example teaches.

Pat Huseby of Danville, California announces she will teach Alzheimer's patients at a new 48-bed Alzheimer's wing opening that spring, and asks other teachers with similar experience to contact her.

A practical checklist for practice comfort: loose clothing in layers, flat soft-soled shoes or bare feet, no food for one to two hours beforehand, and warm tea rather than cold drinks afterward.

A countdown of ten surprises of a new teacher's first classes, from excitement and terror before each session to the sobering weight of students' willingness to follow, and sadness when a session ends.

Justin Stone answers Dale Buchanan's questions by letter, warning that Seijaku and the Jing be taught only to sincere students, advising against weightlifting, and insisting the teacher must be a motivator.

Carrie Kinsey hands new students a "Tips for a Comfy Practice" sheet, and her Saturday class took the tea suggestion literally, organizing a weekly thermos rotation that prompted her to pass along a poem of gratitude.

Ed Altman lays out a step-by-step approach for accredited teachers preparing candidates for a Teacher Training course, from the first class through repeating courses, preparation courses and auditing.

Roberta Taggart lays out the five-part hour she developed for seated T'ai Chi Chih with frail elderly students at two senior day care centers, from an opening reading through warm-ups, the form, and closing waterfall visualization.

Ann E. Federspiel offers two class images: an imaginary jump rope for the wrist circles in Bird Flaps Its Wings, and a torso on a glider rod for upright weight shifting.

Susan Patterson recounts years of struggling to find reliable rental space in San Diego before leasing her own studio in 1995, and concludes a studio is not needed to build a teacher family.

Carmen Brocklehurst recommends Justin Stone's audio tape "Serene Nature," used in her classes and on the national PBS series, saying it recreates the serenity of a Japanese garden she visited with him.

Marlene Brown answers Susan Hudgens's question about students who correct others or tell the teacher how to teach, followed by reader letters thanking the Vital Force Journal's contributors.

Steve Ridley advises teachers on judging when a student is ready for general corrections and when subtler suggestions about circulating chi will actually be received, a sense sharpened by seasoned practice.

Steve Ridley describes a class so intent on perfecting Pulling Taffy that tension built, prompting his joke that the movement was improving while the chi fled the room.

Steve Ridley recalls his T'ai Chi Ch'uan master asking students to let go and give full attention so he could move them through the forms, then offers classroom ideas: soothing music, informal talk, gentle breathing, a circle of Rocking Motion, and pausing when frustration builds.

Susan Hudgens asks how teachers respond to students who correct others or tell the teacher how to teach, followed by reflections from R. M. Arguello-Sheehan and Mark W. Jones, Ray Watson's note on his stroke article, and reader praise for the Journal.

Justin Stone tells teachers to spot and correct faults by example, using Pulling Taffy to show hands and weight shifting together, and warning against a stiff front or back knee.