The Vital Force Archive

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.

After Antonia's Santa Barbara retreat answered every question with the tan t'ien, Tony Johansen dropped his emphasis on form details and taught a class led entirely by awareness sinking below the navel.

Judy George, accredited since 1994, describes the "bonus blessings" of teaching and lays out five principles of transformational language: inclusive, action-oriented, affirmative, process-oriented and awareness-oriented cueing.

Sandy McAlister describes the phrases she is trying in a new eight-week series, asking students to feel the weight settle evenly into both feet and to flow back to rest between sets.

Linda Braga recaps the roundtable discussions at the 2011 T'ai Chi Chih conference, listing eight teaching strategies from educational research and the classroom problems teachers brought to the table.

Gail Terriff describes teaching T'ai Chi Chih at four Edmonton sites serving people with mental health issues, from psychiatric hospital groups to a YMCA program whose participant evaluations she reports.

Bobbie and Andy Anderson assign pyramid poetry and a blank practice calendar marked with smiley faces to keep students practising during their breaks away from class.

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.

Judy Hendricks describes teaching T'ai Chi Chih to over 80 kindergarten through fifth graders in an after-care program, emphasizing grounding, Six Healing Sounds, Zen stories, and one reluctant girl's turnaround.

Jackson Rains, whose first beginners' class completed all 19 movements after six sessions, lists reminders for new teachers: smile, move confidently, limit lectures and handouts, watch the students, keep a journal.

Jerry Bumbalough describes teaching seniors with Alzheimer's and dementia at an adult day health care facility, where early frustration turned around after Antonia advised him to simply say, "Copy me."

Stephen Thompson recounts Peter Gregory's challenge to teach TCC in 12-step recovery programs, his failed attempts to enter Mississippi jails, and six months of talks before NMHS Behavioral Health Center accepted classes.

Pete Gregory walks through Passing Clouds step by step, from the sideways T'ai Chi step and heel-to-heel weight shift to the counter-circling hands and the right fingers tickling the left elbow.

Judy Jackson has taught since 2005 at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center's holistic division in Wheat Ridge, and quotes students from three recent six-week sessions on moving meditation, balance and daily practice plans.

Linda Braga taught a crowded Hayward class where half the students spoke only Chinese, using gestures, one-on-one silent demonstration and the Six Healing Sounds to teach without shared words.

Judy Hubbell teaches an Excelsior District outreach class through San Francisco City College where student translator Janet Yeong renders softness, continuity and weight shift into Mandarin and Cantonese while Judy keeps moving.

Mary Case, who noticed her own sudden hearing loss ten years ago, offers practical adjustments for students who cannot hear you: face them, seat them discreetly up front, lower the music, and use a waist amplifier.

Sr. Antonia Cooper advises teachers to work one-on-one with serious students rather than rely on class attendance, using Justin Stone's Six Principles of Movement and three key points per movement.

Carol Spicer found deeper softness in a silent group practice led by Antonia in Ringwood, and describes how her teachers now lead music-only practices at student request.

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.

After a 2010 car accident left her back and knees painful, Judy George swapped the chair for a large exercise ball, then coached an 82-year-old student through her fear of falling onto it.

Amy Tyksinski asked her high school students to let one quality pick them, and Cole Helsell, Haley Maness and Kriti Prasad describe practicing with softness and the effort of no effort.

Ann Sollars demonstrates tension versus softness in knees, wrists and shoulders to spark beginners' first recognition of held tension, and Chris Norkus describes building TCC community from remote practice, conferences and two weekly sessions.

Stan Corwin and Vicki Schroeder split a beginners' course in Hendersonville, halfway between them, alternating sessions one through seven so each traveled half as often and students gained two teachers.

Amy Tyksinski recounts losing control of a high school T'ai Chi Chih class, abandoning her flexible, entertaining approach for strict structure, and the candid end-of-term survey answers her chattiest student wrote.

Mary A. Wichmann lists what she took from auditing the post-conference Seijaku training: don't wait to share what you know, use few words, team-teach with Justin's materials, and commit to five minutes when resistance hits.

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.

Dennis McCann, a hospital chaplain newly accredited by Pam Towne and Antonia, describes starting a class at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, its Wellness Room setting, and the overlapping hour format for returning students.

Diana Bahn's account of the second T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Symposium, led by Sandy McAlister and organized by Alba Cordasco, where 22 teachers swapped handouts, teaching tips and critique over 2 1/2 days.

Linda Braga applies Dr William Glasser's retention percentages to TCC classes, arguing that partner practice, where students explore a movement together and then share questions with the group, produces active learners.