The Vital Force Archive

Richard Karasik distinguishes speaking T'ai Chi Chih from speaking about it, urging teachers to build a shared vocabulary with students, test words like "palm up" and "circular," and treat confusion as an opening for learning.

Anita Vestal, the only accredited teacher in Costa Rica, answers questions on teaching rural villagers in Spanish, loosening their tightened muscles, and leading her construction workers in fifteen morning minutes.

Daniel Pienciak traces his own knee pain from figure skating and its easing through practice, then advises smaller steps, softening rather than gripping, and letting the knee lead the weight shift.

Carol Spicer registered over 60 people for the Saturday community practice, half of them newcomers drawn by newspaper and online outreach, who followed Sandy's lead with harp music and little verbal instruction.

Daniel Pienciak traces grounding from his Polish surname, which names where trunk meets roots, to Justin Stone's instruction to keep awareness in the soles of the feet, taught through Joyous Breath from the first class.

Dr. Pauline Quimson taught T'ai Chi Chih to government groups, NGOs and farming communities in the Philippines, including seventy girls healing from sexual exploitation who reported peace, deep sleep and the beginning of forgiveness.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst opens each beginning class with the Buddha's saying about keeping attention in the bottoms of the feet, then recalls Justin Stone's reminders and his effortless close as proof that grounding requires no trying; Pyramid Poems follow.

Carol Nelson-Selby answers a new teacher's question about introducing Carry the Ball to the Side to seniors with hip and knee replacements, using a rain stick to teach the weight shift.

Anita Vestal traces her teaching from a York health fair discovery in 2001 through classes in Taos, Austin, a Florida 55-plus community, and Spanish-language courses for Costa Rican mountain villagers.

April Leffler describes eleven years of drop-in classes at a YMCA, learning to teach to whoever shows up, giving cues to her "frequent fliers," and adding a Seijaku class in June.

Merle Smith recounts a springtime women's retreat in the North Georgia foothills where Sheryl Adair led a Tai Chi Chih class for 48 first-timers, several of whom felt the chi flow.

Jackson Rains, teaching both beginner and long-established classes, contrasts the physical gains of new students with the deeper meditation and social connection older groups find, including one student's one-year anniversary declaration.

Diana Daffner reprints her July 1992 meditation on what teachers do for students, and adds testimonials from Maia Shafer and Philippe Blanc about twenty years of sunset practice on Siesta Key Beach.

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.

Larry Kowalski, a 74-year-old retired Catholic priest who calls himself unathletic and self-conscious, describes three classes where slow demonstration, weekly review and tactful corrections left him relieved rather than taxed.

Jim Shorr led 7 a.m. TCC practice for fellow Road Scholar travelers during a 16-day tour of Turkey, culminating in a demonstration of the first nine movements for Dervish hosts.

Suanne Lewis describes falling in love three times over: with a new beginners' class reaching Carry the Ball to the Side, with patients at a western Maryland psychiatric hospital, and with an outdoor community practice in the Allegany Mountains.

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.

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.

Newly accredited Sandi Huebel found her first students among the egg customers of her chicken farm, then converted the garage into a part-time studio and watched the phone start ringing.

Andrea Skillman recounts five years of teaching T'ai Chi Chih to holistic nurses at their annual conference, where beginners moved so well she had them pair up for mirrored Push Pull.

Ron Richardson traces his own new beginnings, from Director of Pastoral Care to 2003 accreditation, then prints a letter from Pete and Kathy on their first two months in his Wellness Center class.

Cheryl Hall describes eight years of teaching T'ai Chi Chih to first and second graders in her Oregon classroom, where a small daily group learned every movement and grew visibly calmer.

Amy Tyksinski details pushing down first to break the connection with the past, the goal post arm position and slow circling wrists, plus Carmen's suggestion that advanced students emphasize the middle fingers at the temples.

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.