A Personal Opinion

When I was asked by Antonia a few years ago to incorporate the Foundation and acquire its nonprofit status, I was not yet a teacher and was still learning much about the community. Pam and I were tasked with jointly preparing the bylaws—me from a business background and she from a T’ai Chi Chih background. Originally it was envisioned that the Board would consist of the Guide, the teacher trainers, an attorney, an accountant and if not an insurance agent, someone well-versed in the area. This never came about and after Antonia’s resignation, the Board consisted of the three teacher trainers, one of which was our new Guide. The original purpose of the Foundation was to administer the annual conference and provide a vehicle for tax deductible contributions for scholarships. I feel strongly that it is time to expand the scope of the Foundation and the membership of its Board.

I have heard stories about Justin not wanting TCC to be an organization so this will probably be controversial and perhaps not well received by all. But I feel a responsibility to express my opinion. Never having met Justin, I have tried to understand what he meant by not being an organization.

It is a matter of semantics, in my opinion. “Organization” means different things to different people. At its base, an organization is a group of people brought together for a similar purpose. If you simply look at that, Justin violated his own “rule” of not wanting TCC to be organized. I believe we can become more organized without violating the spirit of Justin’s wishes, especially since we already were an organization during his lifetime.

My own interpretation is that Justin meant “not organized” like an organization such as Taijifit. I believe he did not want it to be a highly profitable “franchise” with power and profits concentrated in one person or a small group. Justin was not totally against organization. He had the foresight to protect T’ai Chi Chih with a trademark, to incorporate the New Mexico T’ai Chi Chih Association, The Vital Force, Inc., and Good Karma Publishing. He realized the need for that.

I believe Justin would have loved for TCC to become a worldwide practice—but without a highly paid CEO and Board. Justin originated an incredible gift for humanity, but he was human and not infallible. For TCC to spread worldwide as he would have liked, we need more organization than we currently have—not to the extent that we become a big business, but to the extent that we have a diversified Board that can guide us into the future, eliminate duplicate efforts, recognize regional differences, be completely transparent and fully come into the future.

In my opinion, the Board should include, in addition to members with business backgrounds, at least one member from each geographic area with a large number of teachers. We should be joining other larger groups (without losing our individuality) such as The International Medical Tai Chi QiGong Association whose conference Janet Ousatty, Stephen Thompson and Parker Reynolds attended last year. The Board should be subsidizing training and accreditations in foreign countries when funds are available. It should be encouraging talented, experienced and younger teachers to become teacher trainers. We should have had a Board to fully vet the proposal that TCC teachers participate in the federal program to provide T’ai Chi classes for veterans before it was presented at our last teacher conference. Or to have done so after the presentation to avoid contract controversies, duplicative efforts by teachers and to perhaps assist with the difficulties teachers have had with the registration process.

With no conference this year, it would be an excellent time to share ideas as to how we can go forward to attract younger practitioners, to reach out to more diverse groups and to expand internationally—all in keeping with the spirit of Justin’s wishes. Let’s not get hung up on the word “organization.”

This is not meant as a criticism of our current Board. They have served us well. I simply envision a greater opportunity to promote TCC internationally, to utilize the talents of many other community members and to have more representation from the entire community. One of our goals should be to make TCC become a household name. This cannot be accomplished by only three individuals who are also responsible for maintaining the integrity of the practice and administering the accreditation process.