Balancing the Self

Excerpts from an article in the Albuquerque Journal. Titled “Balancing the Self”, it was featured in the Trends section, Sept. 27, 1994.

“Justin Stone is dancing with his destiny. It is a dance of moving meditation called T’ai Chi Chih, and 78-year-old Stone is fulfilling his destiny by spreading the system throughout the world…..

“Developed by Stone in Albuquerque about 20 years ago, T’ai Chi Chih is now taught by 800 certified teachers worldwide, and practiced by hundred of thousands of people.

“To the novice observer, T’ai Chi Chih would appear to be a slow, controlled dance built around a series of repetitive movements. But the heart of T’ai Chi Chih is the ancient Asian belief that health is based on internal energy, and a person must learn to balance the yin and the yang, the internal energy forces…”Once an equilibrium is achieved via the regular practice of T’ai Chi Chih, good health flows in the form of stress reduction, renewed vigor and endurance, increased strength and sexual energy, improved balance, lower blood pressure and weight loss…..

“In 1971, while visiting a painter friend in New Mexico, Stone wandered into an Albuquerque bookstore. The owner asked him what he did, and Stone answered with the first thing that came into his head. “I teach T’ai Chi Ch’uan,” he said.

“The owner and other customers in the store at the time immediately expressed interest, and quickly organized classes for Stone to teach. Soon, Stone found himself in the Honors Department at the University of New Mexico, teaching courses on comparative meditation, the background of Zen and Oriental philosophy. Stone had begun incorporating into his T’ai Chi Ch’uan classes three additional hand movements taught to him by a Chinese friend…..He added leg movements to the two easier ones and used them as preparatory or introductory movements.

“One student in Stone’s class was a local book publisher who asked him to write a book on T’ai Chi Chih. “There were only two movements to it, so there wasn’t much to write about, but I told him I’d consider it. Movements started coming to me, along with their titles. After about three weeks I went to the publisher and said, “I can write that book for you now.”‘

…..”That the art is spreading rapidly is because of its relative ease to learn and because the physical, mental and spiritual effects from the practice of T’ai Chi Chih can be felt quickly.” Stone also talks about “TEH,” a Chinese word that means “inner sincerity.” “It is that sincerity that initially draws people to T’ai Chi Chih, and which drives many of them, age 12 to 85, to become teachers and further spread the art. I believe T’ai Chi Chih has a destiny,” Stone said.”