Day-Long TCC Workshop at Folsom

Big doings here at Old Folsom Prison. The 19th of November, 1998 was the culmination of two years of hard work putting together the T’ai Chi Chih program here at Folsom. Ed Altman, the Appointed Head of T’ai Chi Chih, was here, along with the Community Sponsors who have donated their time to support the program: Doug Harned, Teacher from the San Francisco area, Tara Stiles, the first Teacher to come to Folsom Prison, Judy Tretheway, Teacher and one of Tara’s friends, who volunteers for two classes a week and Steve Wornoff, Teacher. There is a sponsor who is not a teacher but a practitioner who has agreed to come in so that I can have coverage for teaching additional classes, Spanky McFarland. You may have heard of Spanky as she was a rock star in the late Sixties and early Seventies. They still play some of her songs on the radio. Sponsors are very important because in prison, no inmate can run a program, even a T’ai Chi Chih Teacher, without approved supervision. These sponsors provide the required security coverage. Steve Wornoff is also a sponsor.

They all came on the 19th of November. The day was a great success in general. I learned much from Ed as he observed this new and sometimes irregular program. UNthreatened by sometimes forceful custody personnel he would smile with amusement and gently guide them in the right direction. He is a very old and wise thirty-four.

The morning started with my first class which is Advanced T’ai Chi Chih at sunrise. Then I met up with all of the sponsors, the Athletic Department Coach, who supervises the Main Education portion of the program, and my Senior Student Assistants. We went into the Main Education Department to the fenced break area and taught two of the regular T’ai Chi Chih Classes. It went well. I think Ed got a real idea of what is happening with that segment of the program. We then went to a classroom for a meeting. After a short meeting with the Coach regarding the Main Education Program, we got down to some real work. Ed spent two hours working with us, refining our movements and answering questions.

After a break for lunch, we met again at the Greystone Chapel. This is an 1860’s vintage granite block building now used as a chapel. With hardwood floors, there is room for about 30 to comfortably do T’ai Chi Chih. There we held the graduation ceremony for the class of 1-98, the first of the volunteer inmate T’ai Chi Chih classes. Handing out the certificates produced for the occasion, it was reminiscent of a high school graduation. We then did an hour of T’ai Chi Chih, led by Ed, with all of the instructors on either side of him. The chapel was full of soft music, Ed, four Teachers, five Senior Student Assistants, 16 graduating students and about 20 students and observers from the Main Education T’ai Chi Chih Program. Needless to say, the chapel was full of people doing T’ai Chi Chih. It was wonderful. After we were finished, Ed had a question and answer session. We left the chapel around four o’clock so it was a two hour program.

I would like to share with the T’ai Chi Chih Community that the success of this program is a great accomplishment. There are over 400 inmate T’ai Chi Chih students here at Folsom Prison. This could not have happened without the endless hours of work accomplished by the Staff of Old Folsom Prison, the T’ai Chi Chih Teachers of the entire community and the many students of T’ai Chi Chih who have shown an interest in the Old Folsom T’ai Chi Chih program. This type of program has been tried many times in the prison setting without success. This is the first successful program of this magnitude in any prison in the United States.

There are many who complain about paying taxes for prisons, and the crime which brings huge numbers into prison. In fear, security systems and locks are purchased and installed. Caution and weapons use are taught to the community, but little is done to solve the actual cause of crime and imprisonment. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a community that has found a way to make real change happen. If you see a man you know to be a parolee doing the gentle movements of T’ai Chi Chih, you should know that the movements are your movements and have changed his life. With the T’ai Chi Chih movements he is saying, Thank you for my life.