First-ever TCC Intensive, held in NJ, attracts 20 teachers and students

As spring brought forth the blooming process so too did my interior landscape unfold and bloom.

– Sharon Matesi
Pennsylvania

It was good to be back once again in familiar and welcoming surroundings at the Mount Saint Francis Retreat Center in Ringwood, NJ for the first T’ai Chi Chih Intensive course held early in May. The natural setting was just as beautiful, if quite different from last October (where the NJ Seijaku and TCC Teacher Trainings were held in 2002). Instead of a riot of colored foliage that intensified as the week progressed, mere signs of life at the beginning of the weekend became buds, and then actual green leaves by the day we left. The message of nature was clear: the new beginnings of something good….

It was especially good to gather for this Intensive, knowing that it was the fruition of much expressed need for increased opportunity for serious students, and especially for aspiring teacher candidates to work on their movements before they arrive at a teacher training, as well as a response to teachers to want to learn how to better know what to look for in teacher candidates with whom they are working (as well as in their own movements!).

I think it is accurate for me to write that, for the teachers there, it was strange to experience what felt like the first three-and-a-half days of a teacher accreditation, and yet knowing that it was not a teacher accreditation. Students were there, of course: one serious student, and 10 students preparing to attend a future accreditation course when ready.

And so, we found ourselves in old, yet new territory. I think that for me, this fact first “hit home” when Pam admitted, “I’ve realized that I don’t know how this course is going to end up on Tuesday!” And so, with her very able guidance, knowledge, and years of experience, we explored together and found a very beneficial path toward improving the “flowing from the center,” and embodiment of all of the other principles of how to move in our TCC practice.

As our days progressed, the word “Intensive” rang more clearly in our ears as a very appropriate name for this course. In seated sessions following meals, Pam went over the principles of how to move in detail and we all, teachers and students alike, took helpful notes for our future and immediate use. Later each morning and afternoon, we opened ourselves to new awareness of these principles in our own movements, working as partners, and observing each other as well. What better way to describe our experiences than in the words of some of those who attended!

I have truly refined and deepened my T’ai Chi Chih practice.

– Sr. Rita Jean DuBrey, CSJ
New York

The most valued and valuable lesson I have received at the TCC Intensive is the confidence I now have in the internal wisdom — the prajna. By trusting the knowledge within, I need only to apply practice and time, to be assured of progress in TCC practice, and growth in understanding.

– Bill Moore
New Jersey
Student of Fran Warren

For the first time, I have come to experience and to understand the movements of T’ai Chi Chih [Joy Thru Movement] as an integrated whole…. and I feel I have begun to more clearly and real-ly experience the Chi. I leave more deeply committed to daily practice and to growing with it. The spirited atmosphere of these days, of the group, was key to all of the above being able to happen for me. Thank you so much, for so very much.

– Sheila Leonard
Newfoundland, Canada
Video-Instructed Student

I began the class doing ‘cosmetic’ movements (and not realizing that) and left knowing far more about myself.

– Diana Bahn
New York

Thank you for the deeper level of softness, and the sense of FLOW that I am going home with.

– Lucia Veteran
Pennsylvania

This course has been a great spiritual experience for me. It has taught me so much about emptying myself, letting go of tension and expectations. My TCC movements feel like they are flowing better than before. This course has helped me tremendously in deepening and correcting my TCC movements.

– Cindy Behler
New Jersey
Student of Sr. Juanita Morales

But what about that darned signature??? !!!

Yes, 10 of 11 students came to the intensive as part of their preparation for teacher training. And what wonderful preparation it was! Perhaps there are those who would measure the success of a teacher training course by the number of participating candidates who actually get accredited at that course. Makes sense.

At this course, however, it was realized by Pam and I (and hopefully by all who attended) that the success of the course was not to be measured by referral signatures given (indicating ability of the student to demonstrate and embody the principles of T’ai Chi Chih Joy Thru Movement in their movements). Rather, its most definite success came in that ALL who attended left with a more clear understanding of their own practice, and for those aspiring to become teachers, understanding clearly their level of preparation and what still needs “work” in their practice.

I think I can safely (and happily) report that every teacher there left understanding our own “homework” to be done, and more confident and respectful of what is needed from a teacher in helping a student who is a “teacher-candidate” better prepare for an accreditation course. A strong recommendation for both other teachers and serious students to attend a future Intensive will certainly be part of that newfound confidence!

And I also think I can accurately report that each student left the course more confident in the sincerity and availability of assistance from teachers and the TCC community at large, and more respectful of the profound depth of T’ai Chi Chih practice that can only be realized and enjoyed by one who practices regularly, and who knows that as much time as is necessary, IS necessary! (The author of this article would like to add here that only one referring teacher was present with her student for this course. Both the teacher and student commented very positively on the experience, and how important and helpful it was to BOTH be there together).

For myself, it was as always a joy and a challenge to act as course host. However, as other teachers also expressed, it was so good to be able to work on my own movements, as well as being conscious of the need to assist others. And, I had a very basic, but most important realization. I both could clearly feel, and was willing to admit to myself, that my lower body is “holding on” to tension when I do T’ai Chi Chih movements! Being willing to “empty the cup” first, as Pam Towne said it, allowed me this awareness. Now I feel that I can more readily continue to let go and be open to new growth and progress.

Another student put it exactly as I felt, when leaving this first ever course:

I am better equipped to see and begin to feel from the center out. I feel like a bud just going into bloom. (…smiling and thanks…)

– Linda Joy
Washington, DC
Student of Karen Roewade-Houser