Learning Opportunities

I would like to respond to Chery Ann Hoffmeyer’s thought-provoking article from the January 2003 issue of The Vital Force. I applaud her for wanting to provide students with more opportunities to be included within the community, and I think many teachers share that opinion. I also appreciate her willingness to make her vision known to all.

I believe that the T’ai Chi Chih community is very inclusive. Countless local events are offered throughout the community, which are open to students. These include open practices, local workshops, teacher preparation days and the celebration of Justin Stone’s birthday during the annual Day of Joy Thru Movement. The Teachers’ Conference also encourages local students to experience the joy of an open practice with hundreds of other sincere students and teachers.

The Vital Force Calendar of Events lists workshops and retreats where students can work side-by-side with accredited teachers to learn more about the movements and underlying philosophy of the T’ai Chi Chih discipline. The Sedona T’ai Chi Chih retreat is always well attended, and will be offered for the third straight year for students and teachers from all over the international community. This year we are also beginning to offer T’ai Chi Chih Intensive courses to provide an even greater opportunity for students to deepen their practice over several days in an environment that is similar to a Teacher Training course.

Between Sandy, Pam and I, we can offer as many courses as the T’ai Chi Chih teaching community wants to host. There is no organization and we have no ruling or authoritative body in the T’ai Chi Chih community making these decisions. The community belongs to us all, not one person at the top. Sometimes we reach out and encourage teachers to think about offering an event, but the decision as to the type of course offered is made by the local teacher(s) based on the needs of the region. When there is enough committed interest in an area to support an event, it gets scheduled. This is why there are sometimes gaps in the community schedule, and why some events are listed as “Possible Future Events” in The Vital Force.

During the last several years we’ve been able to offer workshops in new areas of the community where there haven’t been many accredited teachers. This is how newer communities get “on the map.” Aside from offering inspiration and instruction to individuals, these courses have also been instrumental in building new communities and strengthening regional ties between teachers.

I have a suggestion for teachers who want to include their students in the greater T’ai Chi Chih community: bring in your copy of The Vital Force and share it with your students. Read inspiring articles in class and highlight the events in the calendar that are open to students. Make copies of the membership form available and let them know that students are encouraged to become members. No one really knows how many T’ai Chi Chih students there are in our community, but by even conservative estimates it is well into the 100,000’s and may even be in the millions. Yet students currently account for less than 25% of membership in The Vital Force Association. Experience has shown that inspired students continue to be active in classes and make more progress in their practice, and this is something all teachers would like to see. As more students are inspired and encouraged to attend community events, more can be scheduled to meet this additional demand. We are at the service of the community.

I believe that our community is very inclusive but cannot afford to be strictly inclusive. Teachers need time away from students to focus on improving their own practice. This allows teachers to return to being good students and to receive additional instruction from sincere, qualified senior teachers. That is why no fees are charged to accredited teachers who audit all or part of a T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Training course. This is also the primary motive behind attending the annual Teachers’ Conference, and was the impetus behind offering the Teacher renewals and retreats that allow teachers to become rejuvenated without feeling the need to provide instruction for students.