Q&A with Hannah Hedrick

Mountain View, Hawaii | Accredited 1986

What were your first connections with T’ai Chi Chih?

After five classes in Mexico with Theda Gillespie in 1985, I knew that TCC was for me. Two minutes into my first class, Theda sold me her textbook with a promise that I would become a teacher.

When I returned to Chicago, where there were no TCC teachers but where I had studied T’ai Chi Ch’uan for a couple of years, I told my best friend and our boyfriends that if they wanted to spend any time with me, they would have to learn TCC. We were accredited within a year.

How were you embraced by Justin and TCC community?

We brought Lucy Hocking (1988*) and Corrin Scott Codye (1977*) to Chicago for a few classes. Then Daryl Isenberg (1987*) and I and our boyfriends — Steve Everett (1987*) and Don Peterson (1987*) — signed up for a teacher accreditation in California. Justin was 70 years old at the time, and he was turning over the leadership reigns to Steve Ridley (1977*). Pam Towne (1984*) and Sandy McAllister (1985*) were both at that teacher accreditation.

We were very poorly prepared, but Justin embraced our teh, and sure enough, we all became active teachers! Steve Everett was doing it with Daryl literally almost to the day he died.

Although I lived in Chicago, I arranged to attend the next training event, again in California. Because I had not signed up in advance, I was not informed that it had been canceled! I got in touch with Corinn Codye, and she invited me to her home, several hours away by bus, and she spent the next week helping me improve the movements.

Talk about your TCC affinities.

To this very day, my initial strong attachments to TCC remain and have increased: how effectively TCC circulates and balances energy. This is what Justin talks about his Evolution through Chi booklet, the main piece of his writings that I regularly share with all my students.

Another strong affinity is the generosity of heart of TCC teachers, beginning with Theda, with whom I interacted at the teacher conference a year after we met here. Theda was not at all surprised that I had already been accredited. I had interacted with Corrin only once, yet she invited me into her home for five days. In several articles published in The Vital Force I have tried to describe the specialness of the TCC connection.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about TCC affinities is that people do not have to meet in person to experience them. I resonate to postings in the TCC teacher circle page on Facebook, to articles in The Vital Force, etc.

What is your evolving approach to teaching TCC?

Guidelines for teaching TCC classes to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) were developed over two years, with approvals at many levels, and describe my ongoing approach. These include cultural sensitivity issues, especially for people with chronic or life-threatening illnesses and disabilities.

These guidelines also include what may be a major difference between my approach and Justin’s teachings related to breathing. Justin stated in many sources that there’s no special breathing for TCC.

Since most of my students have had impaired lung or heart function, circulation issues, arthritis, and other chronic diseases, I have emphasized from the very beginning what I call s-e-l-f breath — soft, even, long, and full, with slightly more emphasis on the out breath. Otherwise, people with the above conditions, especially those with COPD, can experience dynamic hyperinflation. (Please note that breath awareness is separate from my TCC teaching.)

My approach also differs in my strong emphasis on relaxing the shoulders, feeling the weight of the elbows. Daniel Pienciak emphasizes this relaxed elbow, which keeps the heart open and the shoulder blades relaxing down the back. But I emphasize even more strongly how being rooted and grounded produce an opening of the heart center, an uplifting feeling, and an elongation of the back of the neck.

I describe TCC as a moving meditation. My newest student, after only one class, commented on how attracted she was to that concept. I also promote TCC as easy to learn and to share. Even beginners get 100% of the benefits.

I emphasize that it is a practice done by real people of all ages and abilities, not just martial arts practitioners or “New Age” types.

Editor’s Note: *Indicates year of teacher accreditation. Theda’s accreditation date is unknown. To one of Hannah’s points, in the mid-1990s Theda welcomed me into her home for a few days in Napier, New Zealand when I was traveling throughout the country.