Six Events in 2004 for the T’ai Chi Chih Community in the Northeast

No matter what the season, the T’ai Chi Chih community in the northeast has often gathered for workshops, retreats and trainings for the deepening of our understanding and practice. The year 2004 was perhaps our most bountiful year yet!

Last April, our monthly gathering fell on a holiday weekend, so our meeting was postponed to one week later. It so happened that a local oceanside retreat center (Stella Maris, Elberon, NJ) had a cancellation that weekend. It was last minute, but I thought, why not? Our half-day meeting grew into an all-weekend retreat almost overnight. Eight of us gathered for the entire weekend (April 16-18), and about 30 students and teachers came together for the day on Saturday. It was a glorious spring day….a little breezy and cool, but some still sat and basked on the beach during our afternoon quiet time, and our Guide, Sr. Antonia, took some flying lessons (was her chi grounded?). Oh, all right, it was just a kite, but it was a fun flight for those watching, too!

With the unexpectedly large group on Saturday, we split into two groups after our break. One group worked with Sr. Antonia on reviewing basic principles of “how to move,” and I led the other group in a review of Seijaku practice.

It was a great day, and great weekend, and everyone wants to go back to that great setting again some day.

* * *

Just a few weeks later (Apr 30-May 2), teachers gathered for the third annual New Jersey teachers retreat at another great seaside location (Silver Beach), a large private home where a very special and hospitable lady, Lonnie, frequently hosts weekend gatherings for small groups. Word has it that Antonia met Lonnie in the checkout line of grocery store, and there first received the invitation for a T’ai Chi Chih event at Lonnie’s home. About 30 teachers stayed overnight at three different area homes, and we all came together for several practices and an afternoon workshop session to refine movements. Area teachers have to reserve early for this event, or they miss out!

* * *

On June 23-26, Sandy McAllister ably led a group of 14 in our second annual T’ai Chi Chih Intensive (Mt. St. Francis Retreat Center, Ringwood, NJ). Twelve of the participants were taking this course for the second time! The apparent dedication and enthusiasm of these folks, as well as the benefits they received, will hopefully inspire many of you readers who have not yet attended an Intensive to consider it when offered near or far in the future. It is a precious opportunity to work together as we do for the first few days of a teacher training course without the pressure of accreditation attached to it. Student or teacher alike will attest to the great benefits of attending this course. For us in the northern hills of New Jersey last June, the budding summer and sparkling swimming pool made a great few days even more pleasurable. For two accreditation candidates (who happily became teachers last November in Albuquerque), this course was pivotal in their preparation and training for sure. Just ask Meg Scinto or Alba Cordasco.

* * *

Several weekends after the annual Teachers Conference, Sr. Antonia and I facilitated our second annual summer gathering at Mt. St. Francis Retreat in Ringwood (August 6-8). Like the previous year, about 25 students and teachers attended. Also like the previous year, we split the weekend into two “options.” Teachers who already knew Seijaku, and students who wanted to learn, gathered with me for a weekend course in this advanced form of T’ai Chi Chih. Other students and teachers worked with Sr. Antonia on applying the principles of “how to move” to their practice. Several times, all of us gathered for a group practice of TCC together. Unlike the previous year, the weather was cloudy and cool….. (too bad for Dan, Debbie and David….no swimming this time!). I would be remiss if I neglected to note that several students had their first experience of the T’ai Chi Chih community that weekend. They were deeply touched, and they deeply touched the rest of us as well. Presence is truly a gift.

Lastly, again a bit of last-minute discernment and open-mindedness led me (with the encouragement of Pam, Sandy, Antonia, and others) to fill in the time originally booked for a teacher accreditation in New Jersey with a Seijaku accreditation. Since enough of the potential candidates for teacher training in the area were not yet ready this year, we instead tended to the need of teachers wanting to be accredited/learn/review Seijaku for some time now. Pam was able to alter her travel plans to be here to lead her FIRST Seijaku training ever, and what a fine job she did! And Sr. Antonia agreed to keep our Teacher Renewal a week earlier in place by leading that event so that Pam Towne would not have to come a week early for a one-day event. The teacher training week was to have followed a day after the Teacher Renewal Day originally.

A dozen teachers, most of whom had been unable to attend the conference this year, spent a fruitful day with Antonia and me, again deepening our understanding of applying the principles of how to move to our T’ai Chi Chih practice.

Eleven teachers were accredited in Seijaku, and eight more enjoyed a helpful audit of the course, including myself. Pam’s was a very thorough and understandable approach to the course, and to the application of the Seijaku principle. We were all buzzing with that “Unusual Power” of all that Seijaku movement by the end of the weekend and we learned lots about grounding as well.

And yes, “softness”! Most helpful for me in my own Seijaku practice was Pam’s strong but gentle reminder that “the softness is always there, even in the resistance. It is the underlying state of all the movements.”

Still more, Pam offered encouraging words from Justin Stone, reiterating his words, “Seijaku helps us make progress in our growth in learning who and what we are, and according with Reality.”

Enough said. Teachers who don’t know, or don’t practice Seijaku, give yourself a gift. Make room in your life for Seijaku.

* * *

Yep! A very rich and rewarding year here in the New Jersey area for the T’ai Chi Chih community. With the season of “presents” just passing, I am filled with gratitude for the greater gift than any material one: PRESENCE. Thank you, teachers and students for being a part of these wonderful gatherings. I hope to see you at many more in coming years.