St. Louis teachers host half-day of enhancement for area students

After being inspired by the T’ai Chi Chih intensive in Evanston, Illinois, led by Ed Altman, I called a meeting of the T.C.C. teachers in St. Louis. I noticed through the past few months when we would get together in a practice session, we were doing these movements somewhat differently. I’ve been inspired by unity and purity of form. In this first preliminary meeting we all agreed to unite as a team of teachers. We are not in competition with each other; rather we work together to create an even bigger T.C.C. community with this unity consciousness.

The goal was for all T.C.C. teachers to know the principles and to do the movements more true to the originator, Justin Stone. What would it take for all of us to adhere to the principles and do these movements more similarly? We decided to have an event in St. Louis, for which we would need to prepare.

On February 13, 1999, there was a half-day of enhancement in T.C.C. led collectively by the St. Louis teachers for students who have completed at least a beginning T.C.C. course. Twenty-seven students and eight teachers participated.

We had planned many meeting times to get together and break down the moves using the T.C.C. textbook, Justin’s video and our collective memories from conferences and intensives. Eight out of the eleven accredited teachers were able to participate, the other three having other obligations. In these meetings many differences were brought up. As we continued to work on the principles using our resources, we found the differences beginning to fade.

In December, flyers were made and sent out. A local church donated the space for the event. We decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity chosen by the church. The final meeting was for organizing and creating a smooth flowing day. The four hour enhancement allowed us to go over all 19 movements and one pose. Although we went over everything rather quickly, we were able to go through many key points. We began with a practice session and went over in detail how to move, allowing extra time to go over some particular movements, especially the Pulling Taffy’s, and completed the time with a final practice session. All of the students for this event were drawn from previous classes, so each student was already familiar with the movements.

It is easy to stray from the form and create your own thing. The discipline comes from staying true to the form. In order to maximize any individual practice, we need to do that practice daily. Focus leads to a deepening of that individual practice. Students appreciate and benefit from consistency of form. As our group becomes more unified with the T.C.C. movements, we seem to get closer. As we unite, our love for each other grows.

The day of enhancement was important and was a growthful time for all. The most important part of this event for me actually was the meetings and moments leading up to the event. T’ai Chi Chih is important in all of our lives. We have allowed ourselves to be leaders and to be led. We have worked on form correction with others and ourselves. There have been times of humility and times of joy. This day of enhancement in St. Louis has proven to be valuable beyond measure.