TCC & Seijaku: Eat the Full Meal

I took my first Seijaku course just months after being accredited as a T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) teacher. Justin Stone had announced that it would be the last time that he would be teaching Seijaku; it was November 1997. Another New Jersey teacher and I went to Albuquerque to meet Justin and find out what the seemingly mysterious Seijaku was. We didn’t know that in studying it with Justin, we would also become accredited to teach it. (That was the way it was done in those days.)

After one weekend course, I needed a lot more time to understand, integrate, and embody the Seijaku principle before teaching it. After six months of practice, I did teach it, and shortly after hosted a Seijaku accreditation with Ed Altman, who then was appointed by Justin to do future TCC and future Seijaku accreditations.

I am grateful to Ed who helped me flesh out how to feel the Seijaku principle in my practice (“holding fast, letting go”) and also to understand that Seijaku is really a part of the TCC movements in their fullness, rather than being an added extra.

I now see, as Seijaku Teacher Trainer Pam Towne teaches, that when practicing Seijaku there is a seventh principle applied in the movements (added to the six principles of how to move). If I think of a seven-course meal, then we receive the nutrition of a six-course meal when practicing TCC. But when including the Seijaku principle, we get the nutrition of all seven courses; the Seijaku principle is the entrée.

I encourage everyone who has learned Seijaku to practice it regularly (“you cannot appease the hunger by reading the menu” as Justin often reminded us). And if you have not studied Seijaku, you are missing out on the full meal, in my opinion. The full meal is delicious, enjoyable, and utterly nutritious.