Spring 2016

Latest USTCC Newsletter

The USTCC Newsletter is published quarterly and emailed to members.  Members may access all current and past issuesafter logging in.

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We welcome ideas for and submissions of newsletter articles from our members.  Email our News Editors at editor@tchc.infowith your articles or suggestions!


United States Tai Chi Community News
Spring 2016

In this issue:


Community Matters
by Ernie Hall, USTCC President

Ernie Hall
Readers, do you realize United States Tai Chi Community has grown to well over 600 members? That is incredible and exciting all at the same time! This USA non-profit volunteer organization is doing quite well since it was organized 14 years ago as a separate entity from the Institute. By all indications, the natural membership growth “Bell Curve” is very much on a healthy trajectory.

Your USTCC Board of Directors is also expanding with newly elected directors Terry Crews, Denise Murray, Julie Oberhaus and Johnny Packard. As such, the board includes directors from Alaska to Florida as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

One of the main benefits of USTCC membership is eligibility to serve as a director or committee member. We encourage you to consider the opportunity and invite you to contact any one of us on the board. Visit the website, “About Us” for contact information.

While many members attend Dr. Lam’s annual June workshops, remember USTCC operates year-round with many opportunities for member participation. Committee chairs welcome anyone interested in joining one or more volunteer committees. A current listing of committees is available on our website. If you need information about a particular committee or have a suggestion for an additional committee, please let one of the directors know. Would it not be great to have every region of this country represented on the board or committee – if not someone on a committee from every state!

If you plan to attend Dr. Lam’s USA workshops in Cincinnati this summer, you have an opportunity to meet the directors and committee chairs at an open board meeting Tuesday evening. USTCC is also co-sponsoring the Friday evening activities along with TCHI for another chance to introduce yourself and network with other members and friends.

A reminder of the USTCC Mission Statement:

TCHC’s mission is to promote the practice of tai chi for health and wellness and support our certified member instructors in the United States. 

All best wishes from your USTCC Board of Directors and Committee Chairs for the Best Spring Season Ever, knowing you are a vital part of growth and Community Mattters!

Ernie Hall
ehall@tchc.info

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COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AT THE JUNE WEEK-LONG WORKSHOP

Coming to Cincinnati for Dr. Lam’s 14th USA Weeklong Workshop? Check out the workshop page on the USTCC websitefor activities sponsored by this Community and helpful information on transportation.


FOCUS ON COMMUNITY: YOUR STORIES, YOUR LETTERS

While on an overnight flight to Germany, I reached the point where I could no longer sit with my other close companions.  I got of the aisle and walked back to the steward’s cabin and asked about using a bit of their space. After some skeptical discussion they agreed.  I did tai chi for health  solo for about 10 minutes and  then offered them the opportunity to join.  The declined but assured me they would be interested during off duty time.  That brief interlude allowed me to complete the trip in much better spirits.
~ Marshall Winkle, Mount Vernon, OH – mwinkle@columbus.rr.com 

Editor’s Comment: What an excellent idea, Marshall. Thank you for sharing this! 

Recently I gave a talk and demonstration class to seventy some members of a Mall Walkers Club in conjunction with Carolina’s Medical Center.  This group meets monthly for breakfast and lecture/demos on healthy living topics. Many malls sponsor walking clubs, just another outlet where we can bring the benefits of Tai Chi for Health to an audience already interested in healthy living practices.
~ Joe Higgins, Huntersville, NC – jhiggins21@carolina.rr.com 

Editor’s Comment: Mall walkers, yes! That’s a perfect audience, Joe! We’d love to hear more about their reactions (hint, hint). 

I loved the tip on little quizzes and prizes. That is just the kind of thing I’m interested in hearing about.  Your future topics all sound great too!  I live in a very small town. I AM the tai chi community here!  Trying to get the word out about my classes is difficult.  Any advice on that would be appreciated.
~ Frances Preston, Moscow, ID – fprestonot@hotmail.com 

Editor’s Comment: We’re happy to hear that you loved the tip on quizzes and prizes, Frances. Readers, we know many of you have run into the same difficulty of trying to get the word out. So, please, if you have successful tips that would help Frances, please send them to us at editor@tchc.info and we’ll put them in the next newsletter. 

For folks who are left-right challenged, I tie a red ribbon around my right wrist and ankle, and a red ribbon around theirs.   Red Ribbon = Right.  So they don’t have to think “right” but instead just follow the red.  This helps them learn with less stress.
~ Victoria Coe, Durango, CO – vcoe@durango.net 

Editor’s Comment: Excellent suggestion, Victoria! Thank you for sharing this! Please, readers, if you have other suggestions for assisting “left-right challenged” participants, send them to editor@tchc.info

I will be presenting TCAFP at the Fall Prevention Coalition Summit for SW Virginia, April 8.  Our response is so great, we had to close the event.  We are looking forward to making this a state wide initiative soon with the National support we are getting with this one.
~ Meghan Bryant, Palmyra, VA – meghanecreations@gmail.com

Editor’s Comment: Congratulations, Meghan! We love to hear—and share—success stories such as yours. More details in a short article are always appreciated…(hint, hint). 

Maybe someone can address this in the next issue. A local tai chi instructor uses the concept of “rails” in his teaching. I am unable to find anything about rails when searching the term in conjunction with tai chi. I would like to know more about how it is used.
~ Lynn Norris, Hamilton, GA – lynnenorris@mindspring.com

Editor’s Comment: That’s a good question, Lynn. Our first thought is that perhaps he is referring to the “rails” or “bars” used in a dance studio. But we’re sure other readers may have a better idea. Readers, help Lynn and us out here. If you know how “rails” are used in teaching, please share it with us at editor@tchc.info.

Send yourletters, questions, tips and stories to us at editor@tchc.info!

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Active Seniors Show Off Their Tai Chi Skills
by Bev Tucker

Bev Tucker Tai Chi VideoI teach Tai Chi at Brandywine Assisted Living in Princeton NJ, and also at their facility in Pennington NJ. Last September a group of the residents ages 70+ performed the Tai Chi for Arthritis form outdoors in Princeton’s Palmer Square. We received newspaper and video coverage of the event which celebrated the beginning of National Care Givers Week. I also continue to teach Yang Style Tai Chi to breast cancer survivors each week at Princeton YWCA. I also have two classes of Yang Style Tai Chi held weekly.

I am so grateful to Dr. Lam’s program of instructions which I have followed in my presentations of Tai Chi. Students learn quickly and easily and enjoy the benefits of the classes. I have been asked to work on a program for Parkinson’s patients at a large gym in the area, but plans are not yet finalized.

In my work with seniors I have learned that using “Simon says” and singing the “Hokey Pokey” is a fun way to subtly introduce some gentle warm-ups for the students before starting the Dr. Lam warm-up. Who could forget the childhood rhymes?
My son and I are planning first ever Qigong and Tai Chi program for April 30 International celebration of Qigong and Tai Chi.

Click hereto see the YouTube video of the performance.

Bev Tucker is a certified Tai for Health instructor from Pennington, NJ
taichibev92@gmail.com
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Tai Chi for Inmates
by Johnny Packard

Johnny Packard
In December of 2015 the Medical Team Administrator of the Walworth County Jail contacted me about developing a “Tai Chi for Inmates” program. He wrote, “We house on average 200 inmates.  Of those 200 inmates a lesser percentage is female. My concern for them is the stressful environmental situation they find themselves in. Most if not all of them have never had any regard to their health matters. A few may have in the past but have left that far behind them.”

Both staff from the jail and representatives from Southern Health Partners (SHP) attended our initial meeting. SHP manages the medical services of 225 correctional facilities in the United States. All parties were keenly interested in innovative ways to improve the health and attitudes of inmates. To that end, we agreed to a Tai Chi demonstration for the County Jail staff and female inmates. Members of the jail staff expressed misgivings about “teaching martial arts to inmates.” Most of the inmates, upon hearing of the program wondered, “What’s Tai Chi?”

To allay staff concerns, we chose to demonstrate the “Tai Chi for Rehabilitation” form, the simplest and least martial of Dr. Lam’s programs. We also demonstrated a modified version of the warmups—with kicks and punches removed–, the TCHI’s “5 Element Qigong” and the cool down exercises. I put together a demonstration team that included another certified instructor, 2 long time students of mine, and my daughter who had begun her Tai Chi practice the day before the demo. All the demonstration participants underwent background checks to be able to enter the jail.

After our demonstration, the jail staff was satisfied that we weren’t teaching the inmates how to hurt each other, and approved the program. The inmates were intrigued, and more than a dozen signed-up for a pilot 6 week program, meeting twice a week, 45 minutes per session. I volunteered my time to oversee and instruct the pilot program, and was fortunate that certified instructor Paul Rasmussen also volunteered to assist.

Working with inmates poses many challenges. The jail has high turnover, so each week the class losses and gains participants. Many of the participants come to class with a long history of failure in educational environments, and have suffered the consequences of substance and other forms of abuse.

Embracing challenges, Paul and I created a learning environment that was relentlessly positive, utilizing both the Stepwise Progressive Teaching Method and ample servings of praise sandwiches. The smiles, laughter and increasing confidence were good evidence that our program was succeeding. We also learned that after class “one of the girls was taken to the court and placed in a private room. The room has a camera in it and this girl was witnessed practicing her Tai Chi moves.”

Likewise, the quantitative data has been encouraging after a mere 6 weeks. Polling all participants before, during and at the end of the 6 week program saw depression decrease 37% among all participants and 50% among the 4 participants who attended the majority of sessions. This is a statistically significant change when run through a paired t-test.
At time of publication, the Walworth County Jail has approved the “Tai Chi for Inmates” program for another 6 weeks. I will report back on the results in a later edition of the newsletter.

The Tai Chi for Health (TC4H) vision continues to gain recognition and participants all over the world. Unfortunately, due to economic disadvantage and lack of education, many people are beyond the reach of the TC4H programs. In the words of the American Psychological Association, “wealth secures health”, citing extensive epidemiological studies that “have confirmed the relationship between income, education and occupation on the one hand and health outcomes on the other.” APA article Wealth secures Health. Given the opportunity, economically and educationally disadvantaged people can also benefit from Tai Chi practice. The challenge is finding the means to serve them.

Johnny Packard is a USTCC Board member, and lives in Lake geneva, WI.
taichilakegeneva@gmail.com
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Tai Chi Class Inspires Defibrillator Donation
by Lois Bascom

In preparation to teach Tai Chi for Health and Fall Prevention at my local Senior Center in Shelburne Falls in January, I inquired about a defibrillator machine on premises. Finding there was none, I asked that fees paid for this class go toward the purchase of such a machine. Hearing about this, a member of the Senior Center Men’s Group decided to approach the men for a fundraiser. They held a luncheon in February and put the proceeds into this fund. A person volunteered to match the funds raised so that a machine could be purchased right away.

The necessary funds have been raised and a Physio-Control Life Pak CR Plus AED has been ordered. The senior center will have the needed defibrillator machine very soon, and this Tai Chi class continues to grow in size.

Another plus for Dr.Lam’s Tai Chi for Health and Fall Prevention program!

Lois Bascom is a certified TCH instructor from Shellburne Falls, MA
lola621@comcast.net

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Re-living a Professional Development Success Story
by Betty Scanlon, Dan Jones, and Maureen Miller

While the weather outside the Jekyll Island Convention Center in late January this year wasn’t the warmest, there was definitely a lot of heat, energy, and comraderie being created inside.

After three years in the planning stages (and a lot of anxiety), we welcomed 25 participants—half of whom were USTCC members—to the first Living With the Principles Tai Chi professional development retreat.

Each of the four days began with a full group session to warm-up and hear what session leaders had planned for that day. This helped many to overcome the hurdle of having to choose just one of three con-current sessions covering Tai Chi/Qigong, Health/Nutrition, Education/Marketing. The 2-hour lunch time gave all time to ponder what they had learned, enjoy the variety of eateries a few steps outside the Center, practice, take a walk on the beach, relax, and/or meet new friends and renew acquaintances from all over the country.

When asked “what was the most beneficial aspect of this retreat?”, following are just a few of the comments received.….

“Relaxed atmosphere and small groups made question asking and learning easier.” K.F. 

“Wonderful (leaders), interesting course content.” C.K. 

“Relaxed atmosphere; interactive discussions.” J.S. 

“The perfection of the beauty of Jekyll.  The sea, the sky, the ground. The feeling of family and community. The wide variety of choices. The freedom to move from one track to another.” S.F. 

When asked “would you come again?”, we organizers beamed upon hearing an overwhelming “yes!”. Thus, we’ve booked the Convention Center (January 21-25, 2017) and have begun marketing and program planning (http://camdentaichi.com/Camden_Tai_Chi/Tai_Chi_Retreat.html). We are limiting the number of attendees to ensure small groups, so it’s important to register quickly!

Speaking of the program, there is a weath of expertise and knowledge out there in our community which we wish to tap. We have put out a “call for proposals”—hoping this will help to cultivate new sessions and session leaders. If you have something to share, please check the Retreat website (above), click on the 2017 flier with call for proposals, and send us your proposal.

We look forward to seeing you on Jekyll Island, GA in 2017.

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Mid-Winter Fun
by Ernie Hall

Parkville YMCA tai chiWhat can you do for fun Sunday afternoon, mid-winter in the Mid-West? How about gathering a roomful of tai chi friends at a community YMCA for skills practice and networking? Invite all TCH instructors within reasonable driving distance and extend the invitation to students as well. That proved to be the perfect solution to lift spirits out of winter doldrums in Northwest Missouri (Kansas City – Topeka) in early February. Weather (and driving conditions) sometimes unpredictable, was in favor with many coming as far as 1-2 hours to this central location.

The day’s itinerary included a group warm-up led by the Y’s host instructor, followed by several sets of TCA. Each set emphasized a different tai chi principle. The step-wise progressive teaching method was used to refresh everyone on Sun-style single-whip.

Halfway through the afternoon participants circled their chairs for tea break and to observe demonstrations of various styles and TCH sets led by an instructor. Everyone knowing a particular set was invited to join in, including students from several different classes. This proved to be a great way to showcase what other classes are learning and practicing, and to pique interest in attending weekend workshops offered by MTs and STs throughout the year. Demos included TCE Parts 1 & 2, TCD, Yang 24, Sun 73 and variations including Chen in four directions and Yang 10 forms.

The day’s practice and activities were enjoyed by a diverse group of participants with many coming to an area event for the first time, many remaining seated or assisted while standing or moving throughout practice or observance. This diversity made the day very special to everyone. The last half of the afternoon gave students an opportunity to participate in Seated TCA led by an ST instructor while other instructors met separately to brainstorm and network.

Prize drawings are always fun, and this day was no exception. Prizes included Tai Chi Production books and music CDs, and gift cards. Everyone went home with one or more Tai Chi for Health bookmarks: Tai Chi Principles, TCA Movements, TCD Movements and TCE Movements. According to end-of-workshop evaluations, (written and verbal), the day was well worth the travel effort and will be remembered as much for fun, meeting old and new tai chi friends, as it was for learning and practice.

Note: USTCC members Maureen Miller and Betty Scanlon created the bookmark formats to share with other members. They can be easily accessed on the USTCC website: Member Resources > Teaching Tools and Resources > Bookmarks.

Ernie Hall lives in St. Joseph, MO, and serves as the USTCC President.
ehall@tchc.info

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Did you know that our website lists Tai Chi for Health workshops and other special events submitted by our instructor and practitioner members?  Any USTCC member may use the Event Submission formon the website to add an event to our database. Once accepted, your event will be listed for viewing by other USTCC members.

You can view the full listing on the website. If you have any questions about event submissions or listings, please contact Julie Oberhaus at events@tchc.info.

 Apr. 16, 2016 Tai Chi for Energy Skill Builder
Linda Ebeling, MT
Lakeville, MN
Contact: Trish Gonzales, 
trish@trishtaichi.com
 Apr. 16-17, 2016 Sun 73 Forms (Movements 1-54)
Maureen Miller, MT

Atlantic Beach, FL
Contact: Maureen Miller, camdentaichi@mac.com, 912-467-2195
 Apr. 16-17, 2016 Chen 36 Forms
with Daniel Baranowski

Billerica, MA
Contact: Julie Oberhaus, dancingcrane8@gmail.com, 978-219-4847
 Apr. 17, 2015 Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention Update
Beverly Roberts, MT

Bradenton, FL
Contact: Beverly Roberts, Flowingchiriver@gmail.com
 Apr. 22-24, 2016 Chen 36 – a work in progress!
Led by Daniel Baranowski

Acworth, GA
Contact: Jocelyn Simpson, jocelynsimpson854@gmail.com, 770-912-9229

 

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