The Silent T'ai Chi Ch'uan Retreat
and Silent Meditation

Let t'ai chi relax the body,
Let silence relax the mind.

-Tom Krapu, Ph.D.

History of the Silent
T'ai Chi Weekend Retreat

Yang Style Short Form

Organizer: Tom Krapu, Ph.D.

Thanks for your interest. The silent t'ai chi retreat is not just a vision, but a reality. I have a format that I have developed and has been used several times. This idea was formed when my late father-in-law invited me to a silent religious retreat that he did every year for over 30 years. I had always been curious about silent retreats, but in my twenty years of meditation practice I had never had that experience. I accepted the invitation, but wanted to do t'ai chi while I was there. So before each meal and before bedtime, I followed a simple routine.

1. One form Practice
2. Twenty minutes standing in Preparation posture (sometimes referred to as Wu Chi) like Mr. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo does in the morning at his camps before breakfast.
3. Another form practice.

Since the retreat went from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon, I did a total of about 22 rounds of the form and stood for a total of nearly four hours of standing meditation over the four days. The silent t'ai chi retreat was born.

My experience was pretty profound. By the end of the weekend my legs felt like I had been at one of Mr. Lo's weekend workshops or camps. (Note: He tells me that I should practice this way at home, but I have found this to be impossible. More on Mr. Lo later.)

I have found three things that Professor Cheng said in his writings related particularly to standing in Wu Chi posture.

1. It helps you relax more.
   
2. It develops root.
   
3. It gathers chi.

I noticed an immediate improvement in my form and push hands practice. I was amazed at how relaxed my MIND was. It took three days of silence for my mind to slow down enough to begin to feel it becoming more relaxed. It made me aware of how "busy" my life is. That alone felt wonderful, especially from the clarity that I felt emerged in that relaxation.

I thought I would like to do this again sometime and share this experience with others so I planned a weekend at a different facility that would be nothing but t'ai chi. In 1994 about eight of us did our first official Silent T'ai Chi Ch'uan Retreat.

I added some posture holding of the 70/30 (3 minutes) and 100% (1 minute) varieties to each "work out" session. So we hold these postures BRIEFLY, but for about an hour total distributed over the entire weekend. I added time to meet and do push hands if people wanted to. There are free times after each meal to rest, relax, etc., (at Mercy Center you can walk a labyrinth). All activities over the weekend are optional. The weekend is highly structured (schedule) to facilitate silence and eliminate the need for spoken communication. I have done this several times with small groups of people. It has been a resounding success judging by the comments that people have had who have participated. The T'ai Chi Ch'uan Forum and the Internet has allowed me to make this experience available to a wider audience.

Mr. Lo has supported me in doing a "practice weekend". His suggestion is to also watch Professor's video's as a part of the weekend. So I added viewing Mr. Lo doing the form and Professor's videos (with the sound off) in 2002.

I hope this helps you understand better what this opportunity is. I have given enough details here that you can probably do it on your own if you want to try. Since I don't consider myself a "teacher" of t'ai chi in the traditional sense, I have pretty much only charged the cost of the weekend to people who participate. I do this as a service to the Cheng Man-Ch'ing T'ai Chi community. I am having to consider adding liability insurance costs to the event, but I am hoping that this will not be too much. I have not had to do this in the past since I have always known the participants pretty well since they were local T'ai Chi brothers and sisters and personal friends of mine.

Sincerely,

Tom Krapu
St. Louis

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