Apprentice Reflections with Vincent Zee in Götzens    

March 2026

After working with Vincent for the second time in Götzens, 14 apprentices from 7 different countries reflected with Vincent on how his classes affect them and our school. His workshop was then followed by the semi-annual weekend for local and international students.

                                                 Compiled in the order that was spoken by Maria Gandler and Sherry Kent

Question #1

What does the work with Vincent bring you? How does it enrich your or our tai chi? How does being here in Götzens, doing both Vincent’s classes and then teaching classes yourself on the weekend, enrich you?

In my daily life, I am listening more. By listening to myself more, I can also deal better with different people. I recently had a job change, and this work helped me to take this step.

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I am excited to walk on this path. Vincent’s work, together with Bill Palmer’s “Inner Qi Gong,” reconnected my core to tai chi and the richness in our schools.

I often rush to places. Today I left late again, but chose to slow down my pace and my breath thanks to Ian’s reminder, not rushing to the class, and yet I arrived in a timely manner!

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Practicing with Vincent and then teaching in the weekend, both continue my own learning — particularly the ongoing work of becoming more present, more patient, more attuned. The pathways in tai chi are infinite. There is no fixed destination to reach, no final level of mastery to achieve beyond what exists in this moment. The path itself is the goal. Being here and sharing this practice with others, reminds me of that truth.

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I know more of what is good for me. I feel more connected. The work brings me closer to becoming more and more sensitive. The inner work is hard and heavy, but the result is worthwhile and amazing. It is an experience I only get from doing it. It´s not the words but the feeling that helps the body relax and lets the energy sink.

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While being in touch through the three points of contact with the arms in one line, I am more able to listen and get a clearer image and feeling of the person from these three different perspectives.

With a soft touch, and by releasing everything down, even the little rotation in my hip joint  happens when I am moved by the active person.

When teaching students over the weekend together with fellow apprentice teachers, I felt a lightness, joy, and simplicity. The work with Vincent beforehand prepared us for this.

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This work has helped me see myself uncontrived, the depth of listening taught me to accept myself in the Now. It helped me in my healing process, and to respect myself and my boundaries. I took time to listen to myself and to deepen my connection with myself and the world around me.

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Vincent is a catalyst who brings a fresh way of looking and a renewal in the way we view tai chi and push hands. In his soft way, he catalyzes change in each of us and in our school.

In his classes, I don’t have any special function, so I can enjoy being a beginner and absorb what he has to offer… a relief after years of feeling responsible. I already see the work he offers echoing through each of us and through our school. It has already begun.

Vincent offers a live example of how to listen to ourselves and to others in a kind way, responding gently instead of reacting from emotion.

We are all in the process of discovering ways to gently evolve our curriculum to include even more listening and softness.

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I am happy. I like to open up towards all. I like to play and share with all of you.

Vincent’s way of teaching seems to have a lighter tone.

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This work brings motivation for me to do more of the solo form with these new aspects. It gives us impulses of what more we can do for ourselves.

I often read in the books of Cheng Man Ching regarding the phrase “dead meat”.  Now I understand the meaning of it. “The tai chi cake we are eating is getting bigger and growing.”

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Vincent shows us that letting go of our ego, leads to softness.

I often felt alone in my tai chi studies. Now, I feel, I have found a “native speaker.”

Now I am understanding the books and the “Master tapes”.

Also, watching the sword with Cheng Man Ching – it is like a wave. It is about relaxing and listening. I am going along with the process. I am working little pieces of the form to work more in depth.

The teacher arrives when you are ready for it. I am glad to experience with each other, being in the process of dropping our egos. This is a nice environment. It is like a relief for me.

I have to listen, and it will come.

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I have been into tai chi over 25 years. I integrate tai chi more and more in my practice as massage therapist/osteopath. Able to be like a mirror and also receive genuine feedback.

I ask myself: how do I work with people who are not on this “plane”?

I allow myself to make mistakes.

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The work with Vincent brought me back to daily practice, and it also brought back my joy for tai chi.

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Tai chi helps me to be clear. In my work, I experience that colleagues enjoy when I am clear. If I am clear, the situation is clear as well. Tai chi helps me to be grounded in any situation.

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Question #2

How do Vincent’s classes enrich our international tai chi school?

I believe that it is not a coincidence that Vincent appeared in a time of transformation and transition in our international school. It is about unity and love.

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His classes are like a breath of fresh air, like opening the windows in spring and letting the air flow through the house. He voices and shows things in slightly different ways, which enables each of us to hear familiar teachings anew and to question our assumptions about how tai chi should be practiced and taught.

The gift of this happening now is that it brings openness to new possibilities for change, without the need to fight for it or become rebellious. It allows change to happen more naturally. And tai chi itself is about change.

We have inherited certain patterns of behavior in our school. I would love us to grow away from blaming others and toward greater self-responsibility, becoming more able to recognize and respect everyone’s worth with kindness. Vincent’s own openness and personal development offer us an example.

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My guess is that all of us will grow to embody the tai chi principles, the embodiment in our form, and also in our mind and spirit. I’ve got the feeling that Vincent’s inspiring influence will bring practice and principles together in a gentle, soft & loving way.

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Less and less ego, equal in person, different in mastery and experience.

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Fellowship – we learn from each other. We need each other to bring out our best potential. It enriches everyone. It is a win/win situation. What you give, you get back. Reciprocity.

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This is bottom-up change. As people go further in the work, that makes change. Do the work, let it filter. We do not know where the work will go. It deepens our connection.

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However well tai chi was embraced from the beginning, now it feels like a shift towards a further opening in our school, part of a healthy ongoing evolution.

I also believe it is not a coincidence that Vincent appeared in our school. Good timing. A shift is happening, and we can align with and trust its unfolding.

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We have all heard these things, and this is another perspective on it.

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There is something powerful that happens when practitioners from many different places come together. This program creates a collective permission — a shared openness — to explore new depths of the practice and experiment with new ways of learning. What may have once felt structured or bound begins to release, and tension, whether in the body, the practice, or between people, can be released.

With seven countries represented here, that opening carries real weight. The local school plays a vital role in facilitating this cross-pollination of ideas — bringing diverse perspectives into conversation with one another in a way that helps reconnect some of the lost elements of Professor CMC’s lineage. It is a reminder that tai chi transcends borders, and that this school holds a space wide enough for all of it.

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I appreciate the martial art aspect.

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Generally, ego has diminished. The work provides a reflection of ourselves and allows us to change.

The single focus exercises help us pay close attention.

Years ago, a friend advised me, “Take a large bowl of warm water and put both your elbows in it and sit in front of a mirror.” I asked why would you want to do that. She said, “If you do this exercise, you are not going anywhere and have to take the time to look into the mirror and see yourself. Take the time to let go of self-criticism, accepting yourself as you are now, with love. This opens a door towards transformation.”

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It is like a reset for the school where we all start learning together, no matter the number of years of experience and level. It is a huge opportunity.

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Thanks to Harm Leerling, as he had the first contact with Vincent, working with him by himself, and then started groups to work with Vincent in Amsterdam.

Photography: Mike Boner