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Zibin Guo
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Staff Photo by Brett Clark Zibin Guo teaches a tai chi class at the World Gym on Hixson Pike.
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UTC professor Zibin Guo, who has spent years putting his spin on the art of tai chi, is now hoping to use the ancient practice to help improve the lives of elderly and disabled adults.
Wheelchair tai chi -- a soft form of martial art that emphasizes slow, circular movements and improves balance and circulation -- has caught on regionally and worldwide since Dr. Guo created the 13-move seated routine.
"Seated tai chi has broad implications for a lot of older adults, not just homebound and folks in hospitals but also more active seniors," said Catherine Pippin, program development manager at the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability, which uses wheelchair tai chi in its programing. "It's much more than physical exercise. It engages the mind. It has a calming affect."
Dr. Guo, who teaches medical anthropology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has traveled to China several times to train tai chi masters in the routine he developed. Since then, the Chinese government has adopted it in all of its provinces through the country's division of disability services, he said.
And, in 2008, a group performed wheelchair tai chi at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing following the Olympics. Classes have been held through the city's Department of Parks and Recreation and at many area senior centers and nursing homes.
"There are a lot of program out there for people with disabilities, but not a lot of them work well," Dr. Guo said.
This year, Dr. Guo said he plans to create a 13-episode program for public television on wheelchair tai chi. The shows will give many who can't make it to regular classes, the exercise and relaxation of tai chi without leaving their houses, he said.
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Joan Garrett has been a staff writer for the Times Free Press since August 2007. Before becoming a general assignment writer for the paper, she wrote about business, higher education and the court systems. She grew up the oldest of five sisters near Birmingham, Ala., and graduated with a master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Alabama. Before landing her first full-time job as a reporter at the Times Free Press, she ...
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