Location: Online via Zoom (click to register on the website)
Speaker: Zibin Guo
Description: This presentation traces the development and implementation of Wheelchair and Inclusive Tai Chi Chuan through ethnographic engagement and participatory action with disability communities and healthcare providers. Beginning with the creation of a 13-posture wheelchair form in China and expanding into a 7-posture inclusive program in the U.S. Veterans Affairs system, the project demonstrates how adaptive Tai Chi fosters physical, emotional, and social well-being for people with diverse physical conditions.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Zibin Guo is a professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and a Tai Chi Chuan Master/scholar. He specializes in Medical Anthropology, applying traditional healing knowledge to develop intervention programs that promote physical and psychological well-being among vulnerable populations.
In 2005, Dr. Guo developed a wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) program, making a traditional healing/martial art accessible to people with ambulatory limitations. A key feature of this program is its integration of wheelchair motion with TCC's fluid movements, transforming the wheelchair from an assistive device into a tool for empowerment and artistic expression. Dr. Guo’s program debuted at the 2008 Paralympics.
Since 2016, funded by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Guo has been implementing the Inclusive/Adaptive Tai Chi Program for Veterans with disabilities, including PTSD, across the country. As of September 2023, Dr. Guo and his team have conducted 107 instructional training workshops for 1,480 VA Healthcare providers in 46 states, including Puerto Rico.
Recently, with UNESCO-ICM and UTC sponsorship, Dr. Guo traveled to Bangladesh and Vietnam to conduct wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan training for rehabilitation medicine healthcare providers and disability advocates.
Prior to joining the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Dr. Guo served as a lecturer in the Department of Social Medicine of Harvard Medical School and the Director of Clinical Studies at the New England School of Acupuncture.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The Zoom link, including instructions for joining the event, will be provided in the confirmation message you will receive after registering. You will also receive a reminder email with the link around 3:00 pm the day of the event. This session will be recorded and posted to WAPA's YouTube channel within a few days of the event.
