More than 1,000 Chinese people in wheelchairs hope to demonstrate a new activity at the summer Olympic or Paralympic Games in Beijing this summer: wheelchair tai chi.

Led by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga anthropology professor Zibin Guo, the demonstration is designed to show the world that wheelchair tai chi can boost strength, relaxation, flexibility and confidence for people with physical disabilities.

“I see it as one of the simplest ways of engaging in self-care,” said Dr. Guo, also a longtime tai chi instructor.

Tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, has become popular in the West in recent years. Its slow, flowing movements build strength, coordination, balance and concentration. People of many ages can practice the activity and also those with injuries or physical restrictions.

Still, it is rare to find tai chi practiced by people in wheelchairs or walkers, Dr. Guo said.

No studies exist on wheelchair tai chi, said Dr. Glenn Haban, a neuropsychologist at Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation.

Now, for the first time in Chattanooga, free wheelchair tai chi classes will be offered at Siskin Hospital. The class is co-sponsored by UTC.

“This will be the first research project in the U.S., and probably the world, that will look at the effect of Tai chi with those who are wheelchair dependent,” Dr. Haban said.

The Siskin-UTC study will measure the effects of tai chi on participants’ breathing, heart condition, psychological functioning, and ability to cope, he added.

Participants will be part of a pilot study. Siskin Hospital and UTC hope the study will lead to grant funding to continue the classes. Free classes will be taught in July and August at Siskin Hospital downtown.

Known as “moving meditation,” tai chi promotes mental health, abdominal strength, boost digestion and increase physical mobility among the healthy, Dr. Guo said.

The study’s authors hope to find the same effects with wheelchair-bound patients, too.

“People in wheelchairs often feel confined. Tai chi, with its circular movements, creates a sense of infinite space. And the gentle movements improve circulation and mobility,” Dr. Guo said.

Gary Paruszkiewicz, a longtime teacher of tai chi in Kankakee, Ill., said he learned from experience that wheelchair tai chi works.

In 1993, multiple sclerosis forced him into a wheelchair. At first, he said, he took large doses of valium to reduce muscle spasms and ibuprofen for pain.

“I was in really bad shape,” he said. “I even considered suicide to spare my family the grief.”

“People with disabilities have a difficult time getting the 30 minutes of physical activity every human being needs, every day, because there are few things designed for them. So they sit in their wheelchairs and basically die.”

To fight back the depression, he revived long-forgotten tai chi and Qi Gong (a slow-moving Oriental exercise form) movements, adapting them to a seated position.

Today, he walks independently. And he has taught thousands of people with disabiltiies his seated tai chi method.

Not everyone who does tai chi can be freed from their walker or chair, he said. But nearly all patients can try.

“For people who have a hard time I teach them to hold onto a walker or chair and keep their legs working. If they can’t do that, I tell them to keep the hands going. I teach people to use everything they can possibly use,” Mr. Paruszkiewicz said.

Last year, Ron Wolfe, a 57-year-old retired electrical engineer who lives from Ooltewah, started wheelchair tai chi on an exercise ball in his basement doing exercises taught to him by Dr. Guo.

“I’m looking for anything that will help my rehab recovery,” Mr. Wolfe said.

Three and 1/2 years ago, Mr. Wolfe was hit by a car while jogging. He’s been in physical therapy “continuously” for a spinal cord injury ever since, he said.

Because he is involved in several therapies, he’s not sure which improvements to his health have come directly from tai chi.

“Certainly my lower back strength came back,” Mr. Wolfe said. “The advantage of the tai chi is that it’s well-coordinated. It forces you through a flowing motion and that helps with balance.”

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