Adaptive Tai Chi: An Accessible Practice for Empowering Body and Mind
by Guo Zibin, Shambhala (1 July 2025)
A simple and inclusive Tai Chi program, completely modifiable with helpful illustrations, that empowers people of all physical abilities to experience the transformative qualities of this art.
Includes sequences for standing/moving, stationary standing, seated, and wheelchair.
In Tai Chi Chuan, the traditional Chinese martial and healing art, we learn to overcome challenges by empowering the mind and transforming the body. Adaptive Tai Chi offers an innovative approach that speaks to this powerful idea and makes Tai Chi accessible and beneficial to people with a range of physical conditions or ambulatory impairment.
The slow, circular, flowing, and graceful movements of Tai Chi require little space and no equipment, making it an ideal practice for people with different physical abilities (it’s been included in the Paralympics since 2008). Adaptive Tai Chi introduces readers to the culture, philosophy, and physiology of Tai Chi—and gives readers four completely illustrated practices, each modified for different physical abilities, including conventional standing/moving, stationary standing, seated, and wheelchair sequences.
Along with the complete illustrated adaptive Tai Chi sequences, Guo includes notes and philosophical insights into each practice. The complete program offered in Adaptive Tai Chi allows everyone to access the profound benefits of Tai Chi practice.
About the author:
Dr. Guo, an applied medical anthropologist and a martial artist, has made significant contributions to the field of health and wellness. Over the past decade, his research activities have focused on applying the wisdom of traditional martial and healing arts to develop programs promoting physical and psychological well-being among vulnerable populations. In 2005, Dr. Guo developed a wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) program, which not only makes traditional healing/martial art accessible to people with ambulatory limitations but also serves as a metaphor illustrating “A force of four ounces to embracing thousand pounds”, a core idea behind the art of Tai Chi. Since this program debuted at the 2008 Paralympics, it has been embraced by disability, popular culture, Tai Chi, and Rehabilitation Medicine communities worldwide. His work has also been presented at various international and national health organizations and communities, including UNESCO-ICM, Mayo Clinic, the 19th European Congress of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, and the 7th World Congress of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, American Physical Therapy, American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied conferences. From 2016 to 2023, Dr. Guo received seven consecutive grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to promote the wheelchair/Inclusive Tai Chi Chuan program within the U.S. VA. Healthcare system. Dr. Guo and his team have conducted 85 instructional training sessions for this program with over 1,500 VA healthcare providers in 46 states, including Puerto Rico. Dr. Guo is working with UNESCO-ICM to promote this adaptive Tai Chi program worldwide.
