Project Members
Dr. William "John" Johnson
Dr. William “John” Johnson has been a licensed Chiropractor since 1980. Dr. Johnson graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville cum laude in 1973 and from Sherman College of Chiropractic magna cum laude in 1979. He is a fellow of the American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedists, as well as a diplomat of the International Academy of Clinical Acupuncture and the American Academy of Pain Management.
Dr. Johnson began studying Tai Chi in 2001 with Dr. Zibin Guo, and later served as president of the Chattanooga Tai Chi Community for several years where he remains as an advisor to the board of directors. He also serves as president and founding member of the non-profit organization Adaptive Tai Chi International. In 2008, Dr. Johnson was chosen by Dr. Guo to be the lead instructor in a research project co-sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation designed to document the benefits of seated Tai Chi for patients with stroke and spinal cord injuries. This program was so successful that he continued to teach it for 8 years. He also collaborated with Dr. Guo in developing seated Tai Chi forms specifically for people suffering with low back, neck, and shoulder pain.
In 2016, Dr. Johnson assisted Dr. Guo in establishing and teaching the first Wheelchair Tai Chi program for disabled veterans, funded by a grant from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, at the York Campus Veterans Hospital in Murfreesboro, TN., where he has continued those classes weekly ever since. Dr. Johnson has made presentations on the benefits of Tai Chi for fall prevention and reducing back pain. He has taught at least 3 different community-based classes per week for ambulatory participants for the last few years. Dr. Johnson has also taught continuing education classes for Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Chiropractors in several states.
Karen Wilson
Karen Wilson began her ongoing journey with Tai Chi in 2002, when she enrolled in a beginning class taught by Certified Senior Instructor Mr. Steve Long. She has continued her study of Tai Chi with Dr. Zibin Guo up through the present time, learning a variety of standardized and adaptive forms. Karen was certified as an instructor by Dr. Guo in 2007.
Her other training includes: the week-long International Tai Chi Chuan Symposium at Vanderbilt University (2009); the Mind Over Body Seminar (2011) hosted by Dr. Zibin Guo and Chattanooga Tai Ji Community; and Therapeutic Tai Chi (2014) - from a physical therapy perspective. Karen has also received training and certification from Dr. Guo in 2016, for teaching the Wheelchair/Adaptive Tai Chi (13 Form).
Since 2016 she has both assisted and taught the 13 or the 7 Adaptive Forms to Veterans. Weekly classes at the University of Tennessee campus are now conducted virtually with Veterans. In August 2020, she was one of the instructors for the 2020 Summer Adaptive/Wheelchair Tai Chi for Veterans Virtual Instructor Advanced/Certification Training Program.
Karen has taught Tai Chi in a variety of other community settings and events. These included short introductory demonstrations and participation for groups throughout the Chattanooga area. She has also presented a variety of regular and adaptive classes in different venues. Until recently, weekly adaptive Tai Chi had been offered to eligible participants of Erlanger Hospital’s Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Center
Besides her experiences with learning and teaching Tai Chi, she was a founding member of both the Chattanooga Tai Ji Community and Adaptive Tai Chi International. Karen served 4 years as secretary at CTJC and has been treasurer at ATCI since 2016.
Karen is a retired Speech/Language Pathologist after 40 years working in this field. She received both her BA (1972) and her MS (1973) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Beth Herring
Beth Herring is a physical therapist and the Director of Rehabilitation at Ascension Living/Alexian PACE in Chattanooga Tennessee. She has been studying Tai Chi with Dr. Guo since 2012 and is a certified instructor in Adaptive/Wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan. Beth has been actively involved in implementing and promoting the practice of Tai Chi Chuan as both rehab and fitness modalities for people with physical and neurological disabilities in both clinic and community settings. Since 2019, Beth has been a member of the instructor's team of Dr. Guo's Applied Tai Chi program (supported by the USVA Adaptive Sports Grant) and conducted the training course for healthcare providers at VAMC in the country. She is also an instructor for the Chattanooga Adaptive Tai Chi for Veterans training program which is also supported by the USVA Adaptive Sports Grant. Beth is a founding member of Adaptive Tai Chi International, for which she currently serves as the Board Secretary.
Beth has a BFA in dance from SUNY-Purchase and is active in the dance community in Chattanooga, TN.
Liz Hathaway
Dr. Hathaway is an assistant professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She teaches Health Behavior Change and Psychology of Sport and Exercise in the Exercise Science undergraduate program and Health Promotion and Communication Strategies in the Master of Public Health program. Her interests include learning how to best motivate individuals to make lasting, positive behavior change. She loves coffee, life chats, awkward encounters, and banter.
Dr. Darrell Walsh
Dr. Walsh is an assistant sociology professor in the Social Cultural Justice Studies Department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He teaches Introductory Sociology, Marriage and the Family, Diversity in American Life, and Military Sociology. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with 31 years of Army service as a Finance, Civil Affairs officer with deployments to Iraqi and Afghanistan. His interests include travelling domestically and internationally learning about different cultures. He enjoys exercising and views it as medicine for a quality life.