Johnson, a retired Army officer, suffers from multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects mobility and puts many of its victims in wheelchairs.

But Johnson, who was diagnosed with the disease in October 2004, is still quite mobile, if a little unsteady at times. He credits Tai chi, an ancient martial art, for helping him stay in his job as an intelligence analyst and out of a wheelchair.

The Tai chi class is free for people with MS, fibromyalgia, arthritis or other debilitating movement diseases.

Norm Gill has been teaching the class at the Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Recreation Center since April 2005. He started the classes as a way to help people with movement problems. He teaches it for free.

“I could never sell this,” Gill said. “This is a gift.”

Gill, also a former Army officer, is a longtime student of the martial art. He believes Tai chi allows people to make themselves stronger and more aware of their bodies and minds.

“Tai chi will find every bio-mechanical imperfection your body has,” Gill said.

But by practicing it, he said, students with movement problems can better manage their diseases.

Gill uses the teachings of Tai chi to help students work with their diseases. He encourages students to make friends with their disease instead of fighting it and expending valuable energy. That way, the students can work with the disease better and even find calm and energy.

“You don’t quit, you just keep working with it,” Gill said.

The practice has worked for Johnson.

Johnson began taking the class last year because he wanted to walk his daughter down the aisle when she got married in November. He was worried he would have to use a cane or even a wheelchair, and that wasn’t what he wanted.

So when he heard about Gill’s class, he decided to take it, even if it was difficult for him at first.

“My coordination was the worst in the class, but you don’t keep score like that in Tai chi,” he said.

Johnson credits the class, along with working and other exercise, with helping him continue to walk on his own.

“If all I did was sit at home in front of the TV or the computer, I’d probably be in a wheelchair by now,” he said.

Instead, Johnson came out of retirement after Sept. 11, 2001, to work as a civilian intelligence analyst with Special Forces Command on Fort Bragg. He also teaches Spanish three nights a week at Campbell University.

Others in the class say it’s just as good for people who are looking to get more movement in their life.

“It makes me feel good, basically,” said Darlene Cote, who recently returned to the class after a six-month hiatus.

Before the break, Cote, who suffers from arthritis, had been attending the class for more than a year.

“It’s wonderful that he does this for free,” she said.

Gill could be making $35 per person a class, but for him the reward comes from his students.

“The body loves this,” he said. “I think the biggest gift I give to them is to feel good about themselves.”

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=287595