{"id":75063,"date":"2026-03-23T08:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=75063"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:39:49","slug":"utcs-zibin-guo-receives-praxis-award-for-translating-anthropology-into-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/utcs-zibin-guo-receives-praxis-award-for-translating-anthropology-into-action\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC\u2019s Zibin Guo receives Praxis Award for translating anthropology into action"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.

Dr. Zibin Guo receives the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists 2025 Praxis Award certificate from St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland Professor of Anthropology Bill Roberts, left, and George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health Center Director Mark Edberg. Photo courtesy of Dr. Bill Roberts.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Dr. Zibin Guo began adapting tai chi for people with ambulatory challenges, he saw it as an extension of his life\u2019s work\u2014bridging cultural wisdom and contemporary need.<\/p>\n

Now, that work has earned national recognition.<\/p>\n

Guo, UC Foundation Professor of Medical Anthropology and head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Geography at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has received the 2025 Praxis Award from the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists. He was presented the award on March 19 during the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Albuquerque, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Established in 1981, the Praxis Award recognizes outstanding achievement in translating anthropological knowledge into action through a single project. Guo was honored for his project, \u201cDeveloping and Implementing an Inclusive Tai Chi Chuan Program Throughout the U.S. VA HealthCare System Through Developing Community Partnerships,\u201d which expanded his Wheelchair\/Adaptive Tai Chi program across the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot

Dr. Zibin Guo<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Guo said of being recognized by his peers. \u201cEvery scholar wants to know that their work is worthwhile and contributing to the discipline, not just because they think so, but because it is recognized by their peers\u2014especially by a prestigious organization whose role is to select projects that represent the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists, founded in 1976, is the nation\u2019s longest-running local professional organization for anthropologists. The Praxis Award, presented biennially, historically has recognized practitioners working outside academia\u2014consultants, nonprofit leaders and government professionals who apply anthropological insight to practical problems.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bill Roberts, 2025 Praxis Award chair and professor of anthropology at St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland, said Guo\u2019s work distinguished itself for both its scope and its impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of things that stood out to me,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cOne thing is just Zibin\u2019s background as somebody who grew up in China studying martial arts himself, including Tai Chi Chuan, and then came to the United States to study medical anthropology. He really is a bridge figure between this healing art that\u2019s long established in Chinese culture and adapting it to a community that has to deal with the day-to-day challenges of disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts pointed to the program\u2019s reach. Adapted from Guo\u2019s original work in China and later adopted by the Paralympic community, the wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan program was implemented across nearly 1,500 health care providers in 80 VA medical centers in 46 states and Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adoption rate, the value that so many organizations\u2014national and international\u2014have seen in taking this up has been remarkable,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s clearly something he is very passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guo traces that bridge between tradition and application to his own childhood. He began studying martial arts \u201cat age 7 or 8, initially drawn\u2014as many children are\u2014to fighting and physical ability.\u201d Over time, he said, he came to understand that the art \u201cwas not about force but about discipline, continuity and the cultivation of the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really about fighting,\u201d Guo said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the kind of spirit, the kind of discipline, the kind of appreciation, the kind of continuation regardless of what kind of challenges you have.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his shift in understanding became central to his anthropological work. As a medical anthropologist, Guo studies human conditions from what he describes as an \u201cemic\u201d perspective\u2014seeking to understand people\u2019s lives from their own perspective. In working with veterans and others with ambulatory challenges, he listened first.<\/p>\n

Through those conversations, he said, he recognized a universal desire to be seen as capable, powerful and beautiful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I worked with people with disabilities in wheelchairs and saw them say, \u2018This makes me feel like I\u2019m a bird. It makes me feel like I can fly. It makes me feel empowered. It makes me feel beautiful,\u2019\u201d Guo said, \u201cthat was a moment I realized this is something much bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

An early turning point came when he shared a video of wheelchair tai chi with officials connected to the Paralympic movement in China. He quickly received word that viewers were moved to tears.<\/p>\n

From there, the program grew. Between 2016 and 2023, seven consecutive grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs supported training that reached health care providers nationwide. More recently, Guo has partnered with UNESCO\u2019s International Centre of Martial Arts for Youth Development and Engagement to expand adaptive tai chi training in South and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

For Guo, the wheelchair is both a practical tool and a metaphor.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is vulnerable,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are vulnerable. I am vulnerable. We all have vulnerabilities. The wheelchair Tai Chi program is not only for people with ambulatory challenges. It is also a metaphor. How do we see our vulnerabilities as sources of inspiration?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tai chi, he said, offers a form of cultural wisdom developed over centuries\u2014wisdom about using \u201ca little to accomplish a lot,\u201d about allowing the mind and body to move in flow rather than force. In contemporary life, he added, where mental stress and social stratification weigh heavily, those lessons remain relevant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea is how to transform your vulnerability into strength,\u201d Guo said. \u201cThat\u2019s why it becomes popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said the Praxis Award reflects the role universities can play in supporting applied scholarship.<\/p>\n

\u201cZibin was very clear about the amount of support the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has provided for him,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThe support from the institution and student interest clearly takes this beyond academia and into the world where there\u2019s a real need for this. Anthropology can be applied to contemporary issues and problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receiving the Praxis Award, Guo said, affirms that anthropology\u2019s core commitment\u2014to understand people on their own terms and to translate that understanding into meaningful intervention\u2014matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a great deal to me,\u201d Guo said. \u201cThis work is both my personal and professional interest. I\u2019m very happy that this work is being recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

UTC Sociology, Anthropology and Geography<\/a><\/p>\n

With \u2018Adaptive Tai Chi,\u2019 UTC\u2019s Zibin Guo shares 20 years of wisdom in motion<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A

Participants in a 2025 Bangladesh seminar practice adaptive tai chi from their wheelchairs during a martial arts training program supported by Dr. Zibin Guo. The program promotes empowerment and inclusion for people with disabilities. Photo courtesy of Dr. Zibin Guo.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Zibin Guo, UC Foundation Professor of Medical Anthropology and head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Geography at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, has received the 2025 Praxis Award from the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists. He was presented the award on March 19 during the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Albuquerque, New Mexico.<\/p>\n

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