Who Are We?

Joseph Brady, M.S.T.C.M., L.Ac., Dipl. O.M., and Jacqui Shumway, M.A., B.B.A., have been leading specialists in aging and physical activity for over 20 years. They are the directors of the T'ai Chi Project's classes, training, and behavior change research.

Joe is a licensed clinical acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and graduated from the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Jacqui specializes in preventive and rehabiltative exercise through physical education and graduated from the University of Northern Colorado.

They serve on numerous boards including the Colorado Governor's Council for Physical Fitness, Colorado Commission on Health Care Reform, Park Hill Thriving Communities, Denver's Safe Routes to School, and the Mayor's Walk. They are both members of the Oxford Roundtable, Oxford University, England where they recently presented their findings on successful health behavior change.

We have many years of proven success in exercise therapy, health promotion, and T'ai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan.) We have a growing list of over 1500 satisfied students, including students from the University of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center from various area hospitals, churches, and retirement communities. With over 40 active classes at locations around Metro Denver, you have a variety of times and locations from which to choose.

Keep in mind that our unique, research-based approach is designed to ensure success with an enjoyable step-by-step learning experience. Experienced coaching and an instructor's ability to improve motor skills are key in teaching others to enjoy physical activity. Experience for yourself the accumulated wisdom of centuries with this timeless exercise for mind and body.

Zhu Xilin "Drew", has worked, as an instructor, with the T'ai Chi Project for over five years. His expertise and skills in T'ai Chi and Qi Gong that he brings to the program add a "traditional" approach.

Our History

One of humanity's greatest dreams has been to never grow old. For centuries in China, philosophers and alchemists sought for this elixir of life. Their studying the secrets of life and death evolved into a kind of physiological alchemy of mind and body. This ancient art has been handed down through generations in the form of Taijiquan, often referred to simply as T'ai chi.

The Chinese findings mirror today's scientific literature in explaining the causes and cures for disabilities and disease associated with normal aging. We all hope to maintain our health and independence throughout our lives and most of us want to feel that we have done our part in the healing process. As directors of the T'ai Chi Project, we hope to make these techniques available to a larger number of people than in centuries past by applying them through our practical scientific approach to the ancient art of Taijiquan (T'ai chi chuan).

We are research scientists and educators that have spent over twenty years involved with research in aging and physical activity. Our diverse backgrounds and experiences have allowed us to create a unique research and learning environment in the T'ai Chi Project. Joe's background is in behavioral sciences and he graduated from the City University of New York in 1976. He was first introduced to Taiji as an honorary member of the Oriental American Society at Brooklyn Tech in 1967. After receiving a bachelors degree in accounting and finance, Jacqui's 15 years in the field of exercise led her to a 1998 masters degree in Physical Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Her elections and appointments to national, state, and local leadership positions have allowed her to specialize in the behavioral determinants of physical activity.

We first started working together in 1989 as co-directors of a training certification program for fitness instructors for the University of Denver's Institute of Gerontology and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. In 1993, we managed to secure a $100,000 grant to research and develop an exercise program for older adults that combined techniques from western exercise therapy and selected exercises from Taijiquan. Using a team of scientific advisors and computer searches of the biomedical literature, we compiled a program of exercises that offered the greatest benefit to older adults, and ultimately for everyone.

The success of this project led to an invitation to the 1994 annual scientific conference of the Gerontological Society of America in Atlanta, Georgia. With the help and advice of Dr. Dennis Jahnigan, we had the good fortune of meeting and discussing our ideas with many top researchers in aging and biomedical research. Our heads swimming with ideas, we sat at the airport after the conference trying to synthesize all we had learned and been encouraged to do...and the T'ai Chi Project was born. Following Dr. Jahnigan's sage advice to focus our efforts on what would make the greatest difference in the lives of older adults, we envisioned a small, simple research project. We had no idea, sitting in the Atlanta airport, where our commitment would lead us.

AS THE T'AI CHI PROJECT ENTERS ITS SECOND DECADE of presenting and educating professionals and the public, we will continue to publish our findings and expand our scope with the hope that we will inspire more people to explore the psychological and physiological benefits of Taiji, Qi-Gong and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Always evolving and expanding, the T'ai Chi Project has provided numerous local and national organizations with quality health promotion information, motivational talks, Taijiquan and rhythm programs. These include: