Tai chi a hit with some Valley residents

YOUNGSTOWN — Televised coverage of the Summer Olympics in Beijing during the next two weeks will likely include early-morning footage of Chinese tai chi groups practicing on the street.

This view of China’s culture, however, will be nothing new to a local group that practices the exercise and martial art.

For them, tai chi is more than regular exercise — the Chinese philosophy is part of their daily lives.

After studying tai chi for 35 years, Marie Lew of the North Side finds a good fit between the Eastern concepts of energy and flow and her work in Western health care.

She’s a licensed lymphedema therapist, treating the buildup of lymph fluid that causes swelling in the limbs. Normally, fluid in the body has a natural flow. Lymphedema results when that flow stops, and Lew works to reroute it.

“If you can’t go a certain way because the road has been removed, you have to go another way. You find an open pathway,” she said.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.