Perpetuating an ancient martial art

Roosevelt’s June Counterman has taken her place on the timeline of an ancient martial art.

Roosevelt’s June Counterman, recently named Tai Chi Instructor of the Year, teaches a tai chi class at Roosevelt Borough Hall on March 17. JEFF GRANIT staff The United Fellowship of Martial Artists inducted Counterman on March 6 into their Hall of Fame as 2010 Tai Chi Instructor of the Year. Three hundred people attended the ceremony at the Joy T’sin Lau Restaurant in Philadelphia’s Chinatown that honored 74 practitioners from across the country representing every form of the martial arts.

The trophy and certificate that Counterman received denote her arduous training and efforts in upholding the highest ideals, standards and ethics for preserving, promoting and perpetuating martial arts. She was one of few female instructors to gain recognition at the ceremony.

“It’s still a man’s world,” Counterman said of tai chi. “Most women [who received awards] got them for promoting martial arts.”

Clockwise from top: Len Sacharoff (l-r), Jean Fields and Helen and Leon Barth practice tai chi at Roosevelt Borough Hall on March 17. Bill and his wife June Counterman, Roosevelt, demonstrate a defensive move learned in the martial art. Robert Clark (l) and Kay Kaydrury focus on their breathing and body movement. JEFF GRANIT staff Counterman has been studying tai chi for the past 25 years and teaching the subtle martial art for the past decade. Currently, she teaches nine weekly classes at municipal buildings and community senior centers and at Gold’s Gym in East Windsor.

“Tai chi is part of my life,” Counterman said. “I do it to relax. It really reduces the stress in my life. I don’t think there’s a day that goes by without me doing some form of tai chi.”

Tai chi originated in ancient China as a martial art and a means of self-defense. Over time, people began to use the mindbody practice for health purposes as well. A form of moving meditation, tai chi involves gentle and slow body movements paired with awareness and deep breathing.

There are many different styles of tai chi, but all involve graceful movements that flow into each other during short or long demonstrations. Counterman trained in Yang-style tai chi, studying with Shifu Susanna DeRosa, Master Helen Wu, Grandmaster Jou Tsung Hwa, Dr. Christopher M. Viggiano, Dr. Paul Lam, Dr. John Painter, Master Jianye Jiang, Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, Grandmaster Yang Zhen Duo, Master Yang Jun, Shifu Terrance Dunn, Shifu Sam Masich and others. Trained in five different forms of bare hand and four weapons (saber sword, straight sword, fan and staff), she has entered national competition and placed first in saber sword. Counterman has also had three of her students compete in national competition, placing first, second and third.

“I continue to practice on my own, always wanting to learn more forms and to learn more to pass on to my students” Counterman said.

Her favorite form requires the use of a sword.

“This form is beautiful and graceful, and I think it shows a skill a step above bare hand,” she said. “You must respect the weapon. It’s almost like a ballet with a sword.”

Although every posture has an application, such as “Grasping the Sparrow’s Tail,” which provides the technique to dislocate or break an opponent’s arm, Counterman said, “I teach tai chi strictly for exercise and relaxation.”

Counterman’s classes have been a resource for people of all ages seeking to develop strength, balance and mindfulness.

“She’s able to accommodate all age groups and all levels of difficulty,” borough resident Bob Clark said during the March 17 class at Roosevelt Borough Hall.

Benefits of practicing tai chi include reducing body stress, increasing energy and strengthening muscles and the immune system, Counterman said. Over the past decade, medical professionals have also studied the martial art’s effects on bone loss in postmenopausal women, cancer survivors, depression in elderly patients, fibromyalgia symptoms, muscle pain, fatigue, insomnia, osteoarthritis of the knee, patients with chronic heart failure and rheumatoid arthritis, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Counterman started practicing tai chi after losing all of the muscle in one of her legs after three operations for cancer. Roosevelt resident Virginia Edwards’ recommendation of tai chi as an alternative to walking for exercise and rehabilitation helped Counterman recover and ultimately changed her life.

Others, like Roosevelt’s Kay Drury, who has been practicing with Counterman for more than five years, also credit tai chi with medical benefits. Drury uses the art to help her manage arthritis in her knees.

“Sometimes I come in really achy,” Drury said. “She [June] concentrates on building up muscles and helping joints. When I leave, I don’t ache anymore. It’s definitely worth coming.”

Husband and wife Helen and Leon Barth, Roosevelt, take Counterman’s class together.

“I’m here for the whole body approach,” Helen said, noting the mind-body connection.

She said tai chi helps her husband manage Parkinson’s disease, providing him with balance and keeping him moving.

South Brunswick’s Jean Field, who has been practicing for almost four years, said she gets both physical and spiritual benefits from her practice.

“It’s not the same as repetitive motion at a gym,” Field said. “You have to have mental focus when you are doing it. It’s not something that you do fast. You have to be aware of the weight in your feet and legs and keep moving from the hips. You can call it meditative … if you’re really tuned into it.”

Counterman invited the public to explore all the benefits of tai chi at East Windsor’s Gold Gym’s World Tai Chi Day, an event on May 1 that celebrates the martial art with demonstrations. She also teaches classes Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. and Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Roosevelt Borough Hall. For more information, call June Counterman at 609-448-3182.