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CLOSE-UP: Judith Forsyth: Tai Chi Practitioner Finds Well-Being in Blending Cultures

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 12:00 CST

East meets West at Judith Forsyths Bending Tree Tai Chi.

Forsyth received a bachelor of science degree in exercise physiology from Virginia Wesleyan College, and has studied with Tai Chi Master Jim Scott Behrends in California.

My knowledge of how the Western world looks at exercise and wellness is helpful to my students, as I truly believe it should be the best of both cultures that we offer, Forsyth said.

A car accident in 1992 led Forsyth to tai chi. She first tried yoga, but found it too painful. Her yoga teacher recommended tai chi.

Tai chi brought me a lot of physical healing, but it was the meditation aspect that changed my life in so many ways, Forsyth said.

Bending Tree, at several sites in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, offers tai chi classes geared to health and wellness, arthritis sufferers, senior citizens and those overweight.

Full name: Judith Ann Forsyth

Hometown: Pinedale, Wyo.

What neighborhood do you live in?

Chesapeake Beach

Age: 51 this month

Nickname: Jude, as in Hey Jude by the Beatles

Occupation: Owner of Bending Tree Tai Chi Kung, tai chi teacher, wellness counselor and aspiring exercise physiologist

Marital status: Married 30 years to military sweetheart, Ed McMullen

Children: Angela, 28, Tony, 25, and Doug, 16

What is your idea of a perfect day off? Tai chi, meditation, a bike ride, a good book and a blanket all in a park with cheese and fruit; later on my husband surprises me with tickets to something unusual.

If you could invite three famous people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Hillary Clinton or The Martha. Wow! Nerves of steal! Emeril maybe he would cook. Oprah and Dr. Phil; I have a few ideas for the show.

Favorite movies: Roadhouse. Love that tai chi scene, and lets face it, Patrick Swayze was so handsome! Any movie with John Wayne and Maureen OHara.

Favorite hangout: The Tao Den. Virtexco owner Bob Wells allows our tai chi group to use the basement of his business to teach and enjoy tai chi. I hang out there with other tai chi junkies.

Favorite gadget: My new Blackberry handsize phone/computer. It is as unknown as a black hole. Our teenage boy has to program it for me.

What do you drive? A 1973 Cougar Convertible that I am restoring. When I drive it, I feel like a teenager again.

Best present you ever received: My friends got together and bought me a mountain bike for my birthday one year, and an all-wood bow for my 50th birthday.

Best practical joke you ever played: At the end of our Canadian visit to my childhood home, I pushed my full luggage cart back to where my husband was exchanging money and told him we couldnt get back in to the States because he didnt have our birth certificates. You should have seen his face!

Pet peeve: Road rage. Just breathe and smile; dont waste your chi (energy) on something so negative.

Hobbies: Gardening, scrapbooking, biking, trying to figure out our teenager

If I won $10 million, I would: Share the wealth with my family, work on the domestic violence and homeless issues, open a tai chi center that had free classes for seniors who couldnt afford to get well.

How did you meet your spouse? We were in technical school in Biloxi, Miss., together in the Air Force during the Vietnam era. I met him three times and didnt remember his name. At a baseball game, he took off his shirt when getting ready to play third base. I said, Whos that! We were married two months later! And they say military romances dont work.

One thing people dont know about you: For being such a strong person, I get my feelings hurt easily.

Somewhere youve never been, but would like to visit: China. Oh to practice Qigong with the ancient teachers; that would be something.

Guilty pleasure: An AMC movie in the middle of the day with all my pets on the bed with me.

Favorite restaurant: I will try any new Asian food restaurant, looking for unique vegetarian dishes.

Favorite night on the town: Rather have my whole loud Scotch/ Irish family at my house for movies, comfort food, rough housing, practical jokes and memory lane

What song describes your life? Hey Jude, by the Beatles (remember to let them into your heart, then you can start to make it better).

Favorite sport or sports team and why: I love Zen archery. It is an ancient practice; you dont actually have to let go of the arrow but it is fun to do so anyway.

Dream vacation: A month at Plum Village Monastery in France with Thich Nhat Hanh

Pets: Co Co Bean, a brown lab; Cleo, black cat; Smudge, gray cat

Worst job: Motel maid when I was 17

Who is your hero? My hero is Master Jim Scott Behrends (tai chi master). A hero should be someone who you can actually follow in their ways. He not only has spent a lifetime sharing his tai chi knowledge (12 classes a week), but lives the quiet, meditative life despite the fact he has a wife and three very active childr en .

Source: Virginian - Pilot

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