Mynor Diaz (center) guides an all-level class through a set of tai chi postures at Marsh Chapel. Behind him Nik Conwell, BU Information Services & Technology assistant director (left), and Aixin Yi (GRS’28,’28)t follow his instruction.

Wellness

Marsh Chapel’s Tai Chi Classes Draw Students, Staff, Faculty from across Campus

Hour-long advanced and all-level classes a hit since launching more than five years ago

Once a week for the past five years, Darryl Rambo achieves a Zen state during his lunch hour. Each Monday, the now-retired BU Information Services & Technology client technology analyst joins University staff, faculty, and students in Marsh Chapel’s basement recreation room for a tai chi class. While it’s a novel practice to some, this is not Rambo’s first brush with martial arts—the 73-year-old first took up taekwondo more than 20 years ago. 

“I can teach martial arts, but I can’t really do much martial arts—my body’s too beat up,” Rambo says. “But tai chi is what I would consider a gentle form; [it] keeps you flexible and moving.”

The Marsh Chapel classes are offered free of charge twice a week to BU community members: all-level classes are offered on Wednesdays, advanced classes on Mondays. They draw mostly faculty and staff, with students dropping in when their schedules allow. The room is small, but can easily fit as many as 10 attendees, with others participating via Zoom. 

Facing a camera and with a Bluetooth microphone in his ear, instructor Mynor Diaz leads the online and in-person groups through each tai chi pose, or posture, as his students mirror him. Each posture—with names that vary from “Step Up and Raise Hand” to “Grasp the Sparrow’s Tail”—is designed to transition seamlessly from one to the next, creating an uninterrupted, meditative flow of movement.

The classes have developed a loyal following over the past five-plus years, and veteran attendees have one man to thank: Eric Kolaczyk, a former College of Arts & Sciences professor of mathematics and statistics and director of BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering. Kolaczyk was introduced to the practice after studying another martial art—aikido—for 13 years. 

“Tai chi was appealing to me because, as a martial art, it shared many principles with aikido,” he says, “but also because, as a health practice, it was something I could plan to do for the rest of my life—something I was beginning to see that I wasn’t going to be able to do with aikido.”

Kolaczyk had been teaching tai chi at Calvin Chin’s Martial Arts Academy in Newton, Mass., when BU coworkers convinced him to bring his classes to campus; recommended by a department colleague, he found a home at Marsh Chapel. The match proved ideal, and Tai Chi at Marsh Chapel launched in 2018. 

Tai chi has been shown to improve muscle strength, flexibility, and balance, and strengthen the cardiovascular system. Forged in principles of Chinese philosophy, its earliest form is believed to have been invented by a 12th-century Taoist monk. Today, it’s practiced as a martial art and as a means of balancing one’s “chi,” or life force. 

“We offer tai chi because we believe that spirituality should be embodied,” says Jessica Chicka, a university chaplain who worked with Kolaczyk to incorporate the classes into Marsh’s programming. “We hope to create spaces where students, faculty, and staff have opportunities to take a moment out of their day to be better in tune with themselves—and in some cases, with something bigger than themselves. Mindfulness activities like tai chi offer that moment of pause.”

Rambo joined the classes when one member of his meditation group began missing sessions to attend the tai chi class, which were held at the same time. Rambo was curious, and eventually sought out the classes himself.

“I went to the first class, and Eric was one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen,” he recalls. ”As he’s talking, he takes his foot and [brings it over his head.] I’m like, holy crap, this guy’s unbelievable.” Rambo acknowledges that not everyone can be as flexible as that, but “the idea is to improve whatever flexibility you have.” 

In 2022, Kolaczyk left BU for a faculty position at McGill University. Instead of disbanding tai chi, he tapped Diaz, who works at the Calvin Chin academy. Now an official BU employee, Diaz has been coming to campus twice a week ever since.

“Mynor is highly approachable, deeply knowledgeable, has excellent pedagogical skills, and beyond all that, quite frankly has beautiful tai chi movement,” Kolaczyk says. “I couldn’t have left Tai Chi at Marsh Chapel in better hands.”

Diaz studied kung fu for several years (he still teaches the martial art), before tai chi. For him, connecting with Grandmaster Calvin Chin was a formative experience—maybe even life-changing. 

“I have an undergrad degree in economics and an MBA and I worked for 12 years for developers and property management. Every day after work, I’d go home, change my clothes, and then I would run to the academy to help [Chin] throughout the night,” Diaz says. “In 2017, I decided to leave my career…this is my career now.”

BU is but one stop on Diaz’s weekly roster; his days are spent traveling around the state teaching tai chi and kung fu at community centers, schools, and assisted living facilities, as well as instructing at his Chin Academy home base. He teaches Chin’s proprietary form, the Tai Chi Paradigm, adapted from the Wu style of tai chi developed in the late 19th century.

“The traditional style is 108 postures, and it takes about 20 to 25 minutes to complete, depending on how slow you do it,” Diaz says. “The Tai Chi Paradigm is short [at 37 postures], and it takes about five minutes.”

For a veteran like Rambo, it’s easy to connect the physical and spiritual aspects of tai chi. The movement from one posture to another, the way the body balances itself, creates a meditative state where he can feel the chi flowing.

“In [Diaz’s] classes, they don’t teach all the energy work that you’re doing, but you’re doing it,” he says. “You can actually feel the energy in your hands.”

As for newcomers, Diaz says, the physical and spiritual benefits build with time. “Once you know the movement—meaning, physically, your body gets to know it—then it becomes meditative,” he says. “It’s a journey; you go through different layers of learning.”

Tai Chi at Marsh Chapel is held from noon to 1 pm in the Marsh Chapel basement recreation room. Monday classes are for advanced students; Wednesdays are all levels. Participants must complete a waiver before joining in person and/or on Zoom. Visit Marsh Chapel’s website to learn more.