T'ai Chi is more that a series of graceful movements.

Derived from an ancient form of classical Chinese dancing, it has been called a sport, a skill, an art, even a science. On a purely physical level, it promotes good health, heightens energy and mental activity, increases grace and stamina.

Last of all, although it is surely the least martial of the martial arts, it can be used for self-defense.

"We don't want to hurt anyone," says Tom Huang, who teaches T'ai Chi in the area. "We love people and would like to help them. But if we are endangered, we can defend ourselves."

T'ai Chi can be practiced by young or old and is said to prolong life.

The master learned the first simple movements from old people, his neighbors when he was a child in Peking.

"This is how most children start to learn. The old people teach them." he says. Later, after his graduation from the University of Peking and while he was teaching high school in Taiwan, he studied T'ai Chi seriously.

Now he operates the China Treasure House on Coventry Road by day, but at night, after the colorful little shop is closed, he teaches classes in the graceful art.

Several times a week, earnest students pass through the beaded curtain into a large back room lined with Chinese wall hangings, pictures, and calendars. There, while the tea kettle hisses on the hot plate, they shed their American ways and practice the postures and steps that were two hundred years old when Columbus set sail from Spain.

The Huang family came here ten years ago and, like most immigrants, had some unhappy months at first. Fortunately, the father studied English for seven years in Peking.

"I could read but not pronounce," he recalls, smiling.

Now, with one child in junior high and another in college, and with a store to keep and classes to teach, things are looking up.

On nights when the master is not teaching in his own store, he takes his dragon well sword out of its box and sets out to teach the ancient art of T'ai Chi in schools and community centers in the Cleveland area.

Picture Title: Chinese-born Tom Huang teaches T'ai Chi, a graceful form of exercise and self-defense derived from ancient Chinese dance routines. Press photos by Tim Culek.

A group of Mentor senior citizens is swinging and swaying as gracefully as ballet dancers as they learn the ancient form of tai chi, touted to deliver health, a long life and relaxation.

"Positively, it adds 10 years to your life," said Tzeng Yu Huang, 68, who has been teaching tai chi as a hobby since 1948. He has students in their 80s and 90s.

Each Tuesday for the next six weeks, Huang, who goes by the Americanized name of "Tom" will explain to 40 students in two classes at the Mentor Senior Citizens Center how "energy flows through your body with the movements. You can sense the energy. It is relaxing. It makes you more sensitive."

"I love it," said Anita Gable, 66. "Everything in you is exercised. I've done yoga for 15 years, and that is stretching individual groupings of muscle. Tai chi is a flowing thing without excessive strain."

Gable, who last year visited Tibet, added: "You get into an Oriental mindset with tai chi. I see certain holistic values in it."

Arthur Heikkinen, 77, said the workout is "like you've been doing a lot of excercising. It's like slow martial arts."

Names describe the graceful movements of the 800-year-old tai chi, Huang said.

"People who have arthritis can twist their joints. Good for them," he said. "That twist is called 'Door Hinge, No Rust.'"

With graceful swooping of arms and legs, Huang teaches the Single Whip, Snake Squatting Down, Parting Wild Horse Mane, and Old Tree With Twisted Roots."

When not teaching, Huang, who came from China 21 years ago, runs the China Treasure House import shop in Cleveland Heights.

Picture Title: Tzeng Yu Huang, who teaches tai chi as a hobby, show the Mentor Senior Class the "Old Tree With Twisted Roots" movement. Photos by Pete Copeland.

For more than two decades, the China Treasure House has sat among an ever-changing collection of fern bars, restaurants and record stores along Coventry Rd. in Cleveland Heights.

At the China Treasure House, nothing much ever changes. The yin and yang symbol on the front window ensures passers-by of that.

Tom Huang, the first to introduce Greater Cleveland students to the art of wu-style tai chi, the 700-year-old Chinese art of "moving meditation," owns the shop. Here he teaches students the 118 waving and weaving movements that make up the ancient meditation.

The 75-year-old man, with a fist-size patch of gray amid the black hair behind his left ear, has taught more than 2,000 students since 1973.

"What this look like?" he asks as he waves his hands in front of him in descending motion from right to left.

"General leading his horse, you see?"

The students reflect his smile as they answer. Some are too intent on performing the motions to speak. They move so slowly and delicately that it seems as if there is no effort involved at all. But when they reach the end of "the form," they are drenched in sweat.

On the most basic level, tal chi is a form of exercise that relaxes and strengthens the body. Because it is so slow and gentle, it is the perfect exercise for senior citizens. It also increases the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body, which helps to reduce stress.

Huang leads his students through three forms a session, each form taking a half-hour. Practitioners say it takes several years of daily practice before students begin to understand the art, and perhaps eight to ten years before it "hits" them.

Alexis Kovacic, a Strongsville woman in her mid 30s, has taken lessons from Huang off and on for nine years.

"One day I was doing the form, as I have for all those years, and suddenly realized that I could do it easier by just following the energy, instead of forcing it," she says. "It is something hard to describe to someone who does not do tal chi."

But Huang understood, and he smiled at his pupil.

"Tom said that you do it over and over for 10 years and you know only this much," she says, bringing her thumb and forefinger almost together. "I know what he means."

Just about that much is known about Huang, who lives in Cleveland Heights. He is reluctant to talk about himself or his past, preferring to divert conversation to his students or the art of tai chi.

Huang will say that he left China for Taiwan in 1948 after graduating from Peking Teachers University, just a few months before the communist revolution. While in college, he was a journalist at the Tai Tao newspaper.

He taught Chinese literature and philosophy at Tai'pei High School in Taiwan.

"I have relatives in China still," Huang says. "They were very afraid when the communists were about to take over, but later they said it was no problem. In my mind, there is no difference between the China where I grew up and the China of today."

Still, Huang has not returned to China and offers no explanation why.

His interest in tai chi began at age 13 while he was in junior high. "I took a class in it," Huang says.

Then, while in Taiwan, Tom met a man named "Mr. Wei." "He was 64 when I started to learn from him," Huang says of his mentor. "I was with him for more than 10 years. He was a big influence in my life. He is gone now."

In 1958, Huang married Ehchu Hshung. They had two children, Charlie and Wendy, both born in Taiwan. A short time later, the couple began thinking about coming to the United States.

"Some Americans who worked at Case (Western Reserve University) came to Taiwan to learn the Chinese language," he recalls. "I talked to them a lot and they told me I should come to America and teach Chinese there."

Huang and his wife mulled over the invitation for more than a decade.

In 1969, the couple packed up their family and as many of their belongings as Huang could carry, and moved to the United States. The family came to Cleveland almost immediately and Huang began to look for work.

He found it in the stockroom of Higbee's downtown store. The work got him through a period of acclimation to the new country.

In 1973, at a friend's suggestion, he began teaching Chinese at Cleveland State University. That year he opened the China Treasure House and began his first tai chi class.

But few had heard of the ancient art.

"I had a few students who came to me to learn," he says. "Then I got a few more, maybe 12, and the classes grew."

Several thousand students have received training from Huang since then. He also teaches Chinese calligraphy. Samples of his inky work - drawn on pages of newspaper - are taped haphazardly to the walls of his shop.

In the 1980s, Huang taught Chinese and tai chi part time at Cuyahoga Community College Metropolitan Campus. He no longer teaches at the college, preferring to teach in his studio.

Huang and his wife are separated, and she lives in Erie, Pa. Their daughter, Wendy, is a physician. She graduated from Northern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown four years ago and also lives in Erie.

Huang's son, Charlie, died at age 27 of cancer, just three months shy of graduating with a medical degree from Ohio State University.

As for Huang, when he isn't teaching, he reads Chinese philosophy and literature or watches an occasional nature show on PBS.

"I live simply," he says. "I do not need very much.

As if to help explain his philosophy, he pulls a book of Chinese paintings off a shelf. He points to a photo of a bedraggled yet smiling man on a straw mat. "He has nothing," he says. "You see? But he knows peace. He is happy."

If Huang is too humble to speak of himself, his students are more than willing.

Huang teaches tai chi every day of the week, two classes a day, $12 per two-hour private lesson, as well as large public classes at community centers from Cleveland Heights to Lakeland Community College. The private classes at his studio are unstructured. Some days only one or two people will arrive for a lesson. Other days a dozen show up.

As the students master the form, their movements grow more graceful. Eventually, a skilled student will do the movements as one long dance. Tai chi enthusiasts say metaphysically it smooths the flow of energy, "the chi," through the body and integrates the mind and body.

To understand the concept, compare the chi to the electrical current that courses through the body. The current is invisible but vital to life, functioning in ways that defy understanding.

Practitioners of tai chi believe that the chi follows pathways throughout the body. Touch a certain point on the arm and the flow is interrupted. Touch another and the chi flows more freely.

What you call this?" asks Huang as he bends his body down and rises with his open palm leading the way, "needle from the sea bottom."

Then Huang stops abruptly. The tea that has been brewing on a hot plate on the floor is ready. The students, accustomed to Huang's practice of breaking for tea, relax their bodies. Each student has a cup hanging on the wall.

Both student and teacher sit amid the eclectic collection of junk and art at the China Treasure House. Expensive jewelry is for sale next to delicate slippers and trinkets. An exotic $80 Chinese print hangs next to a Bruce Lee T-shirt.

A Chinese knife more than 2,000 years old also is for sale, as are a gaudy pair of "Garfield the Cat" shoes.

It's hard to say if Huang is deliberately eclectic, or if his merchandise just appeals to the sense of balance he has honed over a lifetime. There are books of all kinds in the shop -- Chinese philosophy, "The Tao of Meditation," biographies and Chinese poetry. And there among the lofty tomes is a beat-up copy of a Frank Yerby adventure novel and some high school freshman's old algebra book.

A"lucky" ladybug pin sells for 71 cents.

Huang spends most of his days in this shop of contradictions, rarely closing, always re-arranging his goods or waiting for students.

His students seem to accept this.

When Huang begins the class again, they follow his lead through another slow-moving motion. Suddenly, Huang tells one of his larger students to strike him. Without hesitation, the student swings at Huang.

Seemingly without effort, Huang deflects the blow and grabs the arm of his attacker in one graceful motion. A simple flick or a kick would send the attacker - now off-balance - flying across the room.

Tai chi is considered the "softest" of the kung fu family of martial arts. The wu style that Huang teaches is even more defensive than its counterpart, the "yang" method.

"When you know tai chi, you can sense when there is trouble coming," Huang says. "You can cross the street and avoid it. But if trouble comes after you, this is how to defend yourself."

Picture Titles (top to bottom): 1. Master of Motion. For more than 20 years, Tom Huang has taught area students the ancient art of tai chi. 2. No Title. 3. Both art and junk can be found at Huang's store, where expensive jewelry is for sale next to slippers, trinkets and Bruce Lee t-shirts. 4. "I live simply," say Huang, waiting for students at his store. "I do not need very much." Photos by Chris Stephens.

The most precious jewel in the China Treasure House on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights is its shop owner, Tom Huang. A gentle, humble man, Huang introduced tai chi to Cleveland in 1971.

Tai chi is a form of wu shu, better known in America as kung fu. It is a slow movement, gentle martial art that promotes health, long life, relaxation and control... the control being defense and not hurting others. Huang quoted Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in saying that I am scared to go forward one inch. I would rather go back three inches. He said, "It is better to retreat than to fight. Tai chi is a defensive martial art and is not intended to hurt another person. Huang teaches the older wu style of tai chi.

Tom Huang was born in the He Bei Province in China, which is close to Peking. He learned tai chi while in elementary school as part of the school program. A graduate of Peking Teacher University, Huang moved to Taiwan in 1948, just a few weeks before the communist takeover. There he taught Chinese language, literature and philosophy. At one point he was even teaching at three different schools and attending graduate school.

When arthritis settled into his joints, he began practicing tai chi regularly. "Tai Chi is especially good for arthritis," he says. "It also helps to lower blood pressure, is good for digestion and gives you strong legs, which prevent falls."

While teaching in Taiwan, Huang met several students from Cleveland who were in Taiwan to learn the Chinese language. They encouraged him to come to Cleveland to teach Chinese. A few years later, Huang came to the United States and moved to Cleveland Heights where a friend of his lives who teaches at Case Western Reserve.

After arriving in Cleveland Heights, he began to teach the 700-year old art of tai chi in the back room of his shop on Coventry Road. His students are from diverse backgrounds and professions. They range in age from fourteen-years old to up into their nineties.

He teaches not only the 118 movements of tai chi but also the philosophy of tai chi. Tai chi uses the yin yang (positive/negative) philosophy to increase internal energy and help prevent illness. "You need both the movement and philosophy to benefit. The students who really understand the philosophy and benefits of tai chi stay with it and continue to practice."

Huang who is an example of good health and energy at 75-years old, practices his art three to ten times each day. He does not consider himself a master of tai chi. He explains that "When you reach the highest level you realize that there is always a higher level to achieve. It is like climbing a mountain. There is always a higher mountain."

He teaches eight classes a week of tai chi, in addition to teaching the Chinese language, a class in Chinese calligraphy and a class in the Lao Tzu philosophy. He also gives demonstrations to civic groups and schools. Huang has taught at Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College and adult education in several suburban schools. He enjoys teaching, especially tai chi, because the students learn and he learns something from each student.

Besides teaching and operating his China Treasure House, Huang enjoys writing sonnets and has written "The Song of Tai Chi Chuan." He is continuing his education by studying yanxin qigong with Dr. Yan Xin. Tom Huang emphasized that tai chi is a gentle, non-impact art that is excellent for everyone, even senior citizens because it rejuvenates a person. "Tell people that tai chi is good for everybody," he said. "It helps you achieve physical health, mental health, get energy and improve your life."

Picture: Tom Huang shows one of the 118 movements of Tai Chi, more commonly known as kung fu. Huang is a lifelong student of the philosophy.

Tzeng-yu "Tom" Huang was a gified teacher of tai chi, according to Douglas Wolf, who knew him for about 20 years as a student and friend.

But more importantly, Wolf said, he made people feel good.

"He was everything to everybody," Wolf said of Huang, who died Oct.23 after his car collided with a Cleveland Heights police cruiser.

"He would attend to everyone's needs in one class. He custom tailored his teaching of tai chi to meet every individual's needs."

Huang, 76, of Pembrook Road, was driving eastbound on Mayfield Road at about 10 p.m. that night. A city police cruiser was westbound on Mayfield, responding to a call of a robbery in progress.

As the cruiser, with siren and emergency lights activated, approached Yellowstone Road, Huang turned left into the path of the cruiser, striking its left front with the right front of his car.

Huang's car spun around and came to rest against a fire hydrant. He was taken to Huron Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m.

The police officer was taken to University Hospitals for an injured knee. He was treated and released.

Huang, a Taiwanese immigrant, had taught the 700-year-old Chinese techniques of wu-style tai chi, or "moving meditation," to students at his China Treasure House on Coventry Road since 1973.

"People (on Coventry) really felt horrible and saddened by the news that he had died," said Tom Fello, president of the Coventry Special Improvement District and owner of Tommy's restaurant on Coventry.

"He was a hard-working, honest small-business man who took care of his customers. He was very well respected by the other merchants on the street."

Fello took tai chi classes from Huang during the 1980s at Cleveland Heights High School as part of the city's adult education program.

"He was a good teacher who really took an interest in making you feel comfortable and welcome," Fello said. "When he walked into a room, he lit up the room.

Huang also taught tai chi at Lakeland Community College, Mentor Senior Center, Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College.

"He was a man of very few words, but he was a master of motion and internal energy," said Wolf of Lake County. "Nowhere can I go to find his equal."

Wolf, who has taught tai chi at other locations, said Huang was his mentor and father figure. He described him as a kind, gentle, humble man who never claimed to be a master.

"He said, 'There's always something to learn,' " Wolf said.

Wolf noted he was seriously injured in a 1996 motorcycle accident. He said he didn't think he would have survived had he not practiced tai chi with Huang for so many years.

"They call it the (China) Treasure House, but the real treasure was the man inside," Wolf said.

Wendy Freedman, Huang's daughter, said many people have expressed sympathy to the family - including some who have placed banners, flowers and leaves in front of the China Treasure House.

She explained her father loved the autumn color changes. He would collect leaves to arrange and display on the mirrors at the shop for his students to enjoy.

"He touched a lot of people's lives," she said. "He always looked at the positive side of things and was a ray of sunshine for a lot of people."

A native of Hebei, China, Huang moved from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan in 1948, shortly before the Communists took over the mainland.

He brought his family to the United States in 1969 and had lived in Cleveland Heights ever since.

While in college, Huang was a journalist for the Tai Tao newspaper in Taiwan. He later taught Chinese literature and philosophy on the high school level.

In addition to his daughter, Huang is survived by his wife, Helen, and a granddaughter. A son, Charles, died in 1991.

Services were held Monday at Maher-Melbourne Funeral Home in South Euclid. His remains were cremated Tuesday.

Freedman, of Charleston, S.C., said she plans to move back to Cleveland Heights. She is not sure whether the China Treasure House will continue to operate in her father's absence.

"He was a rock for Coventry for almost three decades," she said. "Others came and went, but my dad was always there."

In Loving Memory May 6, 1922 - October 23, 2002

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