BALANCE: Award-winning tai chi instructor Stacy Shramana leads his class towards wellness at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts in Pakuranga. Times photo Jackie Russell.

Instructor Stacy Shramana has helped adults learn the moves and improve their health for more than 23 years.

His contribution to the community was acknowledged during Adult Learner Week when Mr Shramana was presented with an Innovative Provider Award from Te Kupenga o Manukau, a co-operative of community education facilities in Manukau.

It’s the first time Mr Shramana has won an award and he was surprised just to be nominated.

Winning it has made him reflect on his vocation, spending much of his life teaching tai chi.

He started practising the routines 25 years ago when he was told he needed surgery relieve his back problem. “I was told I needed a spinal fusion,” says Mr Shramana.

“I came back to New Zealand from Asia and here they [doctors] were hesitant. They told me to try everything else first.”

He increased his commitment to tai chi and the movements eased away his tension and pain. He has not needed the surgery.

Two years after learning sequences, Mr Shramana started passing his knowledge on to other people. His first class was in the original Fencible Lounge in Howick. He biked around the area putting up posters and was contacted by Edgewater College Community Education and he started two classes in the same week.

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Originally 36 people attended the classes, with one-third being Chinese Malaysian. Now he teaches people from diverse backgrounds at 15 locations.

“You get a tremendous sense of satisfaction that you’re doing something worthwhile.

“You meet a huge range of people. I wasn’t particularly good at school but I now teach professors from Auckland University. There are even doctors in the classes.”

Some students have attended his sessions for 23 years and many help him with the classes.

Mr Shramana works with elderly people living in retirement homes, such as Pakuranga Park Village, and with regular attendance their problems with arthritis, rheumatism or poor breathing can improve.

“We need to be more confident that we can do a lot for ourselves rather than visiting a doctor.”

His classes for people with special needs are rewarding.

The participants may be quiet but soon open up and become more aware of others around them.

They learn to isolate parts of their bodies and move in a specific way with other people. Although they may have physical or intellectual disabilities, they can learn complicated sequences that challenge ordinary people.

Mr Shramana fear budget cuts to community education, which has helped to fund some of his classes, will have far-reaching effects on the health and well-being of New Zealand society.

Tai chi colleague Tamara Bennett nominated Mr Shramana for theaward. She says he openly shares his knowledge and has taught other tai chi instructors so more people gain the benefits of the martial art.

Mr Shramana continues to develop his own skills and offers extensive and diverse classes to accommodate his students.