Sun, Sep 30, 2001

They came, they saw and they hoped they spread their message.

About 10 practitioners of the non-violent exercise form Falun Gong stopped in Brighton Saturday afternoon to demonstrate their style of relaxation and protest. It was mid-way through the fourth day of their week-long "SOS! Global RescueWalk in Michigan," a walk which is taking people from Detroit west to Muskegon.

"We heard a lot of horn-honking and hand-waving," said Evan Mantyk, a University of Michigan student and Falun Gong practitioner. "There was more today than there has been."

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a form of meditation and exercise spreading throughout the world. It is especially popular in China, where Falun Gong practitioners are arrested and tortured.

The practice involves graceful arm and body movements, often in conjunction with music, like the Chinese songs being played in the back of the Mill Pond gazebo Saturday. Each person keeps their eyes closed, but moves through a specific cycle of poses. It is similar to an aerobics class, but less jarring and with more concentration on meditation and relaxation.

It is not a religion, martial art or direct form of protest. Walker Lisa Southwick said she learned of Falun Gong about a year ago, and for herself sees mainly health benefits.

"It's a practice of body, mind and spirit," Southwick said. "I work at one of the auto companies, where they're doing downsizing. I'm not as stressed today as I was a year ago. My health has improved. There's an inner peacefulness."

The walkers have moved westward each day. Saturday began in Whitmore Lake and ended in Howell. Sunday, the walkers will travel along Grand River Avenue through Fowlerville and then outside Livingston County to Williamston and Lansing.

Mantyk said the walk is intended to attract more of the western world's attention to Falun Gong. He said a few people have asked about what the group was doing, and flyers on the practice and the abuses in China were available. Though the downtown Harvest Fest was taking place on just the other side of the Mill Pond in Brighton, a handful of people stopped to watch the Falun Gong practitioners.

"I guess it was the yellow shirts and the music" that caught his attention, said Stu Robbins of Brighton, who was watching the Falun Gong group. His friend Emmitt Harness said he was curious about the practice, because it "looks relaxing."

Mantyk said attention on Falun Gong is especially good in places like Ann Arbor and Lansing, but he is looking to gradually increase awareness everywhere.

"There's progress, but it's slow," he said. "We're laying the groundwork for the future. It's not huge -- it's like pushing a wall."

Organizer Valerie Avore said others interested in walking with the Falun Gong group are invited to join them. For more information, call her at (248) 390-6682.

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