CMA 18- 04 14th Sept 2018
Sydney Camp
Sydney Camp was a resounding success with the biggest number of participants ever. A big contingent from Wellington and Christchurch with a few new comers who vowed to attend every year from now on. Mr Craig Moylan who actually started the Sydney branch many years ago made a big trip from Tamworth to attend. Mr Anton Stevens also flew in from Melbourne.
We talked about mental preparation, sustained focus, feeling for stability, minimal effort and training daily. We practiced Small Circle movements and footwork in Chin Na using fulcrum and not strength. The Black Belts worked on their advanced forms, ‘nei gong’, listening, following, attacking and neutralising hands.
Michael ShiYe’s seminar was on the same material taught in Auckland in May. It covered the importance of and how to train with regards to the spine, the ‘Du’ meridian and to release ‘Jing’ in Tai Chi Chuan.
As usual, we hit the ground running with usual gastronomical odyssey in Sydney starting with the German Beers and Pork Knuckles. We ate various delicious ethnic foods the whole weekend. It is all part of the Sydney Camp experience.
Annual Camp
Our annual camp was attended by 126 instructors and students. We had people from Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, West Coast, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Invercargill, Lumsden, Te Anau and Dunedin of course. Master Simons and his team organised everything very well. We had two huge excellent gyms to train in with refreshments, snacks and lunch to sustain us through the weekend. All contingencies were catered for and everyone only needed to focus on their training.
We did better than ever at this camp to provide the best training for all ranks. Besides the great organisational skills of Master Simons and his team to provide the excellent training facility and environment we had several other teams that contributed to its success. Mr Rob Wilson, Mr George Pope and Mr David McQueen executed a well-planned programme to push and assess their charges throughout the weekend. The team of Master Lord, Master Simons, Mr Wai Hoe Chan, Mr Andy Lane, Ms Alicia Harrison, Ms Amanda Ellis & Mr Nick Weaver helped to look after the various ranks in a few segments very efficiently.
We were also lucky to have Dr Tze Ying Chan and Ms Suyi Chan look after and give advice to a few with minor injuries. We even had an expert mechanic, Gareth O’Connell help to fix a broken down car. The teamwork in organising the very nice dinner, transport, accommodation and bringing our equipment are more examples of the team work that made this camp a great success.
At this camp we made some changes to our syllabus to make it easier for the students to focus on the specialty techniques for their level. We also rationalised all our drills and added a few new ones so that it is more efficient in training the appropriate skills.
Besides introducing these new items we also assessed the first grades and first degrees to see how they are doing. The reports were forwarded to the appropriate senior instructors to help with remedial training or invitation to upgrade if they satisfy the other requirements.
The feedback we got afterwards was that camp was very enjoyable and that they have a better idea on how to train more effectively. As with our techniques, how we run camp should continue to improve each year. It was really great to see the enthusiasm and comradeship at camp. I repeat what was in the last newsletter: “It is vital that everyone is happy, positive and respectful of one another to produce good results. Otherwise, even with the best facilities and technical information, training will not produce or sustain anything of substance.”
We should see great participation and enjoyment in Nelson Camp next year.
Greymouth & Spreydon
Mr Colin Helem 3rd Degree has stepped down as Chief Instructor of the Greymouth Branch after twelve years. Mr Helem has trained up several good Black Belts in that time and hosted a couple of great annual camps. Mr Rex Scott 3rd Degree is the very experienced new Chief Instructor assisted by a couple of senior students in classes and administration.
Mr Daniel Cox 2nd Degree is also stepping down in Spreydon because of pressing career demands after a very successful few years at Spreydon. He has produced Black Belts and has consistently fielded many good students at gradings. We have Mr Chris MacKenzie 2nd Degree taking over as Chief Instructor in October. Mr MacKenzie actually started at Spreydon under Mr Barry Thompson 4th Degree and followed him to Lincoln before moving to assist Mr Cody Hopkins at Hornby.
We are very grateful to Mr Helem and Mr Cox for all their hard work and care for the students over the years. We believe they will continue training and participate in events whenever possible. We believe Greymouth Branch will continue to progress with Mr Scott’s enthusiasm and Master Lord’s guidance. Spreydon should also continue to grow with Mr MacKenzie’s expertise and the support he can draw from.
Black Belt Grading
The Council of Masters have considered the eligibility, participation, attitude and aptitude of the candidates recommended by the chief instructors before finalising the invitations. The candidates will be expected to perform to the established standards or more.
3rd Degree:
Mr Dave Lane - HQ
2nd Degree:
Mr Nic Weaver - Lincoln
Mr Scott Martin - HQ
Dr Tze Ying Chan - Kelburn
Mr Ben Nimmo - Kelburn
Ms Richelle Curugan - Lower Hutt
Mr Mike Spekreijse - Lower Hutt
Mr Matthew Nauschutz - Lower Hutt
Mr Morgan Fitzgerald - Parklands
1st Degree:
Jeremy Elrick - HQ
Ryan Bucknell - HQ
Manu Francois - HQ
Gareth O’Connell - HQ
Clay Davies - Lincoln
Clive Horn - Lincoln
Tommy Ley - Lincoln
Paul Hooper - Lincoln
Alan Falloon - Kelburn
Brian Aitken - Spreydon
Jack Fensom - Parklands
Cora McCauley - Lower Hutt
Karen Phillips - Lower Hutt
Manuel Mendoza II - Lower Hutt
Tyler Van Niekerk - Lower Hutt
Ruth Peszynski - Dunedin
The very best wishes to all the candidates for their preparation and grading.
Our Black Belt grading is on the 24th of November. It is one of most important events of our calendar because this is when we test those invited to grade to Black Belt and higher. It is also the biggest reunion for everyone in Chans Martial Arts every year. As usual, we will have our Annual Dinner and Awards afterwards. Please buy your dinner tickets as early as possible as they are limited.
All red sashes and above are expected to participate and gain experience of the grading. Those of below red sash are also urged to attend the event to learn and be inspired from it.
Prof Leon Jay’s seminar
I have been in touch with Prof. Leon Jay and is happy to say that he will be coming over again next year. The last time our students trained with him was in Sacramento California in 2012. We plan to have him in: Auckland 3rd March, Wellington 6th March, Invercargill 9th March & Christchurch 10th March. Please make sure you can attend this seminar as Prof. Jay is unlikely to be back here for at least five years.
I hope everyone will enjoy training daily and reap all the benefits from it.
May Chi be with you,
Grandmaster SC Chan
Events
22nd Sept: Christchurch SOTC Seminar
13th Sept: Canterbury & Regional KF Grading
27th Sept: Wellington KF Grading & Seminar
28th Sept: Wellington TC Grading & Seminar
6th Oct: 10am - 12noon (Free) Combined training with W. Coast at HQ
2nd - 4th Nov: Auckland SOTC Instructor Camp 10th Nov: Dunedin KF Grading & Seminar
11th Nov: Dunedin TC Grading & Seminar
23rd Nov: Annual BB Meeting
24th Nov: Annual BB Grading & Awards
4th Dec: Canterbury TC Ex Grading
8th Dec: Canterbury KF Grading
21st Dec: Last Day Training
3rd Jan: First Day Training