KF Newsletter 2015-1

Dear members,

It is near the end of February and most of us are still enjoying the hot weather. It has been excellent for stretching and improving flexibility.

We have had a very productive start to the year with two successful nationwide GrabOne campaigns organised by Mr Tim Smith.

We also have launched a new look website and mailing list after much effort from Mr Wai Hoe Chan and Lee Davies. We have to thank Mr Neil Dwight for the original website, the improvements by Mr Dave Lane and decades of maintenance by Mr Dave Clarke.

HQ has been brightened up by photos of our black belts, photos and magazine covers of my illustrious friends in martial arts. Those who have yet to submit their photos please do so.

There have been a few changes in our branches. Mr Garry Harding has decided to stop teaching after many years of loyal service. We are very grateful for his contribution to Chans Martial Arts.

Mr David McQueen who has been teaching at HQ is now the Chief Instructor at Rangiora. Bill Gregory Laoshi has also moved the Pegasus Tai Chi class to Rangiora.

Mr Andy Lane’s University of Canterbury branch has relocated to a bigger hall at Christchurch Boys High School where it will be closer to the university student base.

Mr Bevan Wilkinson’s Papanui branch has moved to the more convenient Apostolic Church on Wairaki Road and (Master) Bruce Lord Laoshi has accepted the role of the chief instructor for the Tai Chi classes at Papanui.

Mr Barry Thompson’s Lincoln branch is training for a term at the high school hall as their primary school hall is being renovated.

This should turn out to be a very good year for Chans Martial Arts as all branches have either better locations or revamped management. We will also have more technical support for the instructors starting with the resumption of monthly programmes and regional co-operation.

Following on the advice about training in the last newsletter, we should focus on how partner drills should be practiced. These drills rely on co-operation to enhance the specific skills for all the parties involved.

It is easy to misunderstand this and assume that you are supposed to ‘win’ each encounter. Just taking an easy ‘victory’ does little to enhance your technique. You should actually try to handicap yourself if you are superior to your partner, so that you can challenge yourself to improve.

Each of our drills are systematically designed to train specific skills for the participants. It is therefore very important to understand and follow the rules for each of the drills clearly, so that you and your training partner can learn and take the specific skills in fighting to a higher level.
This way of training is more comprehensive than just competing and hoping to learn the full range of combat skills by trial and error.

Many martial artists who have trained mostly by fighting for years are usually still very limited in their range of skills and expertise.

As we have mentioned many times before, the other problems with fighting are the repeated bone, soft-tissue and brain injuries. The weaker or less skilled student will also suffer traumatic stress and negative reinforcement in every encounter where they lose.

Therefore, we need to use the drills as they are intended to develop those vital fighting skills, safely and enjoyably.

May Chi be with you,

SC Chan
Grandmaster
Chans Martial Arts

_________________________

Coming Events

* Canterbury & West Coast - 

  Combined training and Barbeque

     7th Mar Sat: 1- 4:30 pm

* SOTC Auck. Student Camp

    21st & 22nd Mar Sat & Sun

* Canterbury - KF Grading

    11th Apr Sat

* Canterbury - TCC Ex. Grading    

    21st Apr Tue: 7:00pm

* Wellington & All Regions

    KF & TC Gradings/Seminars

    2nd & 3rd May Sat & Sun 

* Invercargill - Gradings/Seminars

    8th & 9th May Sat & Sun

* SOTC 20th Year Dinner

    Madam Kwong’s Restaurant

    15th May Friday 7pm

* SOTC Chch Grad & Seminars

    16th & 17th May Sat & Sun

* Annual KF & TC Seminars

    30th May Sat

* Annual Tournament 

    31st May Sun

* HQ - Prof. Wally Jay’s  

   Memorial Hawaiian Party

    6th Jun Sat: 6pm 

* HQ - Ladies Self Defence   

    13th Jun Sat: 2-5pm

* Canterbury – Adv. KF Grading

    27th Jun Sat

* Canterbury - Kids Day Out 

    4th July Sat 

* Sydney SOTC Seminar

    11th July Sat

* Sydney KF Seminar

    12th July Sun

KF Newsletter 2014-4

Dear members,

The annual instructors meeting reported that most branches are holding mostly the same numbers while there is good growth at HQ and a couple of others. Even though we have to wind up in Melbourne, Opotiki, Henderson and Picton, we have started up Invercargill Central, Newmarket, Ponsonby and Newcastle (UK). We discussed what we need to do to make the new classes successful. Those who were present reaffirmed their commitment to Chans Martial Arts while some who sent in their apologies for the meeting sent in their reaffirmation earlier. Master Simons raised the topic of the 40th anniversary and proposed a black tie dinner and publishing a book to document our 40 years history. We would like all Black Belts to write an essay for the 40th year-book. Those who have vintage or recent photos should also submit it to Master Simons.

The Annual Black Belt Grading went very well. The candidates which was comprised of a wide range of ages were on the whole well prepared and performed with good spirit and skills. We are happy to promote the following to 1st degree:

Amanda Ellis - Parklands
Anthony Pyers - Nelson
Chris Ludi - Lumsden
Xuan Au - Lower Hutt
Morgan Fitzgerald - Parklands
Alan Speck - Blenheim
Theuns Verwoerd - U of Cant.
Hayden Woods - Sydney
Shane Chalmers - Sydney

and the following to 2nd Degree:

John Titter - Lumsden
David McQueen - HQ
Aaron Lavack - Kelburn
Yan Zeng - Newmarket

The Annual Dinner at Madam Kwong’s Restaurant was very enjoyable in both quality and quantity. We also enjoyed the awards back at HQ which included Master Marcus Simons being awarded the coveted Penelope Lake Trophy. It was great for the newer students to get to know the various seniors from far and wide and for everyone else to catch up with old comrades.

It was one of the best functions we have had for some time. It may be that we have finally settled into our new HQ and have put most of our problematic issues behind us. Another reason may be that most black belts are appreciating our technical direction and are making good progress. Many have said they cannot wait for the special 40th anniversary celebrations next year.

The 40th anniversary camp will be in Queenstown the 28th, 29th & 30th August 2015. Please book your accommodation as soon as possible if you have not done so already. All the relevant information is available on our website.

Speaking of which, we are about to revamp our website. It should be a lot more attractive for visitors and will eventually have an online shop which has discounts for registered members. Those who wish to contribute can write a couple of sentences about your training experience that we may use.

Most branches had their end of year event. HQ had our usual barbecue which had about 70 attending. There was plenty of food and everyone had a good time.

We look forward to 2015 with anticipation for a productive year of training. We now have good keen students throughout the whole range of ranks. If they continue to train consistently we should have a good number of well trained black belts achieving that level in the next few years. We also expect the current black belts to make good progress in ‘in-fighting skills’ after working hard to achieve a high standard in the ‘long range skills.’

Our formula for success is: learning the technique/drill, understanding the concepts involved and then practising regularly till the technique becomes a conditioned reflex.

There are many common problems with training. They may be easily fixed or in some cases take considerable time and effort. Some of them are: 1) not perceiving the technique or drill correctly - ask the instructor if you are not sure 2) trying to correct more than one point at a time 3) forcing kicks higher when flexibility is limited - regular stretching is prescribed and not to force techniques.

Acquiring a technique or skill can be divided into four stages: 1) learning 2) checking 3) training 4) application. You must know which stage of the process you are in. Common mistakes are jumping into stages 3) or 4) when techniques are not learnt correctly or not having left stages 1) or 2) when you think you are in 3) or 4). You must repeat the sequence when you are refining the technique though the process becomes a lot quicker.

Meditate on the balance of ego versus self esteem, be patient with your stretching and practice the patterns and speciality techniques.

Have a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year.

May Chi be with you,
SC Chan
Grandmaster
Chans Martial Arts