Chans Martial Arts News
CMA 23-04 2nd December 2023
70th Birthday barbecue at HQ
A few thoughtful people organised a fabulous birthday barbecue for me at HQ on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. There were special people from Auckland and the West Coast as well as students I had not seen for a long time. They set me up for a surprise pickup by Mr Nic Morrison in his very cool Lamborghini Aventador. I am very touched by how many of you cared so much. I apologise for not being able to talk to and thank everyone on the day.
Black Belt Grading
It was a wonderful weekend beginning with the annual Chans Martial Arts instructor's meetings on Friday evening. It was good to see that we have grown about 8% overall in membership despite the tough economic conditions.
The grading was a good one, and the weather was ideal. The candidates were well supported by family, friends, classmates and instructors from all over New Zealand and even from Sydney. HQ looked great with the new mats and photos added to the wall. Thanks to the grading officials, everything went very smoothly.
We had a very nice ten-course dinner at the South Garden Restaurant. We also celebrated Mrs Manle Chan’s birthday with a beautiful and tasty cake. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the improvements at HQ and helped with the awards function.
We are happy to announce that the following were promoted at the 2023 Annual Awards.
1st Degree:
Luke Rossiter HQ
Tom Rossiter North Canterbury
Jana McQueen North Shore, Auckland
Stephanie Hill North Shore, Auckland
Charlene Wells North Shore, Auckland
Renato Ribeiro North Shore, Auckland
Simon Kitchingman Dunedin
Rod Millynn HQ TC
Jacqui Stewart Papanui TC
Kevin Stewart HQ
2nd Degree:
Ms Corrin Vedder Nelson
Mr Rino Adair HQ
4th Degree:
Mr Rodney Lambert HQ
The candidates showed excellent spirit and proved that they had trained hard for the very demanding grading. Besides the test, there are always good lessons to be learnt from it for everyone. We should use those lessons to guide us to improve for the future.
Honorary 1st Degrees were awarded to Rod Millynn, Jacqui Stewart & Kevin Stewart and an honorary 2nd Degree to Mr Rino Adair for their considerable time and effort in helping Chans Martial Arts get HQ to its present form.
Penelope Lake Trophy
On behalf of the trustees, Mr Dave Clarke presented the prestigious Penelope Lake award to Ms Corrin Vedder, the Assistant Instructor for the Nelson branch, for her outstanding dedication to training, and support for Chans Martial Arts.
Alistair Kidd Instructor of the Year Award
We have many excellent instructors who have done wonderful work for many years. However, this award is for the special work done for this year.
The award for Instructor of the Year 2023 goes to Master Michael Kinney, someone who is the embodiment of our motto of “Loyalty and Honour.” He is greatly loved by his students, as well as, all and sundry at Chans Martial Arts. He is not only responsible for four good black belt candidates, but he has also trained several candidates to achieve Level 1 Sing Ong Tai Chi Instructor rank this year.
Three Aspects of Chinese Martial Arts
The Chinese Martial Arts began thousands of years ago and became highly developed in three aspects.
The first is of course the various stylised systems, techniques and training methods for both armed and unarmed combat. The original objective is to be effective in real combat.
The second is the embracing of the ancient Chinese philosophies. They teach harmony with nature, benevolence, humility and honour. They are the main influence for mental discipline and meditation training. These philosophies are often the ideology and essence of the strategies of the various systems.
The third is developing knowledge and skills concerning Traditional Chinese Medicine. The understanding TCM is used to: enhance health in training, treat training injuries, as well as apply pressure points techniques at the highest level of Chinese martial arts.
Today, these knowledge and skills are often practised in a very narrow spectrum. Many people focus solely on the physical acrobatic aspect of Kung Fu, often with little understanding of combat. On the other hand, some only practice the hard physical combative aspects for sports and others just for combat. Neither group pay attention to philosophy, good values, health aspects or the deeper levels of Chinese martial arts techniques. Quite a number suffer a host of debilitating injuries and ill health in their older years.
Qi Gong is a relatively modern development as it was derived from the Chinese martial arts just for improving health. The practitioners have no knowledge nor desire to understand the martial arts where it came from. Many Tai Chi groups fall into this category, as they have no interest in understanding the complete aspects of the art, besides it being a relaxing exercise. It is still a good thing if it is practised properly. However, there are dangerous hazards in Qi Gong if practised incorrectly.
In Chans Martial Arts, we aim to train Kung Fu & Tai Chi Chuan for effective self-defence as well as the full spectrum of its benefits. Our understanding of TCM and modern medicine resulted in a balanced, stress-free and natural method to enhance efficiency, as well as improve our health and preserve our joints. This knowledge enables us to develop internal power to deliver very effective pressure point techniques. Our instructors are trained in energy resuscitation which is a useful backup in first aid.
We also train to have to have a calm, confident and disciplined mind. We try hard to cultivate good values, and harmonious relationships with society and nature through training. The philosophy of universal balance has unassailable implications in martial arts techniques, strategies and life.
I hope you will now have a better appreciation of what Chans Martial Arts is about.
The last training for the year will be on Tuesday the 19th of December. We will resume normal classes on Thursday the 4th of January 2024.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
We would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Have a wonderful holiday and refresh yourself for a great 2024.
Do keep up with the stretching exercises and practice your forms so you can hit the ground running when classes resume next year. We will have the annual camp in Queenstown next year. We will give you more details when we get them.
Best wishes for your training and hope to see you at the regional seminars next year.
May Qi be with you,
Grandmaster SC Chan
Chans Martial Arts