Newsletter 2024-1

Chans Martial Arts News

CMA 24-01 8th June 2024 

Tai Chi Auckland Camp & Christchurch Seminar

At the Auckland Camp in March, Tai Shi introduced the idea of the cultivation of ’spiritual Qi, ‘true Qi’ or ‘righteous Qi’ & ‘electric Qi’ and circulating them throughout the body. He touched on refining ‘essence’ into Qi and transforming Qi into ‘spirit’.

There was a record number of students grading their forms in the Christchurch May seminar. Tai Shi was pleased to see most students have made good progress. He elaborated on the ideas of ‘Sinking Qi to the Dantian’ & ‘Guarding Qi in the Dantian’ and their importance. ShiYe Michael broke the information down much further as well as led some practical training in Fixed Pushing Hands and Tai Chi Sword drills. It is great to see Tai Shi in great shape and tossing us around with more ease than ever.

Tournament Weekend Seminars

We reviewed what is Tai Chi Chuan and how to train it efficiently. It is about learning and practising the principles of Tai Chi Chuan, not just moves. We start with a calming and focusing mind; correcting our posture; drawing fine, long & natural breaths to harmonise with movements and using the fundamental geometrical guidelines. Every sequence is to start from the centre. The focus is to feel the differentiation of Yin/Yang in the body, flow in movements and ultimately Qi. 

We discussed how to train these qualities in the 6 & 5 exercises, the contrast of Yin/Yang in the 42 form and the subtleties in the 37 form. These principles were then used in practising one of the many Fixed Pushing Hands exercises. The Tai Chi Chuan Instructors continued with a few more Fixed Pushing Hands exercises before working on Free Pushing Hands.

The Shao Chi Chuan seminar began with a discussion of training on how to focus and calm the mind. We discussed the checklist of: 1) checking posture, 2) calming & focusing the mind, 3) harmonising natural breathing, 4) centre & balance and eye control. We also spent a lot of time on the side kick and spin side kick drills for relaxation, alignment, rhythm, speed and efficiency. The training for breaking techniques, angles, mental aspects and conditioning were discussed before we practised striking and kicking the bag.

The Black Belts worked on more bag & pad work, forms & weapons to refine their understanding of the various techniques. This was also to assess the level of the possible candidates for future upgrading.

Annual Tournament

This was the first time we had the tournament on the mats instead of bare concrete. It improved the enjoyment and safety of the competition. Mr Wai Hoe Chan directed the tournament very well and made frequent rotations of referees and judges to share the workload more efficiently. The officials and assistants were excellent and ran the schedule like clockwork. We had Richard Beddie and Emily Toase make barista coffee and Mr David Joker ran the sausage sizzle for the benefit of the Chans Social Club. The tournament event just keeps getting better every year.

We had a good number of entries despite a spike in Covid-19 and flu infections in the country. It was great to have competitors and instructors participating from Canterbury, Tasman, Wellington, Blenheim and Invercargill. It was a full house at HQ with family and friends of the competitors enjoying the event.

We are very proud of the competitors who conducted themselves with great spirit and discipline. It was great to see our young ones overcome their apprehension and fight bravely. We should see them progress through the years and rank into young. The youth, girls, women, men, veteran competitors and Black Belts competed very well. The competition will continue to get better when we have more entries in the future.

It was a good time to test our performance under pressure, conduct ourselves with discipline, and dignity and particularly keep our ego in check. If we have learnt from it, we will keep improving.

Tournament Results

Pattern Competition:

Children Under 10yrs:

Champion: Anahera Matthews - HQ

2nd: Rachel Tham - HQ

3rd: David Tiong - HQ

Children Intermediate:

Champion: Zlata Tartarchuk - Lincoln

2nd equal: Claire Elrick - HQ

2nd equal: Adithyan Abhilash - HQ

Adults:

Champion: Torrin Squires - HQ

2nd: Simon Schack - HQ

3rd: Ishaan Boon - Invercargill

Advanced:

Champion: Richard Beddie - HQ

2nd: Craig Jarvis - HQ

3rd: Darren Chan - University

Fighting:

Children <7yrs <45kg:

Champion: Anneka Heeren-Macbeth - HQ

2nd: David Tiong - HQ

Children <9yrs <30kg:

Champion: Khalid Alghobari - HQ         

2nd: Archie McPherson - Lincoln

Children <10yrs <33kg:

Champion: Jackson Rodgers - West Melton         

2nd: Oliver Mitchell - HQ

Children <12yrs <46kg:

Champion: Dan Tanner - Invercargill        

2nd: Sam Tarjomi - Lincoln

3rd: Claire Elrick - HQ

Plate: Alexandria Saul - Cashmere

Children <13yrs <51kg:

Champion: Aaron Lau - Cashmere        

2nd: Hafez Safa - Lincoln

3rd: Adithyan Abhilash - HQ

Youth <15yrs <65kg:

Champion: Travis Mackrell - Cashmere

2nd: Chase Clarke - Blenheim

3rd: Oliver Seifert - Lincoln

Youth <18yrs <67kg:

Champion: Reuben Wilson - Blenheim

2nd: Daniel Bell - Invercargill

3rd: Ishaan Boon - Invercargill

Girls <13yrs <55kg:

Champion: Kaitiana Speck - Blenheim

2nd: Tiffany Norriss - Lincoln

3rd: Zlata Tatarchuk - Lincoln

Girls <15yrs <53kg:

Champion: Anamika Speck - Blenheim

2nd: Natalie Tanner - Invercargill

3rd: Sofia Kyle - Cashmere 

Women <66kg:

Champion: Sophie-Lee Broome - Hornby 

2nd: Hannah Wylde - HQ

3rd: Paige Cuthbert - Lincoln

Women <94kg:

Champion: Katrina Koslover - Blenheim

2nd: Ruth Sutton - University of Canterbury

Men Lightweight <70kg:

Champion: Ollie Thompson - Parklands

2nd: Torrin Squires - HQ 

3rd: Jean Paolo Saul - Cashmere

Men Intermediate Heavy Weight:

Champion: Alex Kappeler - West Melton 

2nd: Ariel Rodgers - West Melton

3rd: Lance Trotter - Cashmere

Men Middle weight <91kg:

Champion: Mackenzie Aitken - Cashmere

2nd: Jonah Jarvis - HQ 

3rd: Lucas Faulkner - Lincoln

Men Veterans <92kg:

Champion: Nick McBride - Nelson

2nd: Jaco Pieterse - North Canterbury

3rd: Mike Smith - HQ

Men Black Belt Open: 

Champion: James Scott - Parklands

2nd: James Day - West Melton

Kirsty O’Connell 

We are saddened to share the news that our beloved Blackbelt sister Kirsty O'connell has passed after an extremely tough fight with cancer. Kirsty, Blackbelt-201 was an integral part of the Chans Martial Arts family. Originally Master Bruce Lord's student in the West Coast branch and transferred to HQ where she attained her 1st degree. She went on to teach our HQ children's class for many years.

Kung Fu was a big part of her life, she helped her husband Gareth become one of our blackbelts himself after her and even had her children train in the Lincoln Branch for some time.

Kirsty even started her own business after attaining her Blackbelt which she called "Blackbelt in Beauty" before starting her career in midwifery.

Taken far far too young, Kirsty leaves behind two beautiful girls and a hole in everyone's hearts.

RIP Kirsty.

A Celebration of Kirsty's life will be held on Wednesday 12th June at La Vida Centre, 34a Hansons Lane, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch at 1.00 p.m. Private cremation thereafter.

Please wear bright colours to celebrate Kirsty.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Kirsty would be appreciated and may be made directly to www.breastcancerfoundation.org.nz

Sydney Camp

Check the enrolment form for more enrolment details:

https://forms.gle/yfCzihw5FhsVNgERA

Sydney seminars 6th - 7th of July. It is always a very enjoyable event.

Annual Kung Fu Camp

Check the enrolment form for more enrolment details:

https://forms.gle/bF4SgWoY6yXSjbQx7

Queenstown Camp is on August 17th & 18th. As usual, we will review most items in the syllabus and introduce improvements and new ideas or drills.

There are many enrolments already and we are looking forward to this super event. Do not miss it.

The confirmed camp list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hEXyxnTs3uNPP3fDMhHErJFQrcLG1kpU0PRuEPUsR8Q/edit?usp=sharing

May Qi be with you,

Grandmaster Chan

Chans Martial Arts

Newsletter 2023-5

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