Yongquan Tai Chi Chuan Association

Weekend Seminar in Onecote: 12th - 14th October 2001 - Click on the photos for larger versions and gallery.

At the last committee meeting it was decided that the Yongquan Tai Chi Chuan Association should organise a weekend seminar in October. A suitable venue had been suggested by Sifu Robertson, his old family homestead in the tiny village of Onecote near Leek, and the weekend was to be open to all YTCCA students. Since this was our first seminar in Onecote I was eager to see how it would unfold. In the end it turned out to be a very successfull event. Here's my account of the weekend.

Sifu Rand and I arrived in Onecote just as it was beginning to get dark. Sifu Rand had been to Sifu Robertson's family home once before about five years ago and he thought he knew what it looked like if not where it was exactly. What he'd reckoned without was that all stone farmhouses built in the same area tend to look very much alike. We saw two likely contenders as we approached, one of them two miles before we reached Onecote!

Driving into the village we got stuck behind a herd of cows being driven to another field along the road. We should have followed them, they were going to the field next door to the farm we were looking for. As it was we stopped at another farmhouse that looked similar and asked for directions. "Oh you want the big empty place, next left and it's a couple of hundred yards on your right" we were informed by a friendly local with a "you're not from around here are you?" look on his face.

We got there just as the last of the cows we'd been following turned into the field opposite. Once Sifu Rand saw it again he recognised it immediately - it really was very distinctive, three floors tall and stone built with matching out-buildings and a curving drive into the yard.

We grabbed some of the stuff we'd brought with us and let ourselves in through the kitchen door (the main entrance) to find Sifu Robertson putting away the vacuum cleaner. He'd been there all day airing the place out, lighting fires, getting the Aga going and putting the finishing touches to a major cleanup project that he and Sifu Kerr had started the weekend before. The whole place was warm and inviting and we stashed our things in one of the rooms before settling down with tea to discuss the coming weekend's activities.

People arrived throughout the evening; we were first, then Mat and Level 1 instructor Phil Edwards from Bath. Sifu Kerr arrived with five students and finally Sifu Newman with the most welcome addition of all - the weekend's food. Some people had questioned the wisdom of entrusting the acquisition and preparation of our meals to Sifu Newman, those people who know him well were concerned that he might consume more food than he prepared, but in the event he did a marvellous job.

The house can sleep around sixteen people (though some of these would have to be on camp beds) and there are enough proper beds for ten. After tea and introductions it was time for bed, as the next two days had a demanding schedule of activities.

Most people were up early on Saturday morning. No breakfast was planned (Sifu Rand is a stickler for not eating before the first training session of the day) but after some tea most people were refreshed enough to want to start training. A period from 8am till 9.30am was designated as personal training time and just about everyone took advantage of this period to warm up, practice their Chi Kung and get ready for the first session.

The local village hall was booked for Saturday's training and the first session for most people saw Sifu Kerr working methodically through all the basic warm-up exercises and adding a few new ones for the enthusiastic. He followed this by giving the same treatment to the Pa Tuan Chin before showing some supplementary exercises to compliment the original set and then teaching the internal practice of the Pa Tuan Chin, to add an extra dimension to the training.

While Sifu Kerr worked with most of the students, Sifu Rand began teaching the two man form (a Northern Shaolin pattern which helps teach proper fighting distance, timing and some Chin Na principles) to Phil and myself, aided from time to time by Sifu Robertson.

At 11am there was a short break for tea then Sifu Kerr videoed the group doing the Tai Chi form before the second session which took the group through to one o'clock and lunch. While Sifu Robertson continued to train Phil and myself in the combat form, Sifu Rand joined Sifu Kerr and they began taking the group through the Tai Chi form movement by movement, correcting mistakes and deepening understanding of the basic set. By the time Sifu Newman came to announce that lunch was ready the group had covered almost all the form. For most of the students this was the first time they'd seen Sifu Rand in action and you could tell from their faces that they found the level of his Tai Chi Chuan very inspiring to say the least!

Sifu Newman cooked up a splendid meal. Cheese and onion pasties, baked potatoes, a mixed green salad with a subtle and interesting dressing, rye bread and, of course, the ubiquitous baked beans (they've become something of a tradition for the first meal of the weekend).

After lunch there was a chance to chill out and relax, though some of the instructors made use of the time to deal with Association business. Then at 3pm it was time for the third session of the day.

This session was something of a marathon for most people, though Sifu Rand's own students have grown used to intensive sessions when on weekend training, and lasted from 3pm through to 7pm. The last few movements of the form were given the same treatment as the morning session and then it was straight into an explanation of the martial uses of the classical techniques of the form. Sifu Rand demonstrated every technique, aided by Sifu Kerr, Phil Edwards, Mat Green and myself giving a detailed explanation of the uses and applications of the techniques as he did so. To see the techniques of Tai Chi Chuan demonstrated so effortlessly was truly inspiring! After each demonstration students split into pairs to practice the points shown, with Sifu Rand and Sifu Kerr moving from pair to pair giving advice and correcting postures and movements until everyone had been able to perform the technique. Then it was on to the next and so on until there was no more time. The group managed to cover all the classical applications through to the movement 'Fan Through Back' before bad light and the caretaker stopped play.

Click any picture to visit the image gallery for more pictures of the event .

Dinner was at eight and Sifu Newman surpassed himself, with the aid of Matthew Calvert an experienced chef, and produced a splendid meal. Thai curry, roast aubergine, roast courgettes, rice, sweet and sour noodles, salad and mozzarella cheese followed a thick and tasty vegetable soup. Then came mixed fruit with Fromage Frais and roast mango in a ginger, honey and lemon sauce. Followed, for those who were not already too stuffed to move, by an assortment of cheeses and crackers. The meal took some time and was great fun, with everyone laughing and having a great time.

After dinner Sifu Kerr had arranged for some Kung Fu movies to be shown and during the rest of the evening and the next day we were treated to 'Fist of legend' with the extraordinary Jet Li, a remake of the Bruce Lee classic 'Fists of fury', and 'Iron Monkey' from the same director who made the stunning 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Needless to say no-one got to bed before midnight (something that one or two people might have regretted the next morning).

The schedule for Sunday was no less demanding with Sifu Rand taking the students first through the postures of the Choi Li Fut form and then through about half the techniques, in the same format as the day before; demonstration followed by lots of practice in pairs and sometimes groups, with Sifus Rand and Kerr giving advice and correcting technique. The session started at 9:30am and continued till 1:30pm without a tea break! At the end of the session Sifu Kerr again videoed the group practicing the Tai Chi form (and the Choi Li Fut for good measure) so that the video could be watched later on and the students could compare their performance before the weekend's training and after, I think most people were pleasantly surprised!

The final meal was every bit as good as the others, though not as grand as the night before and even had mince pies for desert. Sifu Newman claimed to have made them himself but he clearly had help from Mr. Kippling.

After lunch, and an hour's free time, the final session taxed the mind rather than the body, with Sifu Kerr, Sifu Rand and Sifu Newman teaching simple relocation of joints, first aid, and health related subjects until about 4pm, when there was an opportunity to ask questions before a group photo shoot at the front of the house. The weekend finishing at about 5pm with everyone tired but happy. (With more than a couple of people feeling a little stiff in some little used muscles for the next couple of days if I'm any judge of such things.)

All in all a very successful weekend and hopefully the first of many such events. A big thank you to everyone who took part and particularly those who worked hard to put the event on and make it a success. We're all looking forward to the next such weekend with some interest.