Onecote Instructor weekend 9/10th March 2002
By Graham Barlow

It had been decided to hold an Instructor Training Weekend at Onecote for instructors, and students who were close to fulfilling the criteria for a level 1 instructor certificate. It was also going to be the weekend Phil Edwards (my regular training partner) and I took our level 2 instructor's exam and needless to say we were getting a little nervous. Sifu Rand had advised us beforehand (much in the spirit of Tai Chi Chuan I hasten to add) that we should just relax and try to enjoy it as a learning experience whether we passed or failed. Of course that was all ok in theory but I was more than a little apprehensive to say the least!

If you went to the last Onecote training weekend you'll be familiar with the Robertson family farm. It's a grand old house with lots of oddly shaped rooms (and doors) with enough space to sleep about 16 people. It's situated in the tiny (and by that I mean minuscule) village of Onecote in the Staffordshire moorlands, so there's lots of open countryside around. The old village schoolhouse serves as our training hall on these occasions since it's only a short walk from the house and has a mercifully soft wooden floor. Since Phil had been unable to bring our training mats (they'd somehow become locked in his other car - don't ask) it was a floor I was to become intimately aquatinted with.

I arrived on Friday night to find Sifu Rand sitting in front of a cosy fire in the front room. This proved to be the perfect opportunity for the first of many reviving cups of tea to be enjoyed that weekend, as we settled in and waited for everybody to arrive. There had been various tailbacks on the motorways but eventually the house filled up with students, instructors and Sifu who'd travelled from all over the country. It was great to see so many familiar faces again but most people were early to bed after their long drives since Sifu Rand had specified an early start with training due to begin at 8.00 am. After all, we had a lot to get through the next day!

The Saturday began with Sifu Rand taking the group though the basic warm up exercises that begin each class in quite some detail. The whole day was devoted to making sure that everybody who was thinking about becoming an instructor had a good grounding in class safety, the basic self defence techniques, how to teach the Tai Chi Chuan Short Form and an understanding of the warm up exercises and why they should be performed. As always there was a lot more to performing the exercises correctly than everybody had imagined. It was to be a day of many small epiphanies like this.

After each demonstration students were asked to try out each exercise or technique and Sifu Rand checked their form personally. He was also on hand throughout the day to answer any questions that students had, which meant he ended up demonstrating through most of the tea-breaks (as well as the class) while everybody else rested. Sifu Rand was assisted by Daniele and I for most of the demonstrations, but I admit I breathed a sigh of relief when he decided to demonstrate the 10 push-ups on the fore-knuckles that are necessary before the Leopard first can be used effectively, himself. The importance of breakfalls was also emphasised as an essential part of training for martial students, and so was first aid training for instructors.

After a splendid breakfast (I use the term loosely since it was now 2.00pm) cooked up by the newly appointed Head of Banqueting and Street Theatre, otherwise known as Matthew Calvert, Sifu Rand moved on to demonstrating single and double push hands. His technique was as flawless as ever and his ability to adjust his skill to suit the level of the person he was training with was truly masterful. In fact, it wasn't until the end of the day when I was sinking into the sofa watching the days events back from Daniele's video camera that it occurred to me that Sifu Rand had spent almost the entire day on his feet pushing hands and sparring with an entire roomful of students and instructors without ever seeming to tire or lower his standard. Say no more.

Matthew cooked up another culinary masterpiece in the evening and after a timely talk on etiquette in Chinese Martial Arts Sifu Rand gave a short presentation on the changes that had recently been made to the members and instructor's areas of the Web site. Over dinner Sifu Robertson presented Deirdre Dwyer with a Level One teaching certificate to a well-deserved round of applause. It had been a long tiring day and I had my exam in the morning, so I decided to forgo Sifu Newman's kind offer of a game of poker for lottery tickets (I never did work that one out) and headed off to bed.

I was up early the next morning to put in some extra practice before my exam. Since all the Sifu were judging the exam the students had time to practice the things they had learned the day before and to push hands with each other. The judging panel of Sifus Kerr, Newman, Robertson and Rand assembled behind a desk at one end of the room where we were to perform under their iron gaze.

The level 2 exam begins with demonstrating the form three times to the satisfaction of the judges. The first time to demonstrate roundness and posture, then continuity combined with co-ordination and finally body lightness, with Man (slowness or 'not rushing') present in each demonstration. Of course, this was only the start of the exam, which went on to include theory tests, application demonstrations, and for the martial endorsement the Choy Lee Fut Form and Northern Shaolin Sword Form and applications from both Forms. Further demonstrations of throwing/controlling techniques, double push hands and technique sparing were also required.

In all the exam was a bit of a marathon and took over three hours to complete, at the end of it we all retired to the house for Matthew's final masterpiece and for the judges to deliberate. Thankfully I was so fatigued at this point that I didn't have any spare energy to be nervous with while I waited for their decision.

After what seemed like ages Phil and I were called into the room and I was told I was now a level 2 instructor, with marital endorsement. Phil wasn't quite so lucky. Though the Sifu agreed that he'd done very well and had passed the Martial Endorsement they felt he needed a little more work on one or two areas before the certificate could be awarded.

A lot of hard work and preparation had gone into training for the exam and I was very pleased that I'd managed to satisfy the judges and my teacher. Though I commiserate with Phil I'm sure he'll pass on his next attempt (at least you don't have to do the Martial Endorsement again, so no more bruises!)

After lunch we finished the weekend with a Tai Chi quiz organised by Sifu Kerr with a bounty of chocolate biscuits going to the winner. Then we all went our separate ways having increased our understanding and abilities in the art of Tai Chi Chuan.

Many thanks to Sifu Rand, for leading the weekend, Sifu Kerr for organising it, Sifu Robertson for working hard to keep the house warm and cosy, Sifu Newman for his fearless display of Push Hands sparing technique and to Matthew Calvert for delighting us all with his culinary expertise.

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