October saw the first Zhong Ding Autumn Camp being hosted at the Walesby Outdoor Adventure Centre in Nottinghamshire.

The event brought together Zhong Ding members from the UK and Ireland to undertake a series of seminars with Nigel Sutton and other senior instructors.

Attendees arrived on the Friday evening.  After some food and settling into their rooms, Nigel opened the event with the first seminar.

The evening ended with a visit to the local village and the local pub.

Saturday morning started at 6.00am with form practice or qigong.  At least three seminars were delivered in each time slot.  Attendees enjoyed training as dawn broke in the Walesby forest.

Sessions continued throughout the day.  Graham Ball did a wonderful job ensuring everyone was fed throughout as well as trying to attend as many sessions as he could.  Thanks should also be given to Grahams wife who arrived daily to help him with all the catering.

In addition to the sessions delivered by Master Nigel Sutton, the following senior instructors provided sessions throughout the weekend:

• Master Instructor Miles Craig

• Master Instructor Don Harradine

• Master Instructor Ken J Mead

• Master Instructor Andy Norman

• Master Instructor Tony Ulatowski

As the weekend coincided with the Celtic New Year, Andy Norman made a bonfire and delivered ceremony to celebrate and reflect on the year gone by and to prepare for the one coming.  The event was enjoyed by all.

Students were able to grade as part of the weekend and the following students were successful:

• First Duan - Jules Burton, Sam Casey, Roger Moore and  Naomi Thomas

• Second Duan - Paul Dunn, Nick Merriman, Suzi Tsoi and Steve White

• Third Duan - Gerry Kennedy

The whole weekend was a wonderful opportunity to learn, meet new people and discuss ideas.  The following video includes images and video clips from  the event which hopefully gives a flavour of the event.  Click on the image below to view the video via YouTube:

Feedback from the event has been extremely positive.  Here are some comments from the attendees:

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"The weekend for me was just magical and I am still on a high a week later.  The people that make up the Zhong Ding family are such a genuine, caring and fun bunch and each time I leave I cannot wait for the next time.  This time I felt things just fell into place, made more sense and the hard work paid off.  There was an energy about the place and the "force" was definitely with us.  Thank you to all for your help and laughter."

Gerry Kennedy

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"The Zhong Ding Autumn Camp 2009 was a very enjoyable training experience. Martial arts brothers and sisters came together to share their passion for these wonderful arts. It was not only a weekend of training, but also a weekend where friendships were made. This is why I love these arts as it brings people together. A big thank you to everyone that organized the event."

Jan Simpson

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"Just a brief word of thanks for organising such a terrific event; a very nice group of people and really excellent tuition from all the instructors. I came away on Sunday even more than ever aware of how little I know, but heartened by the fact I'm with people from whom I can learn a lot whilst enjoying it."

Tony Braine

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"I always look forward to getting together with some like minded friends to play Taiji. The Autumn camp at Walesby was an excellent training experience - the location was good, (and the rain held off when we needed it to), the food was good, but most importantly everybody who came brought an open mind and a good deal of enthusiasm, and as a result the weekend was a lot of fun - notwithstanding all the hard work people had to put in.

I taught 4 sessions of qigong, (5 element Qigong of Chen Man Ching, Fundamentals of Qigong etc.), and I would like to thank everybody who attended, it's really helping me fine tune the material.

Of course, a Zhong Ding camp has it's social side as well, and sleep deprivation (caused by alcohol consumption / people blowing horns at 5am / etc.), is a small price to pay for it! I think we were really lucky in the venue and the timing this year. Not only was there a very good pub, with some decent beer (although Everard's Tiger is not quite the same as a Malaysian Tiger!); but the weekend ran across the end / beginning of the Celtic year, and Andy Norman had a bonfire and ceremony to celebrate and reflect on the year gone and prepare for the one coming. I think everyone that attended would agree with me that it was a very moving experience - Thank you Andy.

Finally, congratulations to everyone who passed their grading. All in all I think the camp was a great experience, an opportunity to make some new friends, and deepen our understanding; thank you to everyone who played apart in making it so."

Miles Craig

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