The second Zhong Ding Camp took place during the last weekend in March.  This time it was hosted at the Sherbrooke Scout Camp in Nottinghamshire.

The event brought together Zhong Ding members from across the UK to undertake a series of seminars with senior instructors from the organisation.

The instructors were:

• Master Instructor Miles Craig

• Master Instructor Darren Roberts

• Master Instructor Don Harradine

• Master Instructor Ken J Mead

Attendees arrived on the Friday evening and hearty meal of fish and chips was enjoyed by all.  This was followed by a seminar delivered by Master Instructor Don Harradine.

The evening continued with a social for the Tai Chi practitioners whilst the Silat practitioners took part in some night training in the grounds of the camp.

Saturday morning started at 7.30am with meditation followed by breakfast.  Whist a considerable number of people were resident in the camp for the weekend, a number of local attendees made the trip from there homes every morning.  They were always there bright and early for the first session of the day and always helped to lay the table for breakfast.

The seminars then commenced in earnest with the opportunity to attend a range of seminars covering Tai Chi, Baguazhang, Silat and Qigong.  There was also an opportunity to take a break and have a go at some Archery.

Graham, with the support of his wife Nanette, did a great job keeping everyone fed throughout the event as well as taking part in the seminars and successfully completing a grading.

The weekend coincided with the organisation's 'Zhong Dao Day' celebration, which was an opportunity to remember the amazing work of all the Masters from the organisation that have unfortunately past away.  The celebration was appreciated by all.

The first qigong grading took place as part of the weekend and the following students were successful:

• First - Graham Ball

• Third - Jan Hodgson

The whole weekend was a great learning opportunity.  It allowed everyone meet old and new friends to discuss thoughts and ideas.  

A video of the event can be found by clicking on the image below.  This will link you through to the video on YouTube:

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

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I enjoyed the camp immensely. Everyone that attended worked hard to make it a success. Everyone approached the training in the right frame of mind. No one I observed was trying to prove anything and there was a real sense of comradeship. I also had a chance of attending seminars myself in-between my own and learnt a lot through these lessons and indeed the whole weekend. Everyone was open and friendly and I would like to thank each one for making the weekend a wonderful learning experience for all."

Darren Roberts

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"Loved my couple of days training. The atmosphere of the venue was immediate... amazing feeling of stillness, earthy grounded ness due to the trees, which surrounded the place. Great to spend time with my Tai Chi family, felt welcomed and relaxed. Training was excellent, great to try something new. Sam with her fantastic organizing skills helped to put me at ease form the very start. Graham and his wife were brilliant at keeping everyone fed, with some very tasty food! Thank you... Looking forward to Autumn Camp."

Dave Porter

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"Great training, food, company and music."

Ken Mead

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"What an ace weekend - plenty of sessions with sufficient depth to inspire my own practice for some time to come I am sure. Great to meet up with the 'Zhong Ding family' too and connect with old and new friends - it is always great to meet up with other people who share a love of the same things!

The journey and the destination are fine in themselves but they are so much better when there are others to share them with!"

David Henstock

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"I arrived at the camp after a days work and a long 4 hour drive with 1 tyre change but as the training began all my stress was disappearing. I was surrounded the next day by fellow practitioners that I have come to call “FAMILY” people I trust and whom I enjoy spending time with, exchanging ideas (and music taste).

Even in to the early hours of the morning there was this feeling of friendship and trust throughout.

Thank you to all that provided for this weekend and also to my fellow brothers and sisters that trained diligently alongside me."

Chris Sims

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"A great weekend with a combination of hard physical and soft training, followed by a relaxing night of enjoyment on Saturday. Sunday was a good day to polish off forms for the competition and a few other last minute preparations."

Vincenzo Leo