The following positions have been accepted by members as listed:

President: Stephen Lucas *

Vice President: Ken Goh (since resigned). 

Secretary/Treasurer Julie Lucas

Minutes Secretary Di Logan

Ordinary Members Rob Fennell

                            John Mills

                            Rosemary Palmer*

                            Dennis Watts*

State Reps asterisked above have been confirmed as before, excepting NSW which is now unfilled. Inquiries can be directed to Vic until a new appointment can be found.

John Mills has given notice of intention to resign from the following workload: Newsletter and Website Coordinator and also as Public Officer. We all agree that John has been doing a mammoth task for TCAA since its inception.

Ken Goh has taken over the role of Public Officer from Dec 8, 2003 (since resigned).

The Financial position of TCAA Inc is healthy, with an increase of over $700 (20%) in this period. The closing balance at June 30, 2003 was $4,744-24 Cr. Apart from membership subscriptions, the Competition contributed to the higher turnover in funds. However, the Competition was subsidised by TCAA in 2003, an expected outcome. That it almost earned its keep for the first time effort is pleasing and a credit to Dennis Watts, the Competition Co-ordinator, as well as the volunteer members whose combined enthusiasm ensured a great day and result.

Instructors insurance The proposal to include instructor members on TCAA Inc. insurance policy was rejected on the basis of difficulty in administration and that the regulation measures required were not acceptable. It was also noted that TCAA insurance had expired and would not be renewed, now being investigated with different brokers. An alternative proposal was raised which does not involve TCAA Inc. approval. (see separate notice)

TCAA Competition 2004 Dennis Watts given the go ahead. Date in March. (See separate notice)

TCAA Risk Management (RM) Assessment This is a huge area to tackle yet it is important to ensure that the Association limits its exposure to liability as much as foreseeable. So far there have been minor changes instigated: forms requiring permission and waiver signatures also privacy statements. TCAA insurance that was earlier deemed unnecessary is in the process of renewal as it is an essential part of the overall protection strategy of RM.

The website has become a real source for concern. Initially the Committee decided, that the website manager was to be requested to remove the listing as TCAA could be deemed to be negligent in providing a list of instructors without first having regulated them for inclusion. This is currently awaiting legal opinion. It is eventually expected that all aspects of TCAA activities will be reviewed.

Fees And Benefits of Membership. The structure has been amended and clarified so that the proposed joining fee has been dropped in favour of sending out renewal notices when the annual subscription is due. The rights and benefits of members will be suspended 1 month after due date until fees paid – effective from June 2004. Also it was decided that Organisations would have permission to reproduce the newsletter at their own cost and that discounts extended to their entire Organisation. That really is a great deal for $50-00! (See the updated membership application form for listed information.)

Publicity Brochure The previous Publicity brochure to be reviewed and updated.

Tai Chi Instructor Accreditation It was affirmed that only one process available for this. Clarification provided. (See separate notice)

Financial Report at Sept 30, 2003 shows funds of $5478-73Cr

Membership There have been 30 new members joining TCAA since April. This is heartening as it represents over 20% of our current financial membership. Unfinancial members will receive an invitation to renew with TCAA Inc. again shortly and hopefully, will provide a further boost to our numbers.

AKWF Membership This has recently been finalised. All TCAA members now have associate status to AKWF. Anyone who wishes to undertake Tai Chi Instructor accreditation will need to apply to the secretary for the member no. which removes the need to join AKWF individually and will give a much reduced accreditation fee (see separate report).

TCAA recommendation for the ‘fitness industry’ Tai Chi Instructor Accreditation - SRTA Proposal TCAA’S unchanged position on this proposal is that it has recommended that the course requirements -including for Tai Chi experience - for such are to be comparable to the current NCAS standard. (see separate report)

FAX Donation Part of RM strategy is to have centralised records, as this is an accepted method which keeps your private details that way. Centralising also reduces risk re credit card payments as only a single person will have access. To this end we need a FAX machine. Is anyone out there prepared to donate an unused one? Please contact the secretary if you can help us in this request.

Actually this is a report from the Acting Secretary. And the emphasis is on the acting! Rob Fennell our previous Secretary resigned from this position having found that recent health problems, required him to take a big step back from some activities. Unfortunately for TCAA Inc we have now lost a committed and resourceful executive member who was contributing heavily, as I soon found out. Rob continues on as an ordinary committee member. Rob, on behalf of this Organisation its members and committee, I would like to publicly acknowledge your immense contribution and constant support during your time as Secretary. It was very much appreciated.

Following on logically then, is a plea to anyone out there who has some voluntary time, computer literacy and a desire to see the success of the TCAA Inc. to nominate for this position. Presently the Organisation is set up in Vic –yet some creative thinking could allow for the possibility of interstate Exec. membership through use of the computer etc.

Basically the Secretary is responsible for handling and coordinating all inquiries of a general /national nature (including storing emails) and taking Minutes and preparing the agenda for meetings. Memberships/Renewals previously a Sec. Task is now handled by the Treasurer, which frees up the Secretary a little, especially at renewal time. Please contact me if you have any thoughts or inquiries.

By now you all should have received your new membership card, receipt/s and notices (AGM, insurance, new forms, Tai Chi sword petition.) Please contact if not. Since July I have been learning the ropes, as well as trying to fit these extra tasks into a busy schedule at home and also with the various issues that have emerged for TCAA Inc during that period. And it certainly did not help having a splinted middle finger (torn tendon) when the renewals came rushing in. Bits of paper are fiddly single handed, and so is the keyboard!!

I apologise for any inconvenience caused by not being able to get them out sooner. (Also I have given myself a computer license - as I knew very little before Sep ’02, when I joined this committee… It’s a bit like learning Tai Chi: all that new information starts slotting into logical patterns with a little bit of practice, patience, and perseverance! ) And that reminds me. If any member has not informed us of their email address, please consider again, as it is certainly the cheapest and fastest way of keeping in contact.

Lastly, a reminder that the AGM is scheduled for Sun Oct 26 1-00 pm at 2 Laser Drive ROWVILLE Melb. at the Golden Lion Academy. Please return nominations and any items for agenda ASAP to me at the TCAA Inc address.

Since March 2002 TCAA has held 5 committee meetings , the last being 13 April 2003. As a matter of interest I looked back through the minutes of each of the meetings and noted that the matters discussed (apart from what may be termed "housekeeping matters") were limited to Insurance (and the related matter of 'waivers'), accreditation, AKWF membership, TCAA competition and membership.

This prompted me to search the minutes of the inaugural meeting of TCAA where I discovered the statement

"It was emphasised that the TCAA is to be inclusive in other words we want to include as many Tai Chi practitioners as possible"

Have we been successful in this aim? All of the above matters discussed at meetings (other than the competition) relate to the needs of Tai Chi Instructors rather than "practitioners".

Since 30 June 2002 a number of members failed to renew their memberships.

It appears that the majority of these were Tai Chi "practitioners" rather than Instructors. In the same period over 50% of new members were "practitioners". An examination of the TCAA Website to give a rough estimate of the numbers of instructors shows that except for NSW almost all members are Instructors (whereas less than 50% of NSW members are Instructors).

It would greatly assist the committee if all members were to forward their views on what they believe should be discussed at committee meetings.

Should there be more "events" such as competitions, seminars etc? Should TCAA affiliate with other organisations such as AKWF? How can we attract and retain new members? How can states other than NSW increase their "practitioner" memberships.

Present: Stephen Lucas, Charles Tsui-Po, Julie Lucas, Di Logan, Sid Lewis (visitor)

Apologies: Rob Fennell, John Mills

1. Minutes of 10/1/03: Amendment to the list of those present – Addition of Sue Simpson (visitor, non-member)

Moved Charles Tsui-Po, seconded Julie Lucas that the minutes as amended be

accepted. Passed.

Stat. declaration to Paul Lam - clarified as that which is required by the AKWF prior to undergoing the Accreditation course.

State representatives contact details in newsletter – Steve to follow-up with John Mills

Steve to confirm with John Mills that he is now the NSW State representative.

Amendment of application form – Discuss with Rob Fennell and request that he amend in line with the recommendation made in the Secretary’s report to the January meeting.

3. Secretary’s Report: (see attachment)

Read and accepted. Moved: Charles Tsui-Po, seconded: Julie Lucas

Business arising:

Non-financial members – discussion of necessary actions.

Decisions:

Place publicity in the newsletter well-prior to the June closing date for payment of fees.

Aim at having a newsletter out each May for this purpose.

Publicity to consist of a highly visible renewal notice on the front page with a "Memberships Due" article from the President.

Implement a joining fee. This is provided for in the Constitution. The joining fee to consist of $25.00 (or lesser amount as agreed)*. Rationale: to assist defray the cost of following up non-payment of fees, to encourage members to maintain membership.

Non-financial person’s membership to cease 1 month after the closing date for fee payment. During this month, the person will not have voting rights. Any listing of instructor members on the website remains during this one month’s grace period.

As the constitution requires that a member pay both a joining fee and a yearly

membership fee, this process appears to be valid under the constitution.

Read and accepted. Moved: Julie Lucas, seconded: Steve Lucas

Business arising:

Financial statement from the January competition to be included in the report for the next meeting.

Treasurer to request final accounting of all outstanding invoices for next report.

A meeting of the committee was held at the St. Vincent’s College, Potts Point, Sydney on 11 January, 2003, commencing at 3.15 PM.

Present: Stephen Lucas (President), Charles Tsui-Po (Vice President), Julie Lucas (Treasurer), Paul Lam, John Mills, Rosemary Palmer, Dennis Watts, Anthony Shing, Ken Goh, Gai Wanless, Alice Dong, Di Logan (Acting Minutes Secretary).

NOTE: It was clarified that Rosemary Palmer represents Western Australia in addition to South Australia

Apologies Darren Cox, Rob Fennell

1. Minutes of Previous Meeting: Minutes of meeting held on 24.11.02 were tabled. Moved Charles Tsui-Po, Seconded Julie Lucas that minutes be ratified. Carried

2.1 Accreditation Sub-Committee: Paul Lam reported that he was not intending to provide any further Tai Chi accreditation workshops until accreditation/insurance/AKWF issues are clarified. After some discussion, Paul decided that he would be prepared to make this service available to meet the needs of Tai Chi instructors, but he also stressed the importance of TCAA moving forward to an independent process for accreditation of instructors. It was noted that candidates need to provide a statutory declaration to Paul before doing the Tai Chi-specific component of Accreditation, Level 1.

2.2 Competition, 12 January: Insurance cover for the competition was confirmed by Stephen Lucas.

Appreciation was expressed to Dennis Watts, Charles Tsui-Po and all involved for the vast amount of work done toward the Inaugural TCAA Competition.

Moved: Paul Lam, Seconded: Rosemary Palmer Carried

It was recommended that members use reports and photos of the competition in their local press.

2.3 TCAA Insurance: Stephen Lucas reported that work on establishing access to insurance coverage through the association is now progressing. Work is needed on the development of a Code of Practice and Training Recommendations.

A Risk Management report was tabled by Julie Lucas and will be circulated with the minutes for discussion at the next meeting.

3. Treasurer's Report - Tabled.

It was moved by John Mills, seconded Charles Tsui-Po that the report be accepted. Carried

3.1 A brief financial report for the competition was given by Dennis Watts.

                   A formal report to be forwarded to the Treasurer.

3.2 Telephone account: It was moved Stephen Lucas, seconded Dennis Watts, that:

The current TCAA account be continued until the following alternative arrangements are in place, after which the account be cancelled:

a) State representatives’ contact details be advertised in the TCAA newsletter and on the website,

b) Each State representative be the responsible person for receiving contacts within their area and the National President and Secretary be the appropriate contacts for issues of a more national nature.

and that:

The yellow pages advertisement be cancelled. State representatives be responsible for arranging a free one-line entry in each State and Territory. Carried

      Tabled on Rob Fennell’s behalf by Di Logan.

Moved by Julie Lucas, seconded Dennis Watts that the report be accepted. Carried

Discussion of the recommendations in the report to be rolled over to the next meeting.

    5. New Members: Applications were received from:

      Jillian Thio Bairnsdale VIC

      Sue Simpson Geelong VIC

      Doreen Hopkins Wallsend NSW

Moved Julie Lucas, seconded Stephen Lucas that membership be approved. Carried

It was decided to add a paragraph to the application form describing how a nominating and seconding process can be easily achieved.

6.1 TCAA’s intention to fully support Wushu being in the Beijing Olympics and Australia’s fielding of a Wushu team was confirmed by the meeting.

6.2 Moved Stephen Lucas, seconded Dennis Watts that Di Logan be appointed as a committee member. Carried

6.3 Competition trophies: It was suggested that, in future, people wishing to contribute to trophies be invited to donate money to an overall trophy fund rather than to specific trophies.

6.5 It was agreed that all official communication (hard copy or email) be cc-d to Rob Fennell (Secretary)

7. Next Meeting: Time and venue to be advised.

Our Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday the 8^th September and a new committee was elected. They are as follows:

                              President – Stephen Lucas

                              Treasurer – Julie Lucas

                              Secretary – Rob Fennell

All these members live in Victoria so I think it’s a good bet our next meeting will be a little closer to Melbourne than our others have been! I want to add my congratulations to the new committee. It’s great so see others taking over the role and I’m sure their enthusiasm and the new location will just add MORE impetus and enthusiasm to the Association.

This is a report on the competition in January.

We are progressing well at this point with the brochures being printed and to be sent out with the January Workshop information from Paul.

The Forms are;

24 FORMS,.42 FORMS, YANG STYLE, CHEN, WU, SUN, CHEN MAN-CHING, OTHER STYLES.

32 FORM SWORD, 42 FORM SWORD.

Novice, Advanced and Over 45 plus Teams minimum 5 members.

No Teams for weapons

The Fees are:

Competition Fee

$30.00 for first event.

$20.00 for second event.

$15.00 for each additional event after this.

$30.00 total for Team event min.5 players.

TCAA members receive 10% discount.

Spectators: $10 per head

Our stumbling block at this point is Insurance but still have a few months for that to come about.

The AKWF have waved any fees at this time

Our last meeting was held on the 24^th March. There was of course a pre-occupation with the insurance issue, and our discussion centered very much on the progress of the TCAA policy. We also talked about arranging and sponsoring a number of events to celebrate World Tai Chi Day, and we read a report from Dennis Watts on the progress of the competition planned for January next year - (see below).

Since the meeting, the World Tai Chi day turned out to be a perfect example of the urgent need for the insurance issue to be sorted out as soon as possible. In Sydney we planned to hold an event in conjunction with the Global Energy Field Festival day, organised by Alex Galvan for several years now, and almost a permanent fixture on most of our calendars. Not this year. When Alex got his quote for public liability insurance he realised that he had no choice but to cancel the event only weeks prior to the set date. At that late stage it was decided to also cancel the event the Association had planned for World Tai Chi Day. A number of member schools in Sydney, and interstate, still went ahead and held their own local events, but as school "park lessons" they didn’t attract an additional prohibitive insurance premium.

The insurance issue has now seen some progress and I have put in a separate report following this article.

Competition Progress to this date:

The Date: January 12th.

Venue: Hurstville Boy's High School.

Cost of hiring Hall: around $3 - $500.

Forms: Yang, Chen, Sun, Wu. May be others.

Divisions: Beginners (up to 12 months experience),Advanced, 45 & Over.

Entry Fee: 1 Form $30, 2 Forms $20 per Form, 3 or more $15 per Form.

Entry Fee Spectators: Possibly $10 a head. Committees thoughts on this please.

(Note that the committee felt there should be a discount for TCAA members).

Presentation: Medals for 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Possibly looking at Certificate for all participants.

Head Judge: Charles Tsui-po.

Advertising: Brochure to go out with all information to January Workshop, plus add in TCAA Newsletter.

My thanks to Paul for what he has done, his ideas and help to this point.

Any suggestions will be looked at.

Yours in Tai Chi,

Dennis

Our president, Paul Lam, has to resign at the end of this term, because our constitution prevents a President from sitting for more than 3 successive terms. It was Paul’s inspiration and leadership that saw the creation of the Association 3 years ago and he is going to be sorely missed. I’m hoping that he’ll still be active in the Association, but now we’re faced with the challenge of replacing him with someone with the vision and the ability, (not to mention the time), to lead the Association through the next few years.

The Association started out with grand ideals of promoting tai chi together, but the reality of the last 3 years has shown it’s not easy, especially in these early (and formative) years, to translate that into concrete benefits for all of the members. But there are still definite and strong reasons to continue your support. The advantages of strength and unity are obvious to anyone that’s been in a situation of crisis, where the backing of an organisation has meant real and valuable support. In these times of frequent and sometimes apparently frivolous litigation, an Association like ours can prove invaluable to members faced with action. The formation of the Association has provided a network that did not exist before. It’s a way of contacting others of similar interest and provides a forum for the dissemination of information, (eg the articles in this newsletter re the expo in Tamworth and the approach from the Living Well Magazine). We’ve been able to add support to numerous events, and we’re in the process of organising our own competition to encourage the improvement of tai chi and the simple enjoyment of getting together with other "players". Our newsletter has provided a regular way of passing on information and articles, and is available for all members to participate in through contribution and comment. The web site has also been an important resource for members and for the community at large, and has provided countless referrals to member schools. I don’t think members generally understand how important our web site has been, because most don’t see the results, the number of phone calls and emails it generates, from people looking for somewhere to learn our art. I heard an interesting story from one of our members recently, that a contact through the web site led to his school re-establishing ties with some people overseas that belong to the same tai chi lineage, and they’ve actually visited each other to begin the process of co-operation.

Let me say also that I believe this is an association OF it’s members, and not just FOR. The value of the Association lies in all our hands. It’s up to all of us to use the resources and the capacity it provides to our best advantage. We can all contribute, and we can all participate, and it’s up to members to say what they want and to join in the discussion process. Not everyone is able to attend meetings, but we’re all able to have a say.

The insurance crisis has been our main focus over the last few months. That may, on the surface, seem to be benefiting just a few members, but if we don’t help to resolve this there WILL be a lot less people teaching tai chi. Groups with a very small membership, will simply disappear. I’ve spoken to numerous people lately desperate for a solution because the premiums they’re forced to pay are making it impossible for them to continue to teach. It’s only because of the strength of our membership numbers that we’ve been able to obtain a quote for insurance at a far lower rate per student than most of our members have been able to obtain themselves. This is another example of the benefit of organisation, and one we now have to face the challenge of taking advantage of.

Hi all. Our last meeting was on the 7th January, (a Monday), at 6.30 pm. It was held during the workshop Dr Paul Lam was holding here in Sydney, and it was good to see some familiar faces there again. It is of course the main reason we have a meeting during the workshop, it gives some interstate people that might not be able to make it normally a chance to sit down with us.

A number of things were discussed. Insurance was high on the list of priorities, not surprising in view of the ever-increasing premiums these days. At the time of the meeting Charles Tsui-Po in Melbourne was still talking to insurance companies on TCAA’s behalf, but there has since been some exciting developments and they’re covered a little later in this newsletter.

The opportunity was also taken to clear up some misunderstandings about membership. Some people had let their membership lapse because they had been led to understand that if they belonged to a member school they were automatically members themselves. Not so. A school, or "group membership", simply entitles the school to have 2 votes. If any other people in that school (apart from the 2 members listed as "voters") want to join TCAA, they need to do it separately and as individual members.

The meeting discussed the concept of a tai chi competition to be held in January, timed to coincide with the annual workshop. Since the workshop has proved so popular and there’s people from all over the world attending, it was seen as an ideal time for the Association to sponsor and organise a competition. A committee was formed and I hope to be able to pass on more concrete information about this at a later date.

World Tai Chi Day on the 6th April is being supported by TCAA, and we again discussed what the States could do to organise something to support this event. There’s more later in the newsletter about this with some information about times and places and who to contact for more information.

I'd also like to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and a happy new year. Keep the season a safe one.

We had a meeting set down for a few weeks ago, but because there is another set for during the January workshop, the November meeting was cancelled. There was no pressing business to discuss and it was agreed it would be better left until there was a lot more of us together in what was after all only a few weeks. The workshop draws people from all over the country and it's proven an excellent opportunity for Association members to get together….too good an opportunity to miss.

There were a couple of things people volunteered to do at the last meeting, and I have some success to report. First of all Zoe's Martial Art store has agreed to offer members of the Association a 10% discount on presentation of their membership card. Also discussions have been started with insurance companies about a more relevant insurance premium, one that reflects, as Paul has said, the low risk in tai chi classes.

There will be a fuller report on these things at the next meeting. The details of that meeting are as follows -

Hi all, well, we just had our Annual General Meeting, (which was followed by a General Meeting), on Sunday the 19^th August. It was very pleasing, as always, to see the response to these meetings, and especially pleasing to welcome the interstate visitors who were able to make it all the way to Sydney just for the day. Thanks to Rosemary Palmer from South Australia, and to Charles Tsui-Po from Melbourne.

The reports from the President, and from the Treasurer, indicated another successful year, and one generally of consolidation and of clarifying our directions for the times ahead.

• The number of people who have undergone the Accreditation is 80.
• Accreditation course is about safe coaching practises, and not a test of peoples teaching ability.
• Thanks to all those people who helped out this year. Special thank you to John Mills for his work as treasurer, Darren Cox for secretary, David Suker for the help in the accreditation course, Rosemary Palmer and Charles Tsui Po.

• Our new ABN number is 50 099147 171
• Financial Report (submitted at meeting).
• Registering the TCAA Nation wide has now been achieved with the "Certificate of registration of a Registrable Australian Body

ARBN (Australian Registered Body Number.) 097 601 379

• President - Paul LaM
• Vice President - Charles Tsui Po
• NSW President - Roman Czerniawsky
• SA&WA President - Rosemary Palmer
• QLD & NT President - Dennis Watts
• VIC President - Stephen Lucas
• Secretary - John Mills
• Assistant Secretary - Anthony Shing
• Treasurer - John Mills
• Public Officer - Darren Cox

Committee Members -

• Joan Murray
• Henry Murray
• Zhang Hao
• David Suker
• Ray O’Reilly
• Alex Galvan

Hi to all of our members,

A few points to present to you that the TCAA has been working on.

Thanks to John Mills for all his work, not only as treasurer but on the newletters, continual work on the web page, telephone contact person, and in particular for acquiring an ABN number.

I was asked at the last meeting about insurance and what coverage can we get from the accreditation. This information gets posted out to applicants once they have passed the course and I couldn’t get access to that information. However I did speak with Walt Missingham and he told me that a new insurance package was coming out soon in about three - four weeks. So once I get hold of this I will let you, the members know more details, via the web or next newsletter. Also I had a member that thought for some reason if they where a member that they had automatically some sort of umbrella insurance with the TCAA. Please note you only gain insurance by applying for it yourself. If you are an accredited instructor then you can get insruance at a reduced rate.

It was voted that we look into tele – conferencing. I’ll be contacting telstra in the coming weeks so that at our next meeting we can link with our State Presidents, if they cannot make the meeting.

It was voted that the TCAA would be happy to assist , if requested, the Peaceful Challenge run another competition in January 6^th 2002.

Accreditation was discussed and one of the concepts of the accreditation was not for the purpose of skill testing of Sifu’s, but to make sure it was being taught in a safe manner. This will be detailed in a report from Paul Lam in the next newsletter.

This was sent to me by Walt Missingham for those Sifu’s who wish to apply and do the accreditation course in Kung Fu/Tai Chi. The intakes below are the AKWF accreditation course that must be completed, in conjunction with the TCAA accreditation course to be Kung Fu/Tai Chi accredited.

It is necessary to attend one of these general intakes to complete your accreditation.

It is anticipated during the second half of the year that we will be conducting courses in the areas of:

Regional Queensland (several),

Armidale,

Adelaide,

Tasmania (Hobart or Launceston)

Canberra

Take Care,

Sincerely Darren Cox

P.S Any questions or enquiries, please don’t hesitate to email or contact me through the post.

dtwcox@yahoo.com

I hope you and your families had a good start to the year.

At our last meeting the following issues were discussed,

Advertising in the local yellow pages. Each State Representative would be reporting back at the next meeting on where there is a cost involved and how much would this amount too.

Preparation for the Olympics was discussed. A motion was put forward that we investigate if we can facilitate a competition to run by the TCAA, in preparation for the Olympics regarding the "International Competition 42 step form 42 step sword form".

Note, only two forms will be judged in the category of Tai Chi in the Olympics and that is:

International 42 step form

International 42 step sword

On other issues I would like to bring to your attention the discussion forum on our TCAA web page. As some of you may know there is a discussion section (like a bulletin board) on the web site, where people can place items for discussion. Please feel free to add comments, and suggestions. I try to check it out about once a week.

Take Care Every body...............

From our last meeting there was much discussion about the Government accreditation for Tai Chi Chuan instructors. I don’t see it as testing the skill level of the instructors, but more to see whether they know how to teach Tai Chi Chuan in terms of a safe learning environment for their students. A few years ago when Aerobics was taking off, a lot of people where jumping on the theme for their gyms and teaching Aerobics with out a basic understanding how the body can move and workout safely. This lead to Government accreditation, so a standard could be set. It’s a bit like obtaining a drives licence. Everybody has to do a standard test in his/her State. It doesn’t matter if you have the ability of a racing car driver or that of new driver. As long as you pass a standard roads safety test you will obtain a licence. It’s up to the student, seeking the Art to find a good teacher. As my Sifu once told me, "your body knows what is right, it won’t lie to you, if you are feeling any pain, your doing it incorrectly".

Have a great Christmas, and all the best for the New Year!

Greetings to All our Members,

My name is Darren Cox and I am the new TCAA secretary. I’ve been studying martial arts for over 20 years. In the last eight years I’ve been studying Tai Chi Chuan under the supervision of Sifu Roman Czerniaswky at his shool - The Australian Tai Chi Chuan Li Chi Hsiang School of Health and Self Defence.

On Sunday 6th August our Annual General Meeting was held. One of the main issues was to vote in our new committee members.

President Paul Lam

Vice President Federal Vice President Charles Tsui Po

State Presidents

Rosemary Palmer (S.A & W. A)

Dennis Watts (QLD & N. T) 

Stephen Lucas (VIC) 

Roman Czerniawsky (NSW

Secretary Darren Cox

Assist Secretary Ray O’Reilly

Treasurer John Mills

Public Officer John Mills

Other Committee Members

David Suker, Alex Galvan, Ray O’Reilly, Joan Murray, Horatio Paz,

Adele Apps, Bill Apps, Julie Lucas.

A committee meeting was then held to discuss Accreditation, Fund raising, A planned Tai Chi Journey to China, Preparation for the Demonstration Tai Chi in the Olympics 2008.

I suggested at the meeting that we start having an event at future meetings for any member to come along and meet with the committee and other members in Tai Chi fellowship. Each meeting the committee would organise a guest speaker or a business such as martial art shop, to come along and speak about a relevant topic or to bring along merchandise, uniforms, weapons and/or new items of interest. One of the main reasons I joined the TCAA was to meet with other Tai Chi practitioners and talk about Tai Chi. It doesn’t matter if you do a different style, as there is always common ground. That is, the Principles from the classics. All Tai Chi no matter what style should conform to the principles so there is always a common ground you can talk about. The next meeting is

9am Sunday 15th October, 2000 Fisher Place, Narwee

So please, to all old and new members or people thinking of joining are welcome to come along.

The Guest speaker is Geoff Booth, but I’ll let John Mills inform you in on him, as he was the person who organised this event for the next TCAA meeting.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the TCAA if you have any enquiries or questions whether to do with the TCAA or on Tai Chi. I’m always glad to chat about Tai Chi. Also keep those articles coming in please.

Take Care and good health to you all