European Championships 2002 The Second European Taijiquan and Internal Arts Competition was held in Vejle, Denmark from the 18th to the 20th of October, 2002. Although we don't generally get involved in competitions, Sifu Cameron decided it would be good to show support for the event, so a Five Winds team came together. From the Edinburgh classes we had Andrew Cavanagh, Philippa Hope, Craig MacDonald, Adrian Martinez, Kim McGowan, Sally Munro, Joe Palmer and Andreas Schoter, with Iona Forrester also coming as a non-competitor. From the Glasgow classes we had Stephen Douglas, Tom Logan, David McCloy, and Malcom Pollock. Betty Sutherland, now based down in Leeds, completed the team. From left to right: Adrian Martinez, Andreas Schöter, David McCloy, Andrew Cavanagh, Sifu Ian Cameron, Joe Palmer, Stephen Douglas, Craig McDonald, Sally Munro, Kim McGowan, Tom Logan, Betty Sutherland, Malcom Pollock, Philippa Hope, Iona Forrester. Between us, we came away with 14 medals, including 3 European Champions. The Event The event is held under the banner of the Tai Chi Federation of Europe; there were 250 participants (including competitors and officials) from 19 different countries, with over 80 different events! It was quite a feat of organization by Torbin Rif of Danish Practical Tai Chi Chuan and his helpers that it all ran so smoothly. With so many people competing in so many different events, time tabling the competition must have been a challenge. As part of the openning demonstrations, Sifu Cameron was asked to perform the Wudang sword form. Here he is, in the posture known as Rhinoceros Watching the Moon from near the beginning of the form.    Sifu Cameron's demonstration Sword Form during the openning celebrations. Although some people concentrated on either pushing hands or forms, a significant proportion of the competitors were entered in both, showing a well rounded approach to their art. The level of sportsmanship was very high and most of the participants had a good time, what ever their result. The competition Arena    The competition was staged in the town's Sport's Centre, the main hall, with excellent spectator seating, was used for the competition. There were four areas, two for forms and two for pushing hands. The largest area was used for weapons and group forms, with a slightly smaller area used for solo hand forms. Each of the pushing hands areas had two matted sections allowing two bouts to be fought simultaneously. One area was devoted to fixed step Tui Shou, whilst the other was used for restricted and moving step. In addition to the main hall, there was another large hall reserved for practice and warm up for the competitors. This was very valuable. Finally, a couple of other halls were used for workshops. A number of the judges, Sifu Cameron included, are teachers of international repute, and it was an excellent opportunity for people to study with them. The Competition The competition was organized into a number of divisions. For pushing hands, there was a main division into men and women, with further division into weight categories. There was also a division according to age: under 16s were in the Junior category and over 35s could enter the Senior category; in addition, there was an Open category, without age restriction. For the forms, the main categories were according to the type of form. So, for example, the Taiji hand forms were divided according to family style, whilst the weapons were divided only by the type of the weapon. Again, there was an age division, with people over 55 able to enter as veterans. The Friday and the Saturday were used for the preliminary heats, usually narrowing the competitors in each event down to the best three in the case of form competition. The finals were held on the Sunday. In forms the marks from the heats were ignored and all three competitors performed their form again. In pushing hands the heats determined a bout for gold and silver and a bout for bronze.    Philippa Hope (wearing the yellow sash) on her way to the bronze in the Woman's Restricted Step Tui Shuo, 70kg division. The Results Five Winds are proud to now count three European Champions among their members. Senior Instructor Sally Munro won the Women's Open Fixed Step Tui Shou 52kg event in a well contested final. Instructor Andreas Schöter won the Men's Advanced Spear Form, doing the form mirrored to compensate for a ligament strain in his left shoulder. And Joe Palmer, a student in Sifu Cameron's Edinburgh class, gave an outstanding performance to take the gold in the Men's Intermediate Spear. There were eleven other medals won by the team: six silver and five bronze. Stephen Douglas, an Instructor from Glasgow, took Silver in the Men's Advanced Spear and Men's Advanced Sabre. David McCloy a student of Stephen's from Glasgow, took a Silver in Men's Open Restricted Step Tui Shuo 100kg and a Bronze in the Men's Open Fixed Step Tui Shuo 100kg. Joe Palmer also took a Silver in the Intermediate Sabre Form. Malcom Pollock, an Instructor from the West Coast, took a Silver in the Men's Senior Fixed Step Tui Shuo 77kg. Andreas Schöter also took a Silver in the Men's Senior Restricted Step Tui Shuo 90kg. Betty Sutherland's Bronze medal winning Sabre Form    Tom Logan, a student from Glasgow, took a Bronze in the Men's Senior Fixed Step Tui Shuo, 90kg. Philippa Hope, an Instructor from Edinbrugh, to a Bronze in the Women's Open Restricted Step Tui Shuo, 70kg. And finally, Betty Sutherland, an Instructor now based down in Leeds, took two Bronze medals: one in the Woman's Advanced Sabre Form and one in Women's Open Moving Step Tui Shuo, 57kg. In Conclusion On the evening of the final day, after all of the competition was over, the team went out for a meal at the Asian Wok House (if you're ever in Vejle, it's well worth a visit). It was an opportunity for everyone to unwind after the stresses of the event and a fair amount of Chinese beer was consumed with the excellent stir fry. It was also an opportunity to thank Sifu Cameron: it was his outstanding teaching over the years that had brought us all to the standard where we could come to the European Championships and compete and win! The team had good spirit throughout the event, and this helped raise everyone's game. Although competition will not become a major focus for the school, everyone who competed came away with a valuable experience and some interesting lessons. The Results Gold Sally Munro: Women's Open Fixed Step Tui Shuo, 52kg Joe Palmer: Men's Intermediate Spear Form Andreas Schöter: Men's Advanced Spear Form Silver Stephen Douglas: Men's Advanced Spear Form Stephen Douglas: Men's Advanced Sabre Form David McCloy: Men's Open Restricted Step Tui Shuo, 100kg Joe Palmer: Intermediate Sabre Form Malcom Pollock: Senior Fixed Step Tui Shuo, 77kg Andreas Schöter: Men's Senior Restricted Step Tui Shuo, 90kg Bronze Tom Logan: Men's Senior Fixed Step Tui Shuo, 90kg David McCloy: Men's Open Fixed Step Tui Shuo, 100kg Philippa Hope: Women's Open Restricted Step Tui Shuo, 70kg Betty Sutherland: Women's Advanced Sabre Form Betty Sutherland: Women's Open Moving Step Tui Shuo, 57kg Andreas Schoter receiving his Gold for the Spear Form         Malcom Pollock with his Silver Medal for Pushing Hands   Philippa Hope with her Bronze medal for Pushing Hands         Joe Palmer with his Silver for the Intermediate Sabre Practical Tai Chi Chuan, Denmark, the school hosting the event has a page here with the full results from the Championship.