Kendo news

September has a few kendo-related items on the calendar. First, there is a contingent of us going down to support the Australian University Games as volunteers the weekend of the 22-24th (yes, we start on the Friday). This week we shall be finalising plans for this event, and I will be in touch with everyone regarding the details. All volunteers require a white long sleeved business shirt, black or dark grey pants and black or dark grey socks. A red tie will be provided by the event organiser, but bring one if you have it. A blue sports jacket is optional. 

Given the tightness of the timeframe, we will be postponing out regular trip to train at the Kenshinkai till October. This is in part due to the Mt Gravatt hall being unavailable and the Uni Games commitments, which will see us having an opportunity to get some practice in while we are down there.  

I will also be hoping to hear back in the next week or so if we have been successful in convincing the QKR to hold the December seminar and grading opportunity here in Toowoomba. So please watch this space as it will require some support from the broader Club membership.  

I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank Alex Lee for coming along to training on Sunday. Alex has been in South East Queensland for work (his usual home base is in Sydney), and has taken the opportunity to train with all the Kendo Clubs here. It was a pleasure to meet and train with him, and we would love to see him again the next time he is through! 

We will have to confirm later this week regarding training for Sunday. I will be unavailable, but we shall see if Minty and Matt G can run the session. It has been great to see some new faces this past fortnight (welcome Holly, Michael T and Jessica), and the excellent week-on-week progress made by Kateena. With luck, we may see some new and returning faces over the next few weeks!

Tuesday (slightly) later start

Tuesday will experience a little delay to our usual start as the School has parent teacher night on.

We expect to be able to start laying down mats (and helping to pack up) from around 6.15 pm. However, if you could be there at the usual time so that we are ready to make a move as soon as we are able to.

Reminder: Spring clean this Saturday, 2 September

Just by way of a reminder, we are scheduled to hold a dojo spring clean this Saturday morning.  

We will be starting at 9.30 am and depending on numbers, we ought to be finished by around 12.00 pm or 12.30 pm, where we shall have lunch. We will not have training in the afternoon as a result. 

I want to again stress the need for your help. First, we all share a collective responsibility for the maintenance of the space we share, and there are solid health and safety aspects to ensuring that a high standard is maintained.

Second, we will need as many hands on deck as possible as the task is not small. Because we were unable to do a clean over the winter holidays, the base level of filth in the MEAC has not been addressed for some time, and we need to thoroughly get into the forgotten corners. We also need to do an audit of the Club's equipment so that we can identify and address any wear or damage to items. 

So I hope to see you there on Saturday where we will need to: 

• Complete the regular clean of the toilet area
• Remove much of the equipment in the main hall so we can mop in the corners as well as the floor
• Restack the chairs more efficiently so there are less "free floating" while the damaged rack is out of commission
• Give the tatami a thorough clean, particularly after their excursion to Queen's Park
• Clean the storage area so as to remove all the gritty sand deposited by the school on our side
• Go through all the storage bins to check that items are in the correct spot, properly stored/folded where appropriate, and identified for repare/replacement if necessary
• Ensure the kendo bogu are checked, sorted and stacked appropriately so that they are logically arranged on the shelves by size
• All weapons are checked for damage, to be repaired and replaced as necessary
• Promotional materials and decorations are checked so replacements can be ordered where necessary
• First aid kits are checked to see if any items are expired or missing and need replacng, and
• If we have the time/sufficient volunteers, we can scrub some of the line markings to lift the worst of the ground in dirt to give the hall a bit of a "refresh", and scrub down the concrete outside the hall to reduce the amount of dirt being tracked in.  

Could I ask that people please bring some cleaning equipment in with you so that everyone can be put to task efficiently. Additionally, if you have a high pressure water cleaner that you could lend for the morning, please let me know as it will make the outside clean-up task much easier.  

IBF Training day wrap up

I wanted to express both thanks and congratulations to Peter Hills, sensei, for organising another successful IBF training day this Sunday. This came off the back of his successful gradin to rokudan in Jujutsu on Saturday. Numbers were a little down from previous years, but we suspect that some sort of televised event might have been responsible for a little of that ...

Kateena M. Made the trip down with me, and suffice to say we may have another Jujutsu-ka on the mat come Tuesday. It was wonderful to catch up with Tony S. and Don Ouellette, sensei, both of whom have been completely flat sticks with their work commitments in recent months. 

Many thanks to Terry Riches, sensei, Kym Reid, sensei, Nigel Farrier, sensei, Steve Newson, sensei, and Don Ouellette, sensei, for running their seminar sessions. My sessions focussing on the use of the Jo to understand harai wasa seemed to be well received.

So I will look forward to next year, where hopefully more of the BBRD crowd will be in a position to come and participate. And with any luck we may be able to encourage some of the Brisbane-based folk to come up the hill and train with us! 

IBF training day this Sunday

Just a reminder that this Sunday we will be heading to Brisbane to participate in the IBF training day at the Hills District PCYC. The day runs from 12-3 pm  

We will be leaving Toowoomba around 10 am, so unfortunately we will not be able to run our usual Kendo session this week. 

Please let Michael know ASAP if you are intending to come so that we can arrange sufficient transport and let Peter Hills, sensei better organise the day.  

Dojo Spring Clean

I want to put into everyone's diary the intended dojo spring clean for Saturday 2 September.  

The MEAC has been getting into a fairly ordinary state of late, and I want to ensure that we address that. In recent weeks, it has only been Tracy showing up on a Saturday to do the Club's obligatory clean of the toilets, and this leaves little opportunity to get on top of other things in both the main hall and in the storage area. 

I want to remind everyone that it is an expectation for all members to come and help clean at least three times in the year. With sufficient folk we can ensure that:

• The main hall is properly tidied and there are no hidden "gems" like left over lunches mouldering in forgotten corners
• The floor gets a thorough scrub down, to lift a little of the ground in dirt off its surface. 
• The tatami are properly cleaned, particularly after their excursion to Queen's Park
• The storage area is mopped and swept to get rid of errant sand from the corners.  
• All the storage tubs are checked and sorted so that there are no misplaced items in the wrong spot.  
• All equipment is thoroughty checked and serviced so that it is simply good to go when we need it.  

We will commence the spring clean at 9.30 am and go through to roughly 12.30 pm, where we will put on some lunch for those that come along and help. Many hands and all that ... 

Hope to see many of you there to assist! 

TLCF wrap up

Yesterday was the 10th time I have fronted up to Queen's Park on a brilliant August Sunday to participate in the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival. It is now another Monday morning after, and I am feeling the joy of a body used for a full day in the sun, having shared my passion for martial arts with the broader Toowoomba community, among friends giving their best in that shared endeavour.

This year's festival saw the Club's Taiko group join us for the first time, who drew sustained crowds to our pavilion. We showcased the Club's weapon disciplines well, and even saw some live cutting action with Mr J Tamashigiri being brought out to an enthusiastic crowd towards the end of the day.

As always, these types of days do not happen in isolation, but due to the sustained and enthusiastic support of Club members. First to Tracy, who heroically helped me to pack a large portion of the dojo equipment into cars and trailers on Saturday afternoon. With many folks either feeling unwell or having other commitments that afternoon, I once again appreciated Tracy's steadfastness and dependability. 

Second, a thanks to all of the members who demonstrated on the day: Dylan, Eric, Jun, Kateena, Michelle, Minty, Ray, Sian, Stuart, Tomoko, and Tracy. You all cut fine figures and did the Club proud.

A third round of thanks to Cat for coming along to do the "meet and greet" and help with the bump out at Queen's. We will definitely grab the trailer off you next year! And Richard for popping past and giving us proof of life. Will be great to see both of you back at the dojo after your breaks.

And a final round of thanks to Sian, Stuart and Tracy who made it right through to the end of the day and repackage the dojo. Big day, big joy.

So I will once again look forward to next year and for time spent out in the sun, and hope to see some of those who came along and said hello in the dojo for class!

No Tuesday Lunchtime Go this week

Michael has a bunch of work and study commitments this week, and so there will not be any Go this Tuesday lunch. If you are hankering for a game, come along on Sunday to the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival, or wait till next week! 

Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival 2017

The annual Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival is on this Sunday, and once again the Club will be providing some colour and movement for the assembled crowd.

The Festival is one of the most important public engagements that we have with the wider community, and each year we have managed to interest new folk to come and try what we have to offer and even sign up for the long haul.

Things to do this week in preparation:

1. Everyone is needed and useful on the day. There are a number of Club members who cannot attend due to other commitments, so even if you have not been regular to training in recent weeks, we will need your help. If you are injured, you can still interact with the public and hand out information flyers. And we would love to see some of our out-of-town friends and supporters come and join in the fun!
2. Make sure that your uniform and equipment are all in good order for Sunday— cleaned if not pressed where appropriate, and not damaged. If you need to borrow something, let Michael know ASAP so that we can see what can be arranged. I have a limited number Club t-shits that can be provided on loan if you do not have one yourself.
3. Come along on Saturday afternoon to help load up our equipment. We will not be training Jujutsu on Saturday as we will have opportunity to do so on Sunday through the day. Instead, we will do our equipment pack at 4 pm, after the usual weekly clean (so come along at 3 pm to help with that too).
4. "Bump-in" is before 8 am. I will be hiring a trailer for the day, which we can then leave parked where we need it to be, but obviously I will require some hardy early morning types to look after the equipment and start setting up while I relocate my car.
5. If you are less hardy/need the sleep in, come along to Queens Park (corner Hume and Margaret Streets) dressed in something that identifies you as a Club member — Training uniform, Club t-shirt, weapons etc. We will be located nearer to Gate 2 on Margaret Street You should not have any bother coming in if you say you are a part of the BBRD demonstration, and it should be free. I will provide an update late this week once final details have been released.
6. Gates open to the public at 10 am – 4 pm, and we will be physically doing things throughout that time, but the busiest time for us is usually between 11.30 am– 1.30 pm. If you can only be there for a brief period of time it it better if you can do so then. Please let Michael know ASAP when you are able to be there so that we can properly set the schedule for the day. 
7. We will be running 30-40 minute sessions throughout the day, with some that we will allow public participation. Make sure that you bring a water bottle and either some food or money (the food on offer at the Festival is delicious, but the line up can be long). Also make sure you have sun protection. The weather is predicted to be sunny, but much colder than what we are expecting mid this week. Again, it is just a case of being sensible.
8. "Bump out" commences at 4 pm, and we will need sufficient folk to make that process relatively painless. We will unload at the dojo straight away, though our major clean will take place next weekend.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead. The Festival ought be fun as it always has been, and I'll look forward to seeing you there!

Reminder: Queensland Kyudo Association AGM this Saturday

Just a quick reminder that the QKA Annual General Meeting will be held at 12.30 pm this Saturday 19 August. 

The meeting will use the Zoom platform to enable anyone to be able to join and observe, though in order to participate, you mst be a financial member of the QKA. This can be done via any web browser or even you can phone in to participate. 

Details can be found on the QKA Facebook page, or you can directly contact Michael and he will forward those details to you.