Thanks to Itakura Sensei for Sunday training

Just wanted to pass on a quick work of thanks to Itakura sensei (6th Dan) for making it up the hill from Brisbane on Sunday and putting us through our paces. I can attest that my keikogi was at least 2 kg heavier at the end of the session, and my kote able to be wrung out. Doing 100 haya suburi with a bokkto as a worm up will certainly contribute to that!

I had a blast, have a couple of niggling things to refine, and will look forward to seeing him again in less than a fortnight for the QKR Seminar weekend.

Dinner and Awards night

A quick reminder to everyone that you must let Sian know by close of business tomorrow whether you will be coming this Thursday to the BBRD Awards Night and end of year dinner.

Family are most welcome, but you will have to inform Sian of numbers as we will need to ensure that there is adequate room booked.

Deadline for application to grade at QKR seminar.

Just a polite reminder that this Friday (21 November) is the absolute deadline to put in an application to grade fro either kendo or seitei iaido. Tom Johnson sensei has stated that the QKR Board will not accept any late applications.

I intend to physically hand over paperwork Wednesday morning when I head down the hill for iaido practice, so in the first instance please make sure you have your paperwork with me (the easy option) or e-mail me directly so that it can be sorted out before the Friday deadline.

You will also need to directly transfer your grading fee and seminar fee into the QKR account (thank you to those who have already done so).

Bunnings Toowoomba Family and Community Evening, 4 December

The Club has been invited to participate at the upcoming Bunnings, Toowoomba, Family and Community Evening on Thursday 4 December (5.30–8.30pm).

This will mean that there will be no training at the MEAC that night, as all of the instructors will be at Bunnings putting on demonstrations and interacting with the community.

Discipline instructors will talk with you this week to let you know what sort of things we are planning and how you can assist in making this a successful event for the Club. More details will be posted next week, but please put this date in your calendars!

Jugger tournament this Sunday!

After a scorching hot weekend just past, the seven day weather outlook is seemingly more favourable for the Jugger tournament this weekend.

So even if you are not actively participating, do think about coming past the MEAC on Sunday to watch and cheer on the home team!

Keep a look out for any last minute updates and details on both the Jugger Toowoomba Facebook group and the various BBRD social media channels.

Tensegrity: bones floating in moist glue.

Fascia is the 'moist glue' holding everything together. It is highly organised and modern scientists are starting to understand what ancient arts have been practicing and perfecting for thousands of years. Modern scientists have called this Tensegrity... the idea that our body structure is not simply a pile of bones stacked on each other but more like our bones are suspended by 'moist glue', or fascia. Understanding this idea can help bring your mind's eye to the inner working of your body (training Intent) as we stand again on Thursday nights, trying to align our bodies correctly. Here is Tom Meyers (renowned anatomist) explaining a Tensegrity structure, and how that relates to how we should think about the connections within our body.

Tom Myers, Author of Anatomy Trains, explains how fascia, soft tissue, joints and bones are organized around the principle of tensegrity. The human body is not a compression structure like a building, it is far more dynamic.

BBRD End of Year Dinner and Awards Night 27.11.14

We have a BBRD booking at Kajoku (Korean-Japanese and Karaoke restaurant) on Thursday 27th November for our celebration of the year's training and annual fun awards night. It will be a great evening with a variety of exciting cuisine options available.

Please let Sian know if you are intending to join the party or take a look on our BBRD Facebook page for the event invitation and rsvp!

Venue: Kajuko restaurant, Level 1, 430 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba

Time: 6.30pm

Date: Thursday 27 November 2014

Executive meeting this week

Just to let the membership know that we will be having an Executive meeting later this week, which will be discussing, among other things, training plans over S3, and planning, fund raising and spending priorities for the next six months.

If you have any suggestions, questions or comments that you want the Executive to note/address, please send them via your discipline senior instructors or directly to one of the other Executive members.

Jugger

The Club will be hosting an invitational Jugger tournament on Sunday 23 November.

Teams from Brisbane etc. have thrown down the gauntlet and reckon they are coming to "school us" ... lets show them what REAL mountain people are made of !!

So for all the Kendo and HEMA friends and members on the distribution list, consider coming along this Saturday to train. If we have sufficient numbers of "extras" I hope that we can put together a second BBRD team (let's call us the Highland Phoenix) to play with the visitors!

Thanks to Johnson sensei and the Kohokai lads!

Just wanted to provide a quick thank you to Tom Johnson sensei and to James and Rob who made it up the hill for a Sunday Seitei Iaido session at the Toowoomba PCYC.

It was extremely valuable to have the input of a senior practitioner, rather than decoding the 2014 manual and viewing video footage of myself. Congratulations to Cody who made it through his very first Iaido session, demonstrating his concentration and focus as he powered his way through Ipponme.

For those interested, Sian Carlyon and I may be organising some trips down the hill to train with the Kohokai at Collingwood Park over the next few weeks. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us.