Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year!

Yesterday marked that last official training session of 2014 for the BBRD community with a robust session of Kendo at the PCYC followed by some nibbles and drinks — many thanks to Itakura sensei for providing both the example and direction over the past two months.

I'd like to thank everyone who has been involved in the Club this year: The instructors, the seminar presenters, the Executive members and all those that have volunteered at special events throughout this year. The Club exists because of your efforts and dedication.

Congratulations to all that have experienced success in your marital arts practices this year, whether it be gradings, competition success, or new directions and realisations in your practice. And a special congratulations to those that continue to train week-in and week-out despite the ups and downs that occur throughout the year. Your persistence is noticed and t it forms an important foundation for the culture of the Club.

The training year will kick off on Sunday 4 January at the PCYC for those that wish to indulge in a post New Year's session.

However, the "official" start of the training year at the MEAC will be from 5pm Monday 5 January. Keiko Hajime will follow a familiar format from the past few years where available discipline instructors will be conducting mini-sessions followed by a shared light supper and drinks. Everyone is most welcome to participate, and if you have anyone in your circle who may be interested in watching, please let them know they would be most welcome!

So I wish that everyone has a safe, joyous, relaxing, and recharging fortnight away and I look forward to catching up with your tales of adventure and fun in the New Year!

Artist's impression of Michael's holiday plans ...

Artist's impression of Michael's holiday plans ...

Get well soon wishes...

I just wanted to wish Peter Hills sensei, Australian Chief Instructor for Aiki Kenpo Jujutsu, a speedy recovery from a quite serious and sudden health issue that landed him in the Emergency ward over the weekend.

I have known Hills sensei from time we both spent training at the Australian College of Natural Medicine. More recently, he was appointed as my mentor for the completion of my National Coaching Accreditation Scheme renewal this year. You might recall that as part of that process, a small group of us travelled to and trained at his home dojo in North Lakes and enjoyed his hospitality afterwards.

I'll certainly be looking forward to hearing that Peter is back on the mats, and hope that 2015 only brings pleasant challenges!

Notice of changes to the fee structures at BBRD in the new year.

I just wanted to write to give the membership advanced notice that, reluctantly, we will be changing the fee structure of classes at the Club from January 5 2015.

The cost of Class contributions have been the same for over four years, and we are needing to make the changes to cover increases in our ongoing costs that have occurred during this time. The changes will be most noticeable for people paying casual class contributions. Individual instructors will be able to tell you more about how the fee changes may affect you.

We can assure you that there will not be any dramatic changes, particularly for many who are currently paying monthly contributions.

A full outline of the new contributions will be posted on the Club website this week.  The headline changes for class contributions will be:

  • Casual fees at the MEAC will be based per session rather than per night. One session will still be $10, but if you do two sessions back to back, the cost will be $15
  • Full time students or concession card holders will continue to pay $60 per month training. However, the standard monthly contribution will now be $70. To be eligible for the monthly rate, you must pay within the first week of the calendar month.
  • Payments through the Club's e-commerce site will incur a surcharge in order to cover costs there. Cash payment made at the dojo or direct bank transfer will not.
  • Kendo at the CBRC will increase to $10 per casual session, or $5 for those members who contribute a monthly amount for MEAC classes.
  • Likewise, Saturday Jujutsu will attract an extra $5 contribution for monthly paying members.
  • Equipment use for consumables such as shinai and Arnis canes shall be one "gold coin" donation per session.

We understand that students can face variable circumstances throughout the year, particularly university students. If you face difficulties, please come and talk to us rather than "disappear", as arrangements can be made to meet your obligations. Often this can be done with in-kind contributions such as regular cleaning of the dojo and its surrounds.

Do remember that all money raised by the Club gets ploughed back into providing equipment or covers other necessary expenses to provide the services that we do.

There will also be changes to some of the membership and insurance fees in the new year, though these will be outlined a the beginning of March as we approach the membership renewal period.

 

Special Arnis session this Thursday

This Thursday night we will be taking a break from regular programming and host a special Arnis seminar with Don Ouellette and Peter Armstrong (to be confirmed shortly) .

The seminar will run from 6–9pm and will replace the usual classes that night. We will be focussing on the orange and green belt syllabus and handing out grading certificates.

The seminar is $10 for attendance. If you don't have your own canes, you can purchase a set from the Club for $20, or hire them on the night for $5.

Last week of training for the year at BBRD

We are now rapidly heading down the home stretch for training in 2014 at the Club. It has been a very full year this year with significant growth in the numbers of participants across the disciplines.

Please check with your individual instructors in the other disciplines, but the last Systema class for the year will be Tuesday the last Jujutsu class will be Saturday, and the last Kendo session will be Sunday morning at the PCYC.

If you are coming along to Sunday Kendo (even if you can't make it for training), please bring a plate of food to share as we will be distributing some awards and spending time together to reflect on a very successful year.

Keiko hajime will be on Monday 5 January. I will send out details, but we will most likely have a dojo tidy/mat clean for the start of the year followed by some training across a number of the disciplines.

I hope to see many of you through this week, but if I do not, please have a fun, safe and relaxing holiday break.

Wonderful results from the QKR Summer Seminar

It was most certainly a hot and steamy weekend down in Collingwood Park for the 2014 Summer seminar and grading opportunity. While overall numbers were a little down, it was the largest contingent from Toowoomba in some years, with ten participating on one or both of the days.

As always, there were many valuable tips and lessons learned  in the sessions provided by the senior sensei — T. Tsukadaira, K. Kuromochi, J. Isaacs, T. Itakura, G. Nicholas and N. Tamura sensei, and I would also like to thank T. Johnson and T. Sugio sensei for ably assisting to prepare those of us going for our Seitei Iaido examinations on Sunday. All input was very gratefully received and I am certain contributed to the successes on the weekend.

Special thanks to T. Johnson and D. Fitzgibbon san for their administrative efforts in making the weekend run smoothly, and to Ryo Atsumi and Martin Cowan for providing motodachi services during the Kendo gradings.

Toowoomba folk experienced considerable success in their gradings, with all adult kendoka double grading. For Maaike Stehouwer in particular, this represents her third double grade in a row in the space of 12 months!

The results for Toowoomba and Ipswich folk are:

Kendo

  • Maaike Stehouwer, ikkyu
  • Wan Li Xing, Ikkyu
  • Melissa Pierides, gokkyu
  • Aaron De Smet, gokkyu
  • Cody Dimech, gokkyu
  • Alexander Pierides, rokukyu
  • Andrew Pierides, rokukyu

Seitei Iaido

  • James Archer, sankyu
  • Michael Baczynski, sankyu
  • Sian Carlyon, sankyu

Summer holiday schedule

Holy Name Primary School has commenced its summer holidays this week. On behalf of the Club I would like to thank the school for its continued support for what we do, in particular Principal Kathy Bliss. I would like to  wish everyone in the school community a happy, safe and restful break.

We will have an opportunity to give the MEAC a really good spruce up in the next fortnight. This week the floor will be cleaned thoroughly by the school's cleaning contractor and we will have a good tidy and clean of the mats and the storage area.

We will be able to leave the mats down for the duration of the Holidays from next week and we will be having some extra sessions through that period including our annual Keiko Hajime on Monday January 5 (more details to follow).

Happy training everyone!

Great evening at the 2014 BBRD Awards Night

Thursday night was great fun from my perspective, and I'd like to thank everyone who made it the evening that it was. Special mentions to Sian Carlyon for her inimitable graphic design flair and style (and the herculean task of organising a booking for near 30 people), the Club instructors for coming up with some great reflections of the deeds of the year in the awards given out, the staff of the Kajoku Restaurant and of course to all the Club's members, both in attendance and those who could not make it for the evening.

As I said on the night, the Club is the sum of everyone's effort and commitment throughout the year, and I feel truly privileged to  be a part of such a vibrant community.

A list of the awards granted will be posted separately in the Club's Facebook group for those who want to see/be reminded of what people received on the night!