Date Grabber: Bunning fundraising BBQ Saturday 4 April

The Club has been successful in its application for a fund raising BBQ on Saturday 4 April.

This is an excellent opportunity for the Club to raise funds and our profile. The date falls on the Easter long weekend, which is traditionally a high traffic day for Bunnings, increasing our potential customer base.

I will post more details closer to the time, but if I could get you to think about your availability that day as we will need people to staff the hotplate and to participate in demonstrations through the day!

Expression of interest for this year's Australian Kendo Championships

The 40th Australian Kendo Championships, Seminar and Kendo Exam, 2015 will be held this year in Melbourne from Friday 3 to Wednesday 8 April (which includes the Easter long weekend).

The AKC are the premier event in Australia for Kendo, and it brings practitioners from all over the country to compete, train and learn from Australian based and Japan based senior sensei.

To be eligible for competition, your QKR membership must have been processed before November 2014. If you are interested in competing this year, could you please contact your dojo sensei ASAP as the Queensland Senior Sensei want to start planning for Queensland squad training and helping to sharpen the skills of those also wanting to compete in the individual divisions.

New year's resolutions and all ...

A new year can provide an excellent opportunity to re-examine and recommit to principles in training. I would urge everyone to have a look at the Club's various Codes of Conduct as a self check to see what you might work on to improve over this year.

One thing I would like everyone to commit to this year is improving on the rate of "tardiness" that crept into attendances towards the end of the year. This can significantly eat into the available time for class.

I do not want to dwell on this as I include myself in this. However, unless there are exceptional circumstances or commitments you simply cannot avoid, you should be ready to commence class by the nominated start times.

I will amend the class timetable to reflect the actual start time, which I will be holding to. You will need to ensure that you are at the dojo ready to commence (equipment set up and checked, changed into dogi ready for reiho). This will usually mean that you should be there approximately 15 minutes before the nominated time.

So for my part I hope to see everyone coming tomorrow to training at 6pm sharp, and Wednesday Kendo at 3.50pm!

Reminder: Keiko Hajime from 5pm Monday 5 January 2015

I hope that everyone has had a marvellous fortnight off and is looking forward to getting into the new training year!

While Itakura sensei, Michael Reidel and Ryo Astumi kicked things off on Sunday with Kendo at the PCYC, the official start to the BBRD training year is 5 pm Monday 5 January 2015.

As with previous years we will be engaging in a range of demonstrations and hands on practice and then having a light supper afterwards. So far we have confirmed that Arnis, Dragon Wrestling, Iaijutsu, Jodo, Jujutsu, Kendo, Seitei Iaido,  Systema and Tai Chi Ch'uan will be represented, with the other disciplines' instructors are yet to confirm if they can make it.

Could you please let Michael know ASAP if you are coming so that sufficient nibbles can be procured!

Are you a code monkey willing to barter?

Current CITO for the BBRD

Are you someone able to do some HTML5, CSS and/or Java scripting? Do you have a little spare time on your hands and would like to do a project for the Club?

We are wanting to develop a few interactive elements on the BBRD website and are willing to do a trade — some free training (classes and personal training sessions) in exchange for some work done on a suit of interactive tables for the Club.

If you are interested, please contact Michael ASAP!

Updates to the BBRD Website

While we have been having a break from regular training, work has been going on in the background to put the Club in a position for a flying start to the Academic year in March.

We have started to refresh the various pages in the site and have added a few more resources for members to use. For instance, do make sure that before you train this year you have a read through the various Codes of Conduct as they outline the rights and expectations that you are subject to as a member.

In addition, the first iteration of the new Equipment matrices are available to be viewed at:

• http://www.bbrd.org.au/equipment-matrix/
• http://www.bbrd.org.au/can-i-wear/
• http://www.bbrd.org.au/can-i-use/

We will be working to make them more interactive and will be revising the content in the coming weeks. However, they will give you an appreciation of what items you need to train in each discipline, and which you can use across a number of disciplines.

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 ...

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.