Change of Date: Bunning Family day now Saturday 7 March

The Bunnings Family day has been pushed forward one week as the Toowoomba store did not want to directly compete with the mega water slide that is being set up in town on the 14th. In all honesty, probably a few of the Bunnings staff wanted to be at the water slide themselves!

This is good news for the Club as I was going to be away that weekend (celebrating my Dad's 70th) so it means we can offer a broader range of disciplines to be displayed. We will firm up precisely what we are going to do during this week.

Please let your instructor know this week of your availability for some or all of that day.

Back to my (second) home...

This is a quick note to let all know I will be off to Kyoto, Japan, for a few weeks. There will be no formal Jodo classes until my return on Tuesday March 24th.  Michael will be leading people through the Internal Power exercises so please keep up the good work on Thursday nights!

Arashiyama bamboo forest

This will be a great time away to catch up with my wife's family, my old mates in the Kyoto Aikido club and a chance to meet some new training partners for Jodo. The positive side of being winter over there is that there are lots of yummy winter recipes to enjoy! So for the moment, sayonara... Adrian.

Reminder of Andrew Seyderhelm Russian Martial Arts Seminar this Saturday

I have to say I am really looking forward to this weekend, where BBRD will be hosting Andrew Seyderhelm to provide a full day seminar in Russian martial arts.

Andrew is one of the founding members of BBRD and a fully qualified Combat Systema instructor under Kevin Secours and Vasiliev Systema instructor (in the days before some of the senior practitioners looked like they were auditioning for a spot in the Ministry of Silly Walks). In recent years he has worked as a Sydney-based officer in the Australian Federal Police.

Andrew intends to teach from his experiences with the AFP, in particular the ethical and legal framework that we exist within when practising the martial arts and engaging in self defence.

I can't oversell the opportunity to train with Andrew. He is a fine martial artist with an excellent knowledge of the core principles and training approaches that initially attracted us to the Russian Art. This is probably your best opportunity to see how the core pillars of breath, relaxation, posture and movement can be put into a practical, no nonsense, no bulldust delivery framework.

There will be two sessions — 10am–1pm and 2–5pm. Costs for the day will be $60 for BBRD members and $80 for non-members, or $40 and $50 respectively for one session.

We are also wanting to go to dinner on the Saturday night, with details to be confirmed by Wednesday. If you are wanting to join us, please let Michael know ASAP so that we can book sufficient seats.

No Jujutsu this Saturday

Just to confirm, but there will be no Jujutsu on Saturday on account of the Andrew Seyderhelm seminar. Stuart will advise what the state of play is regarding the morning Tai Chi Ch'uan class directly to affected students.

Wednesday kendo for this week ...

Just a quick heads up that I may not be able to direct traffic for kendo this week. Many apologies.

I will provide an update directly to those players affected, but could you please let me know ASAP if you are intending to be there so that suitable arrangements can be made.

Reminder for Kendoka and Iaidoka ...

Just a reminder that all practitioners of Kendo and Seitei Iaido are expected to have current PCYC Queensland memberships. This will allow you to train without complication at the PCYC on a Sunday (for either discipline) and give us access to the PCYC bus when travelling to seminars and special training events outside of Toowoomba.

If you have not done so already, could you please ensure that your membership is up to date. The PCYC have apparently changed their systems to allow you to more easily renew your memberships, and I ask that you do so ASAP.

Seitei Iaido for this week

We are still to finalise the regular schedule for Seitei Iaido for the year. However, we are going to be locking in the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month in the second session of the evening (from 7.50 pm) starting tonight for those interested.

We hope to lock in one trip a month to Collingwood Park to train with Johnson sensei (most likely the last Monday of the month) and again the first Sunday of the month at the PCYC (after Kendo). However with Johnson sensei away till April, we will be firming those arrangement in the coming weeks.

Quick message of thanks

Lauren Ole wanted me to pass on her thanks for the well wishes an condolences provided via the Club over the past few weeks.

Amber still has a way to go in her recovery, and this will, as it always does, come in fits and starts. So I will continue to offer what practical support we can, and ask that you continue to keep the Ole family in your thoughts.

Kendo thought for the week

I was talking with Itakura sensei after Kendo yesterday about what might be the best thing to concentrate on this week coming during training.

His response was simple and in keeping with what we have always tried to do with our Kendo here in Toowoomba — elegance, decisiveness and not beginning the "next" moment until the present one has finished.

On a meta-level, this means paying particular attention to issoku itto no maai (one step to cut) and zanshin (remaining spirit). Broken down, what we will be focussing on is maintaining correct posture; cutting with the shoulders and torso rather than the elbows; gliding (rather than galloping); maintaining kiai through the turn; and how to create the still point before the next action.

I have a few ideas/drills I would like to put into action to see if we can make progress on these things. One includes porting across some of the Internal Power training that has been practised  on Thursday nights. Another is to do some short, sharp kakarigeiko work to expand the sense of zanshin.

Would love to see as many kendoka as can make it this week to give things a red hot testing!

Gym and Swim for February

We are beginning a new macro cycle with our Gym and Swim training this week. We may be revising the training times to make it easier for more of the regulars to attend, so please talk to Michael to let him know your availability.

Hopefully Lauren will be there to help correct form (see enclosed picture of Michael's poor attempt at the dish ...