Kendo demonstration at the Pittsworth Judo Club

Sunday was the annual Pittsworth Judo Club's inter-Club competition day, and the combined Toowoomba Kendo Dojo were again invited to inject some colour, movement and noise for the lunchtime crowd.

Being out third year at the event, we decided to get some more audience interaction and make a whole bunch of mini-shinpan flags to see if they could score the same points that Michael Riedel acting as shinpan-chō scored.

As always it was great to get out there and share our passion for Kendo with a wider audience. Many thanks to Michael Reidel, Jason Winchester and Maaike Stehouwer for making the trip to Pittsworth. And of course to Robin Day and Craig Hindmarsh for the invite!

More pics from the even can be seen at the Club's Facebook page.

Congrats to Aaron De Smet!

Just a quick congratulations to Club Member Aaron De Smet for taking out the Year 12 Chemistry prize at Harristown State High School.

Aaron will be studying at USQ from next year and I'm sure that he will continue to obtain academic success over the coming years.

Well Done!

USQ Martial Arts Club T-Shirt Shop now open!

For all of you who have wanted to get a specific training shirt or one of the general BBRD Club shirts, the Club's print direct t-shirt shop is now open.

You can point your browser to: http://bbrd.printup.com.au/ and have a look at what is on offer. I am intending to have more designs up there in the coming weeks, so check back regularly!

Saturday Jujutsu now permenantly shifted to 4 pm

For those who may not have caught up at the dojo over the past few weeks, I just want to confirm that after three successful weekends for the later start time, Jujutsu will now be permanently shifting to a 4 pm start on Saturday.

By was of a reminder, please try to get to the dojo around 3.50 pm so that we can start on the dot of 4 pm. I am wanting to ensure that we have as efficient a set up and pack up as possible so that we do not interfere the with Holy Name church service at 6 pm.

It was great to see some long missed faces there this weekend, and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks where we will be transitioning from a focus on kansetsu waza into nage waza.

Well wishes for Brian Crouch

On behalf of everyone at BBRD, I'm wanting to pass on wishes for a speedy recovery to Brian Crouch, who has injured himself while playing Jugger for the Highland Dragons down in Brisbane this weekend.

Initial reports indicate a broken ankle, which will have Brian out of action on the field for some weeks. Will update with more information once we get it.

And yes Brian — it is a pity that none of the cyborg leg options come with in-build lasers!

 

Pittsworth Judo Club Annual Club Competition (Kendo demo)

This Sunday (18 October) is the annual Pittsworth Judo Club's inter-club Judo competition. It is a great opportunity to see young (and not so young) judoka compete, and certainly worth the relatively short drive down the Gore Highway to have a look.

As in previous years, the Toowoomba Kendo community have been invited to do some kendo demonstrations around lunch time between the junior and senior competitions.

I am aware that participation in Kendo has been somewhat depleted over recent months. However, I would ask that you consider dusting off the bogu and participating.

Given that the audience has seen a bit of what we do over the past few years, my idea would be to have two shiai "matches" — one Dan grade and one Kyu grade, with shinpan (singular or plural if sufficient folk participating) scoring the points. We could then have the audience armed with mini "flags" to see who they think scored the points.

However, in order to do this we would need sufficient kendoka to participate. Best laid plans and all that ...

We would be heading to Pittsworth after regular Sunday morning training a the PCYC, and can, of course, share transport out there to make it easier and more efficient to get to the event.

If you could please let Michael Baczynski know ASAP whether you might be interested in attending and participating, so that appropriate planning can be undertaken.

Term 4: Back to regular programming

I hope that everyone has had a quiet and productive fortnight and a wonderful long weekend. With school back this week , I would like to just set a few reminders for everyone at the Club

  • With the mini-heat wave on us, it is timely to think about self care during training. Make sure that you are properly hydrated before and during class. Bring a water bottle that you can leave at the edge of the training zone, and listen to the feedback your body is giving you. If you need to take a break, there is no shame it it.
  • If you are training in a class that uses the mats, please bring along a some footwear that can be easily slipped on, and use them every time you duck outside or go to the toilet. We need to keep the mat as clean and hygienic as possible.
  • Be on time for your classes. Because we have to work with the broader school community, including Extend After School Care, we have a duty to be ready to start at the appropriate time.
  • Take pride in the dojo space, including the store room. There are always jobs that need to be done, such as a quick sweep of the floor and setting up the mats. Other jobs might also need to be done such as a quick tidy of the MEAC hall or storage area. These tasks are everyone's responsibility. If you use something from the storage area, be it a uniform or piece of training equipment, you must put it back tidily in the correct spot.

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody back at training this week. Gambatte!

Shirts and uniforms update: New opportunities

In order to provide more flexibility for Club members to purchase training uniforms, we are establishing some direct shops with two of our preferred suppliers — The Print Bar, Australia, and Grapplingstore.com This will save Michael the stress of having to collect everyone's money for these purchases, and make sure that you get your gear ASAP.

Members will be able to direct purchase Systema and Arnis training shirts, and Jujutsu keikogi without having to wait for a group order. We will also be offering some general Club wear that you can purchase, including some fashion-t-shirts.

We will be working on the launch of these two shopping portals over the next two weeks and will let you know where you need to point your browsers once they go "live"

BBRD Executive meeting this Friday

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Club has its regular scheduled monthly Executive meeting this Friday.

We have a few items to discuss on the agenda, including the Club's shift to cashless transactions, fund raising and purchasing priorities for the next six months, and ratifying some procedural matters.

I invite any ordinary member to feed comments or queries through your discipline coordinators so that they can be presented at the meeting.