Harmony Day Action

Harmony Day 2016 was one of the best in recent years. Great atmosphere, quite a bit of interest in the Club, and, as always, the fun of doing what we love for a couple of hours out in the community. The Toowoomba Chronicle was out there, and a picture of Michael performing iaido kata was used as the lead photo for its record of the day (will see if we can get some more hi resolution copies).

Many thanks to Dylan, Eric, Matthew, Raymond, Sian, and Tracey for putting on demonstrations and participating on the day, and to Sean, in absentia for the loan of the gazebo, which was most appreciated as shelter from the frying sun, and then the rain that came just as we were packing up!

Autumn Dojo Day 2016

Just to provide some notice for your calendars, the Club will be holding it's Autumn Dojo Day on Saturday 2 April — the Saturday after the Easter long weekend.

Dojo days are an opportunity to come and try out something new, bring along a friend, or come along for the first time to train with the Club. We will be finalising our timetable over the coming fortnight, but we should be able to provide an experience across each of the supported disciplines and activities in a number of parallel session through the day.

So regardless of whether you are a regular, an experienced martial artist, or trying things out for the first time, the Open Day is your opportunity to extend your knowledge and have some fun!

Harmony Day celebrations this week

USQ Toowoomba campus is celebrating Harmony Day on Wednesday this week, and the Club is once more chipping in to add to the colour and movement to the day. Festivities will be in the Quad from 12–2pm.

We will have a small display stand and be doing some demonstrations that do not require using the training mats — some Arnis, Iaido, Jodo, and Kendo, in particular.  We will be running a "suburito swinging" competition for the USQ crowd, and having our usual fun. And yes there will be a prize for the most amount of swings in 60 seconds!

I would encourage everyone who is on campus to come along and participate. The food provided by the various student groups each year is excellent, and it will be a chance to fly the Club's colours for the annual "Tug of peace".

Tozando order this week

We will be putting in an order with Tozando this week to get a few items (including a zekken/nafuda order). Please let Michael know by Wednesday what you might like added and get monies deposited to Club account no later than Thursday.

Have a look at www.tozandoshop.com to see what you might want. Remember that on Tozando-branded items we receive a 15% Club discount, and the more people involved in the order the smaller the per person shipping cost!

Do-Pro video of kendo: Market Day 25.2.16

A kendo session between Michael Baczynski and Robert Kimber, at USQ Market Day last Thursday, was filmed with a Go-Pro (now renamed a Do-Pro) attached to Michael's Do (kendo body armour) 

This gives a unique perspective, a bit like a first person shoot-em-up computer game crossed with a washing machine!

Our thanks to Nik for the footage.  Domo arigato gozaimasu!

Enjoy!

Welcome to the new friends and members!

I wanted to provide a big round of thanks to everyone who participated in the USQ Market Day on Thursday. We managed to generate 45 expressions of interest in the Club — significantly up on last year. So to Adam, Brady, Dave, Dylan, Eric, Lauren, Peter, Robert, Sean C, and Will, thank you for your time in the embu-jo and for talking up a storm to generate the interest.

There should be some good pictures and footage from the day, including some from a go-pro strapped to Michael's chest while practising Kendo with Robert. We will post them up when it becomes available.

New month and Annual membership renewals

I just want to remind everyone that annual renewals for BBRD membership are due this month. For those who have joined us recently and paid your membership this calendar year, you are covered till this time next year!

A 2016 membership form can be downloaded from the Club website. After your initial four weeks of temporary membership, you must become a current financial member in order to continue your training under the banner of the Club, and hence be covered by our insurances. We have a grace period till we hold our AGM, but please ensure that your attend to this promptly. Funds should be either directly transferred into the Club's bank account, or you can use the credit card facility that we operate on the Club website. If you are direct transferring, please put your surname in the payment advice so that we can more easily track things.

As a side note, please ensure that you attend to your monthly contributions this week.

Mat cleaning thanks

Many thanks to those members who could make it along on Saturday to assist with the cleaning of the mats: Raymond, Dylan, Matthew, Sean and Sian. With the return of the Aikikai mats scheduled, on Wednesday with a wipe down after use at the next demonstration, we know that we are returning them in relatively good cleanliness and repair.

And O Week is upon us ...

Welcome to the new academic year!

O-week is always an exciting time at the Club as it brings the possibility of an influx of new members, fresh starts, and most importantly a few chances to spend a few hours practising what we love to do and convincing others to join!

The first commitment for the Club will be the Clubs and societies market day this Thursday, 25 February. We will be in the quad from 8.30 am till about 2.30 pm putting on demonstrations, talking to folk and generally promoting what we do. I would love to see as many of you as possible come along and provide support, either with active participation on the mats, meeting and greeting the public or even just stopping past and saying hi.

Please let Michael or Sian know your availability ASAP to that we can ensure that we have sufficient people to staff the booth and the mats during the expected busy times.

Mat clean this Saturday (and Monthly dojo spruce up)

This Saturday is an excellent opportunity for us to have a mini spruce up of the dojo, including a thorough clean of the mats. This is an important part of our hygiene protocols at the Club, and is something that we should all contribute to.

Given that we will be transporting a portion of our mats for O Week Market Day activities, and we may well have new members come along for their first sessions in the coming week, I want for all of us to ensure that we are putting our best foot forward and providing the correct impressions of the Club's values.

So it would be excellent if as many folk as possible could come at 3 pm on Saturday, armed with an old towel to help give the mats a clean. In addition, if you have a bucket and mop to bring, we can give the MEAC floor a decent (and relatively quick) mop down too!