Australian University Games 2017

It is that time of year that we start to think seriously about Uni Games preparation. Competitions for Kendo, Judo and Taekwondo are on 23 and 24 September. 

The USQ is now recruiting judo, kendo and taekwondo athletes and BBRD will be helping to coordinate matters. If you are currently studying with USQ and interested in competing, please contact PhoenixCentral.Toowoomba@usq.edu.au for more information or to register for the team ASAP! 

In addition, QKR has made a call out for volunteers and shimpan for the kendo side of thing. We would be heading down on the Friday to help set things up in the afternoon, then be staying through till competition close on Sunday. To shinpan, you need to be 3DAN or higher, though we also require a slew of volunteers to do everything from time keeping through to scoreboard duties and ribbon tying. Volunteers will have access to heavily discounted accomodation and lunches will be provided.  Dave Fitzgibbon has asked for each dojo to provide a list of volunteers, so if you are interested, please let me know this week.  

Arnis now on Sunday morning!

For those of you who have wanted to practice Arnis but have found the 5 pm Thursday time a challenge to get to, we will now be running a second session on a Sunday from 10 – 11.30 am at the MEAC, running parallel with the regular Kendo session. 

Dylan Green will be ably directing traffic on the Sundays while I am otherwise occupied with Kendo. We had our first session this weekend past, and we will look forward to building numbers over the coming weeks!

Reminder: Knife defence workshop Saturday 6 August

Just a quick reminder that Saturday fortnight we will be heading down to Marburg to attend the knife defence seminar run by Don Ouellette, sensei and Jason Griffiths sensei. I would strongly encourage all jujutsu-ka and arnisidores to take the time and attend. Cost will be $20, which will include lunch, and we shall be car pooling to get to the venue. 

Please let me know no later than the end of this week so that we can provide numbers to the organisers. 

First aid/ CPR refresher course Saturday 19 August

Chris Clayton from Resolute Fitness will be running CPR and First Aid courses on Saturday 19 August. 

CPR only will run from 9 – 11 am and cost $70, and if you need your three yearly update for First Aid, it will run from 9 am – 2 pm and cost $140. 

Chris brings a wealth of experience to the presentation, which usually goes beyond the "bare bones" versions I've seen on some courses. There is an online component, which means that the time is spent productively rather than the typical "talk and chalk" mode. 

I strongly recommend that everyone think seriously about doing this, as it is an important skill to have and a great opportunity to do so with an excellent presenter. For booking, contact:

Reception: 4642 0939
Mob: 0419 757 762 or
Email: chris@resolutefitness.com.au

PunchFit and Jodo cancelled Monday 24 July

Hello All,

Due to other commitments, I have to cancel this Monday's (24 July) PunchFit and Jodo training.  Jodo will still have training this Wednesday (26 July) with PunchFit and Jodo training resuming as normal on 31 July (PunchFit on Mondays @ 6 and Jodo on Mondays & Wednesdays @ 7).

Eric

USQ Market Day wrap up

I just wanted to write a quick word of welcome to those who signed up for more information regarding the USQ Martial Arts Club during the Semester 2 Market Day. I will be sending out more detailed information to you later today, but I would welcome even a fraction of the enthusiasm we saw on Wednesday translate to new friends and training partners over the coming weeks.

Many thanks to Eric, Matt G., Tracy and Brady for volunteering their time for the day and the efficient set-up/break-down of our display. Sharing what we love with the wider public is always enjoyable, but doing so with fellow enthusiast such as yourself makes it a joy. Thanks also to the Phoenix Central team for all of your efforts to make the day a success!

Jodo dates

Hello All,

Please note that the Jodo inter-dojo training over the next couple of months has changed from what was originally on the BBRD What's On calendar.  The July date has been cancelled and the next date is scheduled for 2 September but may occur in August or later in September.  The October and November dates have been updated from the latest communication with Glen Henry sensei.

Please stay tuned for the next inter-dojo training date.  Dates will be placed on the calendar and announcements will be made on the Budo Blog.

Thank you.

Eric

Welcome (back) to Semester 2

With school holidays over and the University semester starting today, I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome everybody back to "regular programming" and the opportunity to refocus, reset and recommit to their studies and training. 

The second half of the year has a number of regular Club commitments for public engagement and "out of town" activities. The first will be this Wednesday at the Toowoomba Campus from 10am–2pm as a part of the Club's Muster during the common hour. We will be set up inside the Refectory and will not be doing any demonstrations requiring a matted area, though a couple of noisy bouts of kirikaieshi might be in order to see if we can generate a few more Kendo practitioners. If you can help out by staffing our stall for a while and talking to the crowd, please let me know ASAP. 

Next on the list is the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival on Sunday 20 August. The Festival is an opportunity to have a all day training experience while showcasing what we love to the wider Toowoomban community. It is one event where we generate new members year on year, and a little bit of a buzz around the martial arts. I'm looking forward to the addition of Taiko Drums this year!

The Sunday after (Augst 27) we will be travelling to Brisbane to attend the International Budo Federation's training day. This will be the third year that the Club will be participating, and the second year that I will be teaching one of the sessions. 

The next big event will be the Australian University Games, where the budo events will be held on the weekend of the 23 and 24 of September. AUG will from this year be permenantly located on the Gold Coast, rather than every second year. This will make it much easier for USQ squads to develop a little bit of momentum and garner more competition experience. You don't have to be a competitor to come and enjoy the weekend. There is a need for volunteers of all capacity to help with both the Kendo and Judo competitions. And with both being co-located at the Carrara Stadium sporting complex, it will be much easier to get across and support both competitions. 

Finally, there are some rumblings that we may be hosting the QKR's December seminar and grading here in Toowoomba this year. It has been almost five years since we last hosted the event, and it would be great to see some of the North Queensland contingent make it down for a weekend of Kendo, Iaido, and possibly Jodo.  

There will no doubt be a whole lot more to pack into the rest of this year. This includes regular scheduled trips to Brisbane to train with the Kenshinkai in Kendo, trips to Pine Mountain to train Iaido and Kyudo with Kohokai, opportunities to train with various Ittoshinkan sensei, including Don Ouellette and Jason Griffiths, and another Dojo Open Day/taste tester to encourage more folk to join in the fun. We will le you know what we have planned as soon as the details become more clear. Keep reading the Budo Bulletin for more information. 

So I wish everyone the best for the weeks ahead! Have fun, be productive, get some rest (somewhere), and I hope that you will all reap the benefit of time well spent.  

QKR Seminar wrap up

It is always a pleasure to come away from a weekend feeling successful and enthused. The past weekend spent on the Gold Coast was highly informative, considerable fun, and certainly successful, so ticked all the boxes indicating a brilliant weekend away. 

I would first like to thank all of the sensei who generously provided their time and attention to ensure that we were able to make those critical breakthroughs to our practice. Specifically, Itakura, Isaacs, and Tamura sensei, provided their erudite input for Kendo, and T. Tsukadaira, Kolb, H. Tsukadaira, Sugio, and Johnson sensei patiently continued to polish our performance and understanding of the Iaido kata. Extra thanks go to Tamura and Johnson sensei for undertaking all of the administrative burden that means the rest of us can simply enjoy the weekend and concentrate on our practice. 

All BBRD members were successful in their attempts at grade, with Sian Carlyon attaining nikyu in Iaido, Matt G. with nikyu in both Iaido and Kendo, and myself meeting the standard required for ikkyu in Iaido. Sian was even the recipient of a well deserved (and rare) compliment from Isaacs sensei for her performance of the standing variation of the Iaido kata.  

It was also wonderful just to spend time with good folk in the down time. It feels like a blessing to have the opportunity to be around good and decent people, and it is a reminder of why I have always though myself luck to have been a part of the Kendo and Iaido community over the past years.

Our next opportunity to head to the Coast for some RnR and budo will be toward the end of September in support of the University Games. The QKR is organizing the Kendo competition, and will require a small army of volunteers to assist, so you don't have to be a kendoka to help out! I will be organizing things from the USQ end over the coming weeks, but do let me know if you are interested in assisting, and in being a part of the event. 

Pine Mountain trip tonight

We are once again heading down the hill to train with Tom Johnson sensei and the rest of the Kohokai to get a little fine tuning on our iaido before this weekend. Given the dustiness of the old dance floor there, we will definitely have to do uniform cleaning after tonight's training.   

A reminder for those going, we will be leaving my house at 1705 to arrive before the 1830 start of training. Once again, it should be a fun and valuable night!