No evening training this Tuesday

I just to let everyone know that we will not be having any training on Tuesday night. I will be going to the Yamato Drummers performance in the evening with members from the Club's Taiko group. 

Other than this, we ought to have pretty much our usual full compliment of training sessions this week, including the return of regular Fire and Flow sessions offered by Jesse. 

I'd also like to just note that we have been missing quite a few of you in our regular Jujutsu and Systema classes. Compared with April/May, where we were regularly getting 10-12 on the mat, we have been down on some sessions to three (including myself).

I know that some of you have had work, study, family and health issues over these past weeks, and I just wanted to say that I hope you are seeing some light at the end of those tunnels. You are missed. With luck, we will start to see numbers improve. And give thought to anything that we as individuals or as a Club community can do to make it easier for you to return to regular classes.  

Thanks for the clean up help

I wanted to just express thanks to those who were able to donate their time on Saturday morning and provide the MEAC with a spring clean— Brady, Jack, Johnno, Kateena, Matt G, Matt M, Minty, Stuart, Tracy, and Travis. 

It as great to have the muscle and determination to get into some often forgotten corners of the main hall, service shinai, and put the store room back into better order. The next major clean will be in December at the start of the school holidays. However, do remember that we are engaged in a weekly clean before Jujutsu on a Saturday afternoon, and it would be good to see more folk there so that we can keep on top of the state of the floor.

Kendo news

September has a few kendo-related items on the calendar. First, there is a contingent of us going down to support the Australian University Games as volunteers the weekend of the 22-24th (yes, we start on the Friday). This week we shall be finalising plans for this event, and I will be in touch with everyone regarding the details. All volunteers require a white long sleeved business shirt, black or dark grey pants and black or dark grey socks. A red tie will be provided by the event organiser, but bring one if you have it. A blue sports jacket is optional. 

Given the tightness of the timeframe, we will be postponing out regular trip to train at the Kenshinkai till October. This is in part due to the Mt Gravatt hall being unavailable and the Uni Games commitments, which will see us having an opportunity to get some practice in while we are down there.  

I will also be hoping to hear back in the next week or so if we have been successful in convincing the QKR to hold the December seminar and grading opportunity here in Toowoomba. So please watch this space as it will require some support from the broader Club membership.  

I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank Alex Lee for coming along to training on Sunday. Alex has been in South East Queensland for work (his usual home base is in Sydney), and has taken the opportunity to train with all the Kendo Clubs here. It was a pleasure to meet and train with him, and we would love to see him again the next time he is through! 

We will have to confirm later this week regarding training for Sunday. I will be unavailable, but we shall see if Minty and Matt G can run the session. It has been great to see some new faces this past fortnight (welcome Holly, Michael T and Jessica), and the excellent week-on-week progress made by Kateena. With luck, we may see some new and returning faces over the next few weeks!

Tuesday (slightly) later start

Tuesday will experience a little delay to our usual start as the School has parent teacher night on.

We expect to be able to start laying down mats (and helping to pack up) from around 6.15 pm. However, if you could be there at the usual time so that we are ready to make a move as soon as we are able to.

Reminder: Spring clean this Saturday, 2 September

Just by way of a reminder, we are scheduled to hold a dojo spring clean this Saturday morning.  

We will be starting at 9.30 am and depending on numbers, we ought to be finished by around 12.00 pm or 12.30 pm, where we shall have lunch. We will not have training in the afternoon as a result. 

I want to again stress the need for your help. First, we all share a collective responsibility for the maintenance of the space we share, and there are solid health and safety aspects to ensuring that a high standard is maintained.

Second, we will need as many hands on deck as possible as the task is not small. Because we were unable to do a clean over the winter holidays, the base level of filth in the MEAC has not been addressed for some time, and we need to thoroughly get into the forgotten corners. We also need to do an audit of the Club's equipment so that we can identify and address any wear or damage to items. 

So I hope to see you there on Saturday where we will need to: 

• Complete the regular clean of the toilet area
• Remove much of the equipment in the main hall so we can mop in the corners as well as the floor
• Restack the chairs more efficiently so there are less "free floating" while the damaged rack is out of commission
• Give the tatami a thorough clean, particularly after their excursion to Queen's Park
• Clean the storage area so as to remove all the gritty sand deposited by the school on our side
• Go through all the storage bins to check that items are in the correct spot, properly stored/folded where appropriate, and identified for repare/replacement if necessary
• Ensure the kendo bogu are checked, sorted and stacked appropriately so that they are logically arranged on the shelves by size
• All weapons are checked for damage, to be repaired and replaced as necessary
• Promotional materials and decorations are checked so replacements can be ordered where necessary
• First aid kits are checked to see if any items are expired or missing and need replacng, and
• If we have the time/sufficient volunteers, we can scrub some of the line markings to lift the worst of the ground in dirt to give the hall a bit of a "refresh", and scrub down the concrete outside the hall to reduce the amount of dirt being tracked in.  

Could I ask that people please bring some cleaning equipment in with you so that everyone can be put to task efficiently. Additionally, if you have a high pressure water cleaner that you could lend for the morning, please let me know as it will make the outside clean-up task much easier.  

IBF Training day wrap up

I wanted to express both thanks and congratulations to Peter Hills, sensei, for organising another successful IBF training day this Sunday. This came off the back of his successful gradin to rokudan in Jujutsu on Saturday. Numbers were a little down from previous years, but we suspect that some sort of televised event might have been responsible for a little of that ...

Kateena M. Made the trip down with me, and suffice to say we may have another Jujutsu-ka on the mat come Tuesday. It was wonderful to catch up with Tony S. and Don Ouellette, sensei, both of whom have been completely flat sticks with their work commitments in recent months. 

Many thanks to Terry Riches, sensei, Kym Reid, sensei, Nigel Farrier, sensei, Steve Newson, sensei, and Don Ouellette, sensei, for running their seminar sessions. My sessions focussing on the use of the Jo to understand harai wasa seemed to be well received.

So I will look forward to next year, where hopefully more of the BBRD crowd will be in a position to come and participate. And with any luck we may be able to encourage some of the Brisbane-based folk to come up the hill and train with us! 

IBF training day this Sunday

Just a reminder that this Sunday we will be heading to Brisbane to participate in the IBF training day at the Hills District PCYC. The day runs from 12-3 pm  

We will be leaving Toowoomba around 10 am, so unfortunately we will not be able to run our usual Kendo session this week. 

Please let Michael know ASAP if you are intending to come so that we can arrange sufficient transport and let Peter Hills, sensei better organise the day.  

Dojo Spring Clean

I want to put into everyone's diary the intended dojo spring clean for Saturday 2 September.  

The MEAC has been getting into a fairly ordinary state of late, and I want to ensure that we address that. In recent weeks, it has only been Tracy showing up on a Saturday to do the Club's obligatory clean of the toilets, and this leaves little opportunity to get on top of other things in both the main hall and in the storage area. 

I want to remind everyone that it is an expectation for all members to come and help clean at least three times in the year. With sufficient folk we can ensure that:

• The main hall is properly tidied and there are no hidden "gems" like left over lunches mouldering in forgotten corners
• The floor gets a thorough scrub down, to lift a little of the ground in dirt off its surface. 
• The tatami are properly cleaned, particularly after their excursion to Queen's Park
• The storage area is mopped and swept to get rid of errant sand from the corners.  
• All the storage tubs are checked and sorted so that there are no misplaced items in the wrong spot.  
• All equipment is thoroughty checked and serviced so that it is simply good to go when we need it.  

We will commence the spring clean at 9.30 am and go through to roughly 12.30 pm, where we will put on some lunch for those that come along and help. Many hands and all that ... 

Hope to see many of you there to assist! 

TLCF wrap up

Yesterday was the 10th time I have fronted up to Queen's Park on a brilliant August Sunday to participate in the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival. It is now another Monday morning after, and I am feeling the joy of a body used for a full day in the sun, having shared my passion for martial arts with the broader Toowoomba community, among friends giving their best in that shared endeavour.

This year's festival saw the Club's Taiko group join us for the first time, who drew sustained crowds to our pavilion. We showcased the Club's weapon disciplines well, and even saw some live cutting action with Mr J Tamashigiri being brought out to an enthusiastic crowd towards the end of the day.

As always, these types of days do not happen in isolation, but due to the sustained and enthusiastic support of Club members. First to Tracy, who heroically helped me to pack a large portion of the dojo equipment into cars and trailers on Saturday afternoon. With many folks either feeling unwell or having other commitments that afternoon, I once again appreciated Tracy's steadfastness and dependability. 

Second, a thanks to all of the members who demonstrated on the day: Dylan, Eric, Jun, Kateena, Michelle, Minty, Ray, Sian, Stuart, Tomoko, and Tracy. You all cut fine figures and did the Club proud.

A third round of thanks to Cat for coming along to do the "meet and greet" and help with the bump out at Queen's. We will definitely grab the trailer off you next year! And Richard for popping past and giving us proof of life. Will be great to see both of you back at the dojo after your breaks.

And a final round of thanks to Sian, Stuart and Tracy who made it right through to the end of the day and repackage the dojo. Big day, big joy.

So I will once again look forward to next year and for time spent out in the sun, and hope to see some of those who came along and said hello in the dojo for class!

No Tuesday Lunchtime Go this week

Michael has a bunch of work and study commitments this week, and so there will not be any Go this Tuesday lunch. If you are hankering for a game, come along on Sunday to the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival, or wait till next week!