Weekend wrap up

It was a privilege to travel up to Gin Gin this weekend and participate in the inaugural Regional Queensland “have a go” Japanese martial arts weekend. The Toowoomba cohort was filled out by Tracy, Jack, Sean T and Kateena, who worked hard in the heat and humidity of the weekend to do the Club proud and promote the arts that we love. It was also lovely to meet those that travelled from Gladstone to participate in the Judo activities on Sunday. 

Many thanks to Tamara Kelly, and Ivan and Liz Hills for all of their efforts to make the weekend possible. We will be looking to do a similar event in the New Year, so do watch this space!

Training going forward over the next fortnight

Tomorrow night ought to see Michael C back at the MEAC teaching Systema after a disrupted few months. Everyone who has expressed interest in trying Systema or coming back to training is strongly encouraged to come along this Tuesday evening to give it a go.

Second, for those that may have missed the announcement, Fencing will go into recess for the rest of this year. Michael S is currently involved with accreditation commitments in Ipswich for the next month, and is unlikely to be able to make it back to Toowoomba in time for classes. We will look forward to it restarting after Christmas.

Third, there will be no Jujutsu or Kendo training for the next two Saturdays. This weekend, we are up in Gin Gin in support of the Japanese Martial Arts festival, and the following weekend we are down at Tallebudgera attending the QKR Summer Seminar (and grading opportunity).

After that point, school holidays are almost upon us, and we will be providing a Summer training schedule as soon as that becomes clearer.

Gin Gin Japanese Martial Arts Friendly Weekend

The Gin Gin Japanese Martial Arts Friendly weekend is on this Saturday and Sunday, with a bunch of Toowoomba-based BBRD members heading up to support the event. Sessions will begin 10.30am Saturday, with Kendo, Iaido and Jujutsu, followed by Judo training and a friendly Judo competition on Sunday.

The Saturday session is $10 for the whole day, and is structured as a “have a go” for both absolute beginners and experienced martial artists alike. It will be held in the National Fitness Hall, corner of the Bruce Highway (Mulgrave Street) and Walker Street, just opposite the Gin Gin Police Station. Sunday’s proceedings will be held at the Gin Gin Primary School’s Hallare $15 to participate, and includes lunch.

We will be doing a small dojo pack-up in Toowoomba Friday afternoon to take some gear in support of the weekend, and the main group heading up will be leaving Toowoomba around 5.30 am to make sure that we are there with plenty of time to set up.

As a result there will be no training at the MEAC in Toowoomba this weekend or the next with QKR Seminar on).

I am personally very much looking forward to the weekend, and I’d encourage the BBRD community to either come in support if you can, or to encourage folk who are close to the event to come and give it a try!

What’s on this week

Just a few things to mention this week. First, it is great to see some new faces at the dojo this past week, there is a promise of some more this week, and we will look forward to seeing some of the old faces return now that USQ exams are over. 

A couple of reminders regarding training schedules for this week. First both Michael C and Michael S are away, therefore there will be no Systema or Fencing classes this week. Second, Gin Gin will be taking a break from the live video link training, and I’d encourage them to have a look at the videos we took to inspire some of their own home practice until we see each other next week. 

At the moment Tom Johnson sensei is planning a visit Thursday night to have a look over how folk are tracking in regard to Iaido with the seminar coming up. While on that, we will be booking accomodation this week, and grading application forms must be in to the QKR no later that this Saturday (two weeks before the grading).  

And don’t forget to have a look through your own archives and share your #BBRD10years stories and pictures. The strength of the Club is in the community we create, and it would be wonderful to see some of those memories shared.   

Training this week

Just a quick update/reminder of changes to the usual schedule for training this week. 

Michael C is in Canada for the next fortnight, so there will be no Systema classes till Tuesday 20 November. 

I have a mid-afternoon committments today (Monday) so won’t be at the dojo till 5.30 for kendo kata.  

Arnis is having a slow period at the moment, so we will be rescheduling training till Tuesday at my place. Let me know if you are interested in participating! 

Gin Gin martial arts weekend and QKR seminar

I am wanting to firm up some planning and numbers for the last weekend of November and the first weekend of December, as this will come around quicker than anticipated.  

The draft schedule for 24/25 November has been put together, and we are planning for a full day Saturday at the Gin Gin National Fitness Hall, starting with Kendo at 10.30am, Iaido from 1.00-2.30pm, then Jujutsu from 3.00-4.30pm. That evening we will be heading to Bundaberg for an end-of-year dinner and show. Sunday will start with a Judo training session and end with an informal Judo shiai, where competitors will be matched more closely on age/experience/size than would be in a formal Judo competition. This will also allow for the broader Judo community to participate. 

If you are interested in participating, please let me know ASAP. We will need to arrange for how many cars we take driving up, and accomodation. There are a number of accomodation options, but the earlier we sort this the better. The plan is to leave Toowoomba first thing Saturday (likely 0530) for at least one car, but if you were looking to support the Jujutsu and Judo sessions of the weekend, there may be some scoope to have a second departure time for those folk. 

The Saturday and Sunday morning sessions are open to all regardless of experience, so it would be great to see folk come and support our sister Club in Gin Gin. 

The weekend after we will be off to the Gold Coast for the QKR Summer seminar. We will be missing a few folk (attendance/participation at wedding is a passable excuse), but we will be looking to sort out our accomodation arrangements this week coming. If those who haven’t confirmed (yay or nay) whether they are coming could please do so before Thursday, it would help this planning enormously. 

#BBRD10years

It is the 10th anniversary of the Club this month. As part of celebrations that will include an end of year dinner, I would love for all of the BBRD community — current and past members, supporters and friends— to share their favourite memories and photos from the last ten years. 

There are some great stories out there, and I’d love to hear them! So please, post on social media, including the Club’s public Facebook page or the group pages, e-mail me directly, or simply spread the word/love in whichever way you would like. And don’t forget to use the hashtag #BBRD10years !

Kajoku + Taiko fundraiser

Friday night last, our Taiko group performed two sets for the diners at Kajoku Korean & Japanese Restaurant in Margaret St, Toowoomba. The restaurant was full for both sessions, but that provided little sound buffering for the boom of multiple taiko at full bore! However, I'm not aware of anyone availing themselves of the ear plugs thoughtfully provided by the restaurant. 😁 The night was arranged to raise some further funds for the Takatsuki Disaster Relief Fund, before it is closed off by Rotary and Council at the end of this month. We enjoyed the opportunity to perform for the public again on the wonderful taiko gift from Takatsuki, especially in order to give something back to their community, and thank Jeff from Kajoku for arranging this night. Grateful thanks go to our Club members: Tomoko, Jun, Michelle, Katy (who danced as well as drummed), Gary, Arielle, Joanne and Sian, and to Roger, Steve and Mark who helped with handling the drums in and out of the restaurant and vehicles. 

In the Dojo this week ...

It’s a misty start to the week here in Toowoomba, which will give me an opportunity to start working on a number of home-based and dojo-based projects that have been on the back burner while I have been travelling to Bundaberg for study. The first of these will be some updates to the Club’s web site, which is in need of a refresh as some of the content there is either a little tired or out of date. I will be making these changes through this week, so as a favour, could you please point your browsers to www.bbrd.org.au and let me know what you think needs revision/deletion/inclusion for the site. 

Second, we will be doing some planning for the next month, with three Club committments starting this weekend in support of the Diwali Festival celebrated this Saturday, a trip to Gin Gin to help the Ken Jin Kan Kids prepare for their very first Kendo seminar the following week, and taking the opportunity to do some Jujutsu and Iaido while up there.

Third is of course our own participation at the QKR seminar and grading opportunity the following weekend.  

On the back of the successful “Virtual Dojo” training we had with Gin Gin on Wednesday afternoon, we are going to try to set up virtual classes for both FlexiFit this evening and Iaido later this week. I you are interested in participating, please contact me ASAP so that I can set up the Zoom meetings and send invites to participate.  

In Jujutsu, we are finishing up our focus on kansetsu-wasa and transitioning to a month of focus on nage wasa. I would encouragefolk that have been away from classes for a while to come this week if you can, as we will be doing some important foundation work with your falls and “fitting in”. For kendo, we will be starting to spend focussed time in grading preparation.  

Systema on Tuesday night will run as usual, though Michael C has to head overseas for a fortnight from next week, so will be returning to regular programming thereafter.  

And one thing I am particularly looking forward to after study and illness forced disruption is a return to Gym and Swim for me this week! Let me know if you are interested in coming along to Milne Bay for a session! 

Congrats Jack and thanks to Lawrence sensei

 I wanted to note Jack Baker’s success on the weekend in picking up gold for judo, in the u81 Kg category at the Isshindokan Club competition. This adds to an excellent haul so far this year. Congratulations, and I am looking forward to seeing him back on the tatami, especially with our nage wasa focus about to start in Jujutsu!

Second, I’d like to especially thank Russell Lawrence sensei, who generously provided his time on Thursday to give my Iaido kata a thorough working over in preparation for my shinsa in December. Five hours with a 6DAN certainly will leave your head feeling pretty full, but I’ve hopefully retained plenty of things to polish and refine over the coming weeks. 

Thanks also to Rob D for organising the use of the Pine Mountain Dojo for the session. I’ll look forward to some more training with him in both Iaido and Kyudo in the coming weeks!