Stay hydrated this week!

Although we have a lovely cool Monday morning start here in Toowoomba, BoM is predicting some quite hot weather over the next few days, especially Wednesday, which is predicted to have a maximum temperature of 38 C.  

Please ensure that you bring a water bottle to training so that it can be kept easily accessible at the edge of the training area, and take time to check in with yourself while training regarding potential signs of heat stress.  

We will try to be particularly mindful during Jujutsu and Kendo sessions to stop regularly for a break. 

No Jodo training this week (Feb. 11-15)

Hello All,

There will be no jodo training this week (Tues. 12 Feb. & Thurs. 14 Feb.)

Training will resume next week at the usual times (Tuesdays & Thursdays at 1800 hrs).

Eric

Sparing a thought for Townsville

Weather events can certainly seem cruel. While we are loving the few millimetres of rain here in Toowoomba, and desperately hoping for more, I’m just wanting to convey our thoughts for those enduring the deluge in Townsville and surrounds.  

I’ve been in contact with Matt G, and he and his family are in a good position. However, yet to make contact with our other martial arts friends in the district. Will post updates as they come to hand. 

Keep safe everyone! 

No training at the MEAC Wednesday (6 February) night

Just a quick heads up that the School has informed us that it requires the MEAC on Wednesday night for a function, and hence the Club will not be able to run training sessions at that time. Many apologies to the Jujutsu, Fencing and Kendo participants. We ought to be back to regular programming next week. 

Congratulations Sian Carlyon!

The Australian Iaido and Jodo Seminar and Championships concluded in Hobart this week past, and I am enormously pleased to report the successes for Club stalwart Sian Carlyon, and Queensland more generally.  

Sian is now the second person at the Club to be elevated to a Dan rank in any discipline. Additionally, she was the winner of the Haga Shield, placing first in her division at the Championships. 

I am enormously proud of Sian. As one of the founding members of the Club, she has worked long and hard to achieve this result. Achieving a Dan grade is the culmination of many hundreds of hours of practice and reflection. It is also paradoxically the “base camp” from which scaling the actual cliff face of a discipline must necessarily work from. She now has a twelve month minimum wait before she can test again for the next level— and excellent opportunity to work towards, as we will be hosting the AIJSC in Queensland next year. As they say in the classics — Gambatte!

Other wonderful news for Queensland practitioners is that Hiroko Tsukadaira sensei was successful in her challenge for 5DAN iaido, Kevin Humphries was successful in his attempt at 4DAN iaido, and Tom Johnson sensei won a paired jodo award and a shield in the 5DAN Iaido division. 

So once again, congratulations all around! 

SMR Jodo Mini-gasshuku 26-27 January

Hello All,

A mini-gasshuku for SMR jodo was held at YMCA Camp Warrawee on the North side of Brisbane over the Australia Day weekend (26-27 January). The largest contingent of participants were from Queensland with people from Chushinkan Dojo (Brisbane), Airlie Beach, Yoshinkan Dojo (Sunshine Coast), and Toowoomba. Sensei Andy Poulos also came up from Sydney to attend, along with one of Sensei Glen Henry students who is living & training in Perth.

We were lucky to have a large contingent of senior practitioners at this camp along with two Menkyo Kaiden: Glen Henry sensei and Andy Poulos sensei. I would also like to mention that BBRD had a new student attend this gasshuku, Joanne Murrell. Hopefully her brain did not get too seriously overloaded, and we look forward to her applying what she learned in future training sessions.

Another bit of news from this gasshuku, Adrian Knight received his Menkyo Kaiden from Glen Henry sensei during the closing ceremony. He now joins the ranks with three other practising Menkyo Kaiden in Australia.

As with other gasshuku, there was plenty of opportunity to work on a variety of skills and kata with instruction from a number of senior practitioners.

Eric

In training this week

I hope that everyone has been enjoying their long weekend, and ready for the challenges of the new week and indeed month!

Just to confirm, there is no training on tonight (Monday 28), but we will be getting into the swing of things from tomorrow, where Fencing will have its first session after the holiday hiatus. Wednesday night I would ask that you please bring an old t-shirt, or at least something you don’t mind getting lipstick stains out of as we shall be doing some knife defence “pressure testing” work to cap off our month long focus on self defence and weapons work. 

I will not be available to train this Saturday due to a family committment, and will check to see Wednesday night whether Brady can cover Jujutsu and if Kateena and Sean are happy to have a kendo session in my absence. Likewise, we will have to see what can be done regarding the idea of lunchtime jujutsu sessions, particularly as we need to balance the cost of venue hire for those who are potentially attending. 

Timetable changes

From March, there will have to be a number of changes to the training timetable to accomodate me having to be in Bundaberg from Monday evenings through to Thursday mornings this semester coming. We will be discussing this as a Club Executive once Sian returns from the AIJSC in Hobart so as to minimise disruption. 

The main proposed change with be to Jujutsu, FlexiFit and Kendo. Specifically, that Jujutsu shift to Thursday night from Wednesday, Having an opportunity to train Kendo on Thursdays, and the order of trading on Saturdays change to Kendo from 2 pm, then Jujutsu from 3.30 pm, then FlexiFit to finish off the afternoon from 4.45 pm. I will also have to see what can be done with regular Go sessions, given I will have to leave Monday afternoon no later than 1.30 pm in order to arrive in Bundaberg with sufficient daylight, which means that we will probably start at 12 pm sharp.  

Please watch this space, and any alterations will be in force from Week 1 of USQ semester.  

Date saver: Wednesday 27 February

The new academic year is fast approaching, and the USQ O-week market day and Club muster will be on Wednesday 27 February. 

The Semester 1 O-week event is one of the Club’s main opportunities to engage with the University community, and to recruit new members. We will be doing our usual meet and greets, and demonstrations of what we practice to try and entice folk to train with us. 

It would be most appreciated if you can take time off that day to help out, even if it is only for an hour or so over the busy lunchtime period. Please let myself or one of the other Executive members know ASAP your availability.  

Back to school, back to training

This week marks the twilight period of the Australian holiday season as we transition from Christmas/New Year/School holidays and get ready to pick up the rhythm of another school year after the 26th. I know a number of you are starting back at work today, and for others who have been studying over the summer, the end of semester rush is now on. For those in our community who are in the throws of lesson planning and ensuring that all is in order for this year’s classes, I want to wish you all the best both for your preparations this week and into the coming year. 

Holy Name Catholic Primary School opens its office today, and the MEAC is scheduled for a floor clean later this week. As a result, we shall spend some time on Wednesday night getting ready for our regular storage configuration, and hence we will have to again factor in time to set up and put away tatami in the disciplines that require them. It would be most appreciated if you can ensure that you are at the dojo on time (i.e. before the scheduled class start) to help facilitate this. 

Given that we will have the mat off the floor by mid-week, we shall not hold the lunchtime Jujutsu class in the MEAC on Thursday. I will be looking to see if we can get some casual space at the PCYC, and will let folk know tonight at training what the lunchtime arrangements will be for the next few weeks.  

The annual Australian Iaido and Jodo Seminar and Championships (AIJSC) will commence in Hobart this weekend, and I want to wish all the best to the broad community of BBRD members, supporters and friends who are travelling down to train, compete and grade— in particular to Sian C, who will be making the trip to the AIJSC for the first time since it was last held in Queensland (gambatte!). 2020 will see the AIJSC be hosted in Queensland again, so we shall look forward to that over the coming year. 

The Club’s committee will be starting discussions in order to lock down the training timetable for the coming year, as some changes will be necessary due to me heading back up to Bundaberg from March 11. During term time, I will regularly be out of Toowoomba from Monday afternoon till Thursday afternoon. We will be discussing options with regular class attendees to ensure that there is minimal disruption as a result. 

And a final reminder that while Toowoomba has missed the worst of the rolling heatwaves that have affected large parts of Australia, I would like for everyone to be mindful of working within their limits and maintaining hydration while they train. Although we do try to take pause regularly when the temperature is hot, please make sure that you are monitoring your own need to stop for fluid intake. I would strongly recommend that you bring a water bottle that can be left near the edge of the training area. 

So have a great week everyone, and as always, I’ll look forward to seeing you in the dojo!