Just a quick reminder that due to the trip up to Gin Gin this weekend, there will be no training in Kendo, Jujutsu, or FlexiFit this Saturday. Make sure you come along to Tuesday and Thursday night training so that you don’t miss out on important grading preparation!
Administrative deadlines for QKR grading opportunity and State Championships
All current QKR members should be aware that the Saturday session of the QKR summer seminar will be dedicated to running the State Championships. Tamura sensei has requested that formal applications to compete in Juniors, Women’s Kyu, Men’s Kyu, Men’s Dan and Women’s Dan be submitted no later than 30 November so that appropriate planning regarding competition pools can be completed.
Additionally, the forms and fees for grading applications in Kendo, Iaido and Jodo need to be submitted no later than Sunday 24 November (two weeks before the grading). Remember that for Kendo and Iaido, you need me to sign off on the form before it is submitted to the QKR, so we need to allow sufficient time to do this.
Thanks for your attention to both of these deadlines. I will be again discussing them in class this week coming.
Congratulations Daen Fryar and the rest of the newly elected QKA Executive
The Queensland Kyudo Association held it Annual General Meeting on Saturday night, and a new Executive was duly elected.
The 2019-20 Executive consists of:
President — Rob Doncaster (Kohokai)
Vice-President — Torsten Pluschke (Atherton)
Secretary — Tom Johnson (Kohokai)
Treasurer — Daen Fryar (BBRD)
Thanks to all for accepting nominations for the positions. We shall look to some forward movement this year, including a proposed Cairns-based seminar with Rick Beal sensei .
Daen and I will be looking to bed down some regular opportunities to practice Kyudo Over the coming weeks.
Russell Lawrence, 6DAN Renshi to visit
I have received word from Tom Johnson sensei that Russell Lawrence sensei will be coming from Perth a few days prior to the QKR Summer seminar to help folk with final preparation for Iaido and Jodo gradings.
At this stage there is a plan for him to come up to Toowoomba on the evening of the 6th of December, and as a result we shall be swapping the Kendo and Iaido sessions that week. We will also be able to do a few extra sessions with him at Pine Mountain dojo that week, so will be providing more details once they become settled.
QKR Junior Titles and State Championship
I have received word via Tom Johnson sensei, QKR President, that the QKR Junior Titles and State Championships will be held on the first day of the December seminar at the Sleeman Centre on 7 December.
If you wish to compete, you will need to fill out a registration form and submit it before 30 November. There will be divisions for Juniors (under 15 as of 7 December) and Men’s and Women’s Kyu and Dan competitions. There is no additional fee for participation in the competition, and those not competing will be deployed to provide support for the championships.
I will confirm as soon as possible, but the information suggests that there will not be the usual seminar style keiko sessions for Kendo on the Saturday.
Please let me know ASAP if you wish to compete.
Gin Gin end of year trip
Plans are firming up for this month’s trip to Gin Gin. As regular readers know, BBRD will be going up to train with the Gin Gin Judo Club/Ken Jin Kan on the weekend of the 16 and 17th of November.
At this stage, our plan is to leave early Saturday morning, conduct a bogu and shinai maintenance workshop before lunch, then run training sessions of Kendo, Iaido and Jujutsu. Sunday we are proposing to start training early in the morning and fit in Arnis, Jujutsu, Judo and then a judo rules ne-wasa competition.
We will be inviting participation from the Bundaberg region’s judo/budo community, and finish off the event with a end of year pool party.
Can I ask that anyone interested in participating confirm you attendence this week so we can properly sort out transportation, accomodation and catering. I would strongly encourage you to come along if you can make it!
Remember that Jujutsu is shifting back to Tuesday
A brief reminder that starting this week, we will be shifting Jujutsu training to Tuesday nights (usual 6 pm start). Additionally, we will be adding a regular Iaido class straight afterwards (from 7.40 pm) running parallel to Systema and Jodo.
We are continuing our work preparing for shinsa in December across Kendo, Iaido and Jujutsu, and would strongly encourage you to come to as many sessions as you can.
Good luck all USQ students heading into exam block (and congrats to CQU students who have finished theirs)!
Count down to the end of the academic year is definitely on, with USQ students heading into their two week exam block and CQU students having just finished theirs (and awaiting confirmation of grades).
Happy hunting all those heading in, best chances for all awaiting results. But above all: GAMBATTE!
Back for the summer
Today marks the start of the first full week post- my academic year. It means that for the next four and a half months I will not have to face the weekly dislocation of the approximately 1 100 Km drive up to the Bundaberg region and back. While I am certain to miss the regular contact with everyone up north, I am definitely looking forward to being able to spend the next little while on projects around the house and dojo, and indeed on some regular self-focussed training.
There are a few things to note. First, we will again be running virtual dojo sessions between Toowoomba and Gin Gin, first for Kendo and then for Jujutsu and Iaido. This will be in aid of preparing folk for gradings in December.
Second, we are still in the throws of organising a road trip for mid-November to run a weekend training event in Gin Gin across the disciplines I support. The main aim will again be grading prep, but we will also be promoting the event to the wider Gin Gin/Bundaberg community to get some local interest happening over the summer. At the moment the proposed date is the weekend of the 16-17th of November, but we will confirm the date and the program this week.
Third, it is important to note grading dates. The QKR seminar and grading opportunity for Kendo, Iaido and Jodo will be held on the weekend of 7-8 December, and the Jujutsu grading opportunity has been locked in for 2 pm Saturday 14 December. I will be providing more information regarding both events in next week’s Bulletin, but if you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Fourth, with Monday night fencing ceasing, we are looking to shift Jujutsu training back to Tuesday nights so as to most efficiently use our time in the MEAC. Again, I will confirm this in next week’s Bulletin, but we are looking to start this in the new week/month. Given the closeness of gradings, training will be a little more tailored to preparing folk to perform well.
Fifth, I intend to run regular Iaido classes on the Tuesday night parallel to Systema, so that the current iaidoka can clock up some regularised group training each week, which is particularly important given Queensland will be hosting the Nationals next year.
Phew!
Much to organise and work on over the coming weeks. However, with the work of the wonderful (and growing) community we have here, I am sure that we shall get everything done with panache!
I will look forward to seeing everyone in the dojo (physical or virtual) over the coming weeks.
A note on training
Image from Adrian Knight Sensei. Works with any art…replace jiu-jitsu with your art.
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