Classes this week

There are a few changes to the regular timetable this week. First up, we will again be swapping kendo and Iaido sessions to accommodate the planned visit by Russell Lawrence sensei. Session start times will be as usual for Kendo (7.45 pm), but we may be kicking off a little earlier for Iaido on Thursday based on Russell sensei’s availability. I will be confirming this today and shall let everyone affected know via our Facebook groups.

Second, due to the QKR State Championships and seminar/grading opportunity, there will be no Kendo or FlexiFit on this weekend. We will confirm Tuesday night if Brady is in a position to run Jujutsu in my absence for a grading revision session.

And I’ll be on campus today at 12.30pm for anyone wanting to have a game of Go.

Congratulations Liz Hills!

I wanted to pass on the great news that Liz Hills from Gin Gin Judo Club successfully passed her Judo shodan shinsa on Saturday.

A former NSW state representative and very long time ikkyu, her promotion was both well deserved and long overdue.

I am going to look forward to catching up with Liz over the next two weekend, and I would encourage everyone to congratulate her when they see her.

End of year dinner

We have been a little distracted over the past fortnight, but I wanted to let everyone know that we shall be finalising details for our end of year dinner this week.

Watch this space (and the associated Club social media) for more details by mid week.

Gin Gin martial arts weekend

We are back in Toowoomba this morning looking out at the smoke haze enveloping the city, and hoping that everyone remains safe from the threats of the ongoing bushfire crisis in Queensland and New South Wales.

I did want to provide a brief report on the wonderful weekend away up in Gin Gin where Tracy, Sean T and I trekked off early Saturday morning to run kendo, iaido, and jujutsu on the Saturday, and and arnis session on the Sunday. We were joined Sunday by Adrian Robertson sensei, from Gladstone, who ran an excellent judo ne-wasa skills session.

Many thanks to Ivan Hills sensei and Tamara Kelly for hosting us and putting in the enormous organisational effort needed to coordinate an event like this. We will look forward to seeing some of the Gin Gin crew in December for the QKR State Championships and seminar in Brisbane, and the BBRD Jujutsu grading opportunity in Toowoomba.

It was lovely to see quite a number of new faces this year, and I hope that many of you continue your budo journey!

Get your Go on …

With me back in Toowoomba over the next few months, I will be looking to run regular Go sessions in the Refectory of USQ Toowoomba campus.

I will be there on Mondays from 12.30 – 1.30 pm (roughly) starting today (12 November) to have some lunch and see who might be up for a game. You do not need any experience to rock along and give it a try!

Hope to see you there!

Reminder: No training this Saturday, 16 November

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.