Wonderful results from the QKR State Championships

We are back from a scorchingly hot and smoke hazed weekend in Brisbane, and I wanted to share with everyone the wonderful successes of the QKR Kendo State Championships and grading opportunity.

First up some competition results. BBRD members did themselves proud in the Kendo Championships, with Sean Thompson winning the Mixed Kyu-grade competition, and Kateena Martin being awarded the Adult Fighting Spirit award for the Championship. Both results are a just outcome of all the hard work that they have put into their preparations for this weekend, and notable given the strength of the competitive field. Ryo Atsumi was the winner of the Men’s Dan competition, and Dale Padoin the winner of the Women’s Dan division, both with dominating performances.

Second, BBRD and Ken Jin Kan members all performed admirably in their gradings. Kateena and Sean were awarded Shodan in kendo, there were double grades in Kendo for Ivan (to 3Kyu), Tracy (to 5Kyu), and Jones (also to 5Kyu). Brendon and Quentin both impressed with their 6Kyu performance. In addition, Tracy also passed 1Kyu in Iaido and is certainly on track to challenge for Shodan at the Nationals in May.

It was also great to see Rob Doncaster from Kohokai successfully grade to 3Dan in Iaido and 1Kyu in Jodo. Again, well earned recognition fo the work put towards these shinsa.

Third, an announcement was made regarding the coaching team for Queensland’s next challenge at the Australian Kendo Championships in April. Congratulations Ryo Atsumi sempai for being appointed head coach and Dale Padoin sensei for being appointed regional sub-coach!

A big thanks to all who put in the tireless work behind the scenes to make the weekend possible, especially Tom Johnson sensei and N Tamura sensei for their organisation and teaching, and to Russell Lawrence, T Tsukadaira, H Tsukadaira, K Kuromochi, T Itakura, John Isaacs, and Dale Padoin sensei(s), and Ryo Atsumi sempai, for their instruction over the weekend.

I could not be more proud of everyone’s efforts, big and small over this weekend. You have all shown grit and courage, diligence and perseverance, service and care. You have embodied the values of our Club and acted as great ambassadors of the disciplines we love.

So while we now have a small pause for breath, we can start planning towards the next seven months leading to the July QKR seminar. In between, we have State Squad sub training, and both the Australian Kendo Championships and the Australian Iaido and Jodo Championships to prepare for. Well done everyone!

End of year dinner

Apologies for not having details out sooner, but we shall confirm final arrangement for next week’s end of year function tomorrow and let everyone know at training.

At this stage we are looking at next Wednesday night at either El Attar or Kajoku, whichever is available. If you are keen to come, please let me know number ASAP so that we can finalise things

Summer Dojo configuration

With Holy Name Primary School on Summer holidays, we again have the opportunity to lay the mat down for the next few weeks without having to pack it away each night.

This will mean that we can take the opportunity to start Jujutsu at 6 pm sharp so that we are able to finish at 7.30 pm and commence the second session of the night no later that’s 7.45 pm, allowing for more time for the Iaido and Kendo sessions on their respective nights.

To facilitate this, we will be opening the dojo at 5.50 pm so that we are able to do this. Please ensure that you arrive at the dojo promptly to facilitate this.

The last training for the year will be Saturday 21 December, and we shall recommence with Keiko Hajime on Thursday 2 January.

In support of the Jujutsu grading this weekend, we shall be setting up the main hall over the next few days to reduce the amount of work we have to do Saturday. I’ll look forward to seeing you at the dojo over the coming weeks!

Jujutsu grading this weekend

Some housekeeping for this weekend’s Jujutsu shinsa…

Doors will open at the dojo at 2 pm, and we will be making sure that the MEAC is properly prepared for the event. This will include a thorough clean of the mats, the hall, and the toilets. All candidates are expected to be there on time to ensure that we are able to start the formal reiho at 2.45 pm.

We will in part be assisted by having been able to do some of the set up during this week as Holy Name Primary School is now in recess for the summer holidays.

The grading is scheduled to finish by 5 pm, at which point we shall have some light refreshments to celebrate the achievements for the year. Family and friends are most welcome to come and watch.

We shall be doing some final prep and fine tuning this week during regular practice, so make sure that you take that opportunity to reflect on what you need to polish before the weekend.

Gambatte!

Housekeeping for the QKR weekend

Some of you may have received an e-mail from Tamura sensei regarding the details for this weekend. In summary, the main points are:

• Doors open at the Chandler Areana, Sleeman Sports Complex at 8.30am for a 9am opening (sharp) and close 5.00pm on both days. Best partying is in Car Park 2 and directions for getting there can be found at: https://sleemansports.com.au/getting-here.aspx

• The whole of Saturday on the Kendo side of the Arena will be dedicated to the Kendo State Championship, which, depending on the final number of competitors and length of matches, ought to finish between 4 and 4.30 pm. There will be free jigeiko until closing. Iaido and Jodo shall be unaffected and run as per a usual seminar format on the Saturday.

• Sunday morning will be a usual seminar format for all disciplines. Gradings on Sunday will commence at 1.45 pm, with Iaido and Jodo being run before Kendo. The day is scheduled to finish at 4.30 pm with a closing ceremony and announcement of the grading results.

What this means for Toowoomba and Gin Gin folk:

• We will be leaving from Crown Street, Rangeville at 6 am both days so that we can get breakfast in Plainland and have plenty of time to arrive for 8.30 am. I have been tasked with being on the seminar reception desk, so we will need to be prompt.

• We will likely be taking two cars down from Toowoomba given the number of us travelling. We shall arrange details at training this Tuesday. Given driving times, we will probably be back in Toowoomba around 7 pm on both days.

• For folk having to drive back to Gin Gin, we shall arrange it so that you can leave straight after your grading attempt, if you need to, so that you can get home at a reasonable time. We will make sure that the grading panel knows that you have to leave early, and you receive an SMS regarding your results.

Good luck with your final week of preparation for both competition and grading. I’ll look forward to seeing you in the dojo (virtual or otherwise) mid week!

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!