Re-affiliation time

USQ Student life has changed its Club’s re-affiliation processes this year so we are needing to have all of the associated paperwork in with them by the end of June.

One of the things we have been asked to provide is a full breakdown of the Club’s membership into USQ Students, Alumni, USQ Staff, and general community members.

Over the next week we will be updating the membership details to reflect this and we will be asking if you could forward our relevant student/staff number (especially as an alumnus) so that we can provide that information. All current financial members will be receiving an e-mail from Grant V in his role as Treasurer to check if the details we have for you are currently correct, and to provide an update where they are not.

Thanks for your cooperation with this, and we shall look forward to our continued relationship and support from Student Life.

Looking for a harassment contact officer

One of the things that we discussed at the Executive meeting yesterday was jobs allocations/portfolio responsibilities for everyone on the Exec. Among the things we discussed was the role of a harassment contact officer, which Sian C has been filling for much of the Club’s existence, and wishes to step down to take a well deserved break from.

The Club had always been an inclusive organisation, and we take seriously our commitment to ensuring that it is a safe place for folk to train in and be part of the wider social community of. I would be great to think that everyone who is a signed up member or supporter would actively work to create it this. Unfortunately, over the years, there have been a few less than stellar moments where the Club’s executive have had to deal with the consequences of people behaving badly.

The harassment contact officer (HCO) is a first point of call for anyone who has an issue with the way that they have been treated by another Club member. This might be a fellow student in a class, and Instructor, or an Executive member. The Club falls under the ambit of USQs framework regarding harassment and bullying, and as such the HCO can help to navigate that process.

We are looking for someone to step into that role. You do not need to have any prior background or training as this will be provided to you. You just need to be someone that others trust sufficiently to come to regarding sensitive matters, and have a capacity to be empathetic, discrete, process focused, and fair minded. We are specifically looking for someone outside the existing Executive to provide sufficient distance from the group of elected executives/instructors/coordinators, so that the processes, should it involve one of these members, can be seen as being appropriately distanced from them.

If you think that you could do this very important job, could you please send an expression of interest to me as President ASAP, and we would like to ensure that this role is being filled.

Timeline for lifting of COVID-19 restrictions

I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend, and for those that were able, yesterday’s celebration for Mother’s Day was made a little easier with the relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

With the Federal and State government announcements on Friday, we now have a road map for the easing of restrictions. In approximately four week increments, all going well, we ought to be returning to something more approximating normal over the next few months.

Of course, these developments do bend our attentions to when we as a Club may be able to return to our usual training. The relevant category for our activities is community sport, with a sub category of non-contact or contact. The Australian Institute of Sports has put out parallel guidelines based around Olympic sports to set out what type of training can be done in those sports at each of the three staged outlined. While the current spread of disciplines we support does not strictly match the AIS list, there are sufficient overlaps to guide us regarding what we can do.

Specifically, any discipline that involves bodily contact, including Jujutsu, Kendo and Systema cannot be back to usual programming until we hit Stage 3 of the roadmap. This places us into July at the earliest before we can go back to regular training in those spaces. Taiko, Iaido, FlexiFit, and (possibly) ZKR Jodo could technically return to regular training in Stage 2 (mid June), but we have to be mindful of potential hiccups to that timeline if there is a further spike in cases over coming weeks as restrictions recede.

We will be discussing our return to training plans at this weekend’s Executive meeting, and will be able to flesh out our planned return more fully in next week’s Budo Bulletin. Personally, I am still keen to offer online participation in some of our key disciplines via a “virtual dojo” set up once we go back fully. It had been great to see old friends return regularly to classes, and I certainly want to be able to continue that.

Have a great week everyone. Hope to see you over the video link in our various sessions and I’m eager for each step we take closer to restarting our classes.

New feature for members

It is nice to kick off this week with a slow start this morning on this Labour Day holiday rather than participate in my usual 8 am lecture time slot. We seemed to have missed the frost this morning in Toowoomba, but I’m sure that as the weeks progress we will be relishing the change of season.

It has been great to continue to see new faces in the online classes, even though our outdoor Saturday afternoons are becoming a little colder and darker for Kendo and iaido. We will be using our SMS and Facebook Chat channels to keep you up to date with our Zoom log-ins and other matters relevant to a particular class.

This week I am hoping to roll out to current financial members a new(ish) feature of our Martialytics database. For each of the disciplines I teach, I will be uploading content for people to view, including curriculum documents, short “how to” videos, and other content of interest.

You should be receiving an e-mail later this week (most likely by Wednesday) to invite you to access that content. If you haven’t seen it by Thursday, could you check your spam folder (just in case), and if not there contact me directly. It will mean that either our e-mail record for you is incorrect, or you are not entered into the database correctly.

We are also planning an Executive meeting this weekend, so if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about your training or the Club, please feed them through to the relevant discipline coordinator and/or instructor.

Have a great week everyone, and Ill look forward to seeing you over the camera, or in our various social media channels!

Online classes in full swing

It has been great to see people take up the opportunity to participate in the various online classes that the Club is offering.

We would like to extend the invitation to all Club members, friends and the wider community to participate in these sessions. For existing members, you can purchase a “10-pack” of classes for $20 either via the Club website or direct debit into the Club’s bank account. For people new to the Club, you can pay your basic Club membership ($15 for USQ Students or full time students from any institution, $20 for general community members) you will get 5 free sessions. After those sessions, you will be expected to pay the balance of your discipline/insurance dues and a “10 pack” to continue training. And for people not wishing to join the Club (yet) you can purchase a 10-pack for $35.

We are running all of our sessions via Zoom, and our current timetable is:

• Monday: Jujutsu 6.00 – 6.50 pm

• Tuesday: Systema 7.00–8.00 pm

• Thursday: Jujutsu 6.00 – 6.50 pm

• Saturday: Systema 11.00am–12.00 pm
  Kendo Suburi 3.15–4.00pm
  Iaido 4.00–5.00 pm

• Sunday: FlexiFit 5.30–6.30 pm

Depending on interest and availability we will also be looking to add Jodo kihon tandoku dosa, and Arnis cane twirling into the weekly schedule.

In order to participate, you will need to ensure that you have sufficient safe space to train in, and, for the QKR trio, serviceable equipment. For those new to kendo, iaido, or jodo, you will be able to loan either a shinai, a bokken and obi or a jo by putting down a deposit of $30 on each item you are loaning.

If you would like to participate, please do not hesitate to contact the relevant instructor or discipline coordinator:

Systema: Michael Conroy

Jujutsu: Michael Baczynski or Brady Albrand

Kendo: Michael Baczynski or Sean Thompson

Iaido: Michael Baczynski or Tracy Campbell

FlexiFit, Arnis or Jodo: Michael Baczynski

They will also then put you on the e-mail distribution list and provide you with the Zoom link and passwords necessary to get into the classes.

I hope to see you over the camera soon!

Successful grant application for Automated External Defribulators

In wonderful news for the Queensland Kendo Renmei and the Club, the grant application that was lodged with the Gambling Community Benefit Fund last year was successful, and the Club in now in receipt of two Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), one for Toowoomba and one for Gin Gin.

AEDs are an important but expensive component of a comprehensive first aid kit. In cases of a cardiac emergency, the availability and use of an AED doubles the chance that someone will survive. However, due to their cost, they are not often available when needed.

The successful grant will mean that if the worst was to occur, we would be able to give that person the best chance possible, whether it happened to be a Club member, or a member of the general public.

Many thanks to Tom Johnson sensei, President of the QKR, for putting in the many hours of work to put together the grant application and seeing this process through to the distribution of AED units to the various QKR Clubs that have participate in this scheme.

AGM outcomes and the direction of the Club in the next few months

It is again with some mixed feelings that I am reporting on the outcomes of the Club’s AGM, though for different reasons than were around this time last year.

Despite my best intentions to step down from the Presidency to both provide clear space to focus on my studies , and to give the incoming Executive a chance to forge a new direction for the Club, I currently find myself reviving my old e-mail signatures and making plans for the year ahead.

I would first like to thank Dr Eric Tavenner for his just over a year at the helm. He had certainly done some good work in relation to steering the Club through a renegotiation with Holy Name Catholic Primary School regarding he hire of the MEAC, and had overseen the purchase and renovation of storage systems for Club use.

Unfortunately, due to a disagreement regarding management systems and lines of accountability within the Club, Dr Tavenner tendered his resignation just prior to the AGM, including withdrawing the teaching of SMR Jodo under the umbrella of the Club. I am personally saddened that we were unable to come to a resolution of these matters, and I wish Dr Tavenner all the best with his future endeavours.

So despite trying to encourage someone else to take the reins, I was duly returned as the only person nominated for President. Also returned at yesterday’s meeting were Brady Albrand as Secretary, Grant Vickery as Treasurer, and Sian Carlyon shifting responsibilities to being the General Memeber of the elected Executive core. Many thanks to Kateena Martin, who stepped down from the Secretary’s role, and the Sian, who has been the treasure for the past few years, for their contributions throughout the year.

Also (re)appointed to discipline coordinator positions on the executive are:

• Jujutsu — Brady Albrand

• Kendo — Sean Thompson

• Systema — Michael Conroy

• Taiko — Tomoko Po and Michelle Wiersma

• Iaido — Tracy Campbell

• FlexiFit, Go, Arnis — Michael Baczynski

• Kyudo — Daen Fryer

• Ex-officio Gin Gin dojo representative — Tamara Kelly

We are also in discussion with Tom Johnson sensei for replacing SMR Jodo with a ZKR Jodo study group in the near future, within the obvious restrictions that COVID-19 is imposing on us. I will be taking the coordinating role in that discipline as plans progress.

Many thanks to everyone who has stepped up to take on these roles, and I will very much look forward to you over the course of the coming year.

At the AGM we also discussed the Club’s strategy for moving forward over the next few months with online classes. Over the past few weeks, we have successfully been running Systema, Iaido, FlexiFit, Taiko and Jujutsu sessions online. While we cannot fully recreate our training environments online, we are quite confident that we are able to do some good work in this space. Sessions will be mostly focussed on existing practitioners of the various arts, but as we get more confidence in this space, we will be extending the availability of classes to new members. We will be placing our log in details up on our online classes webpage http://www.bbrd.org.au/online-classes over the next day or two, so please check this regularly to get the log in details for the classes you are interested in. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have both Jujutsu jumbi undo and Systema principles classes, so please join us!

We will ask that all people who participate are current financial members of the Club. Please attend to this ASAP if you have not done so already. We have also instituted from this week a class “10-pack” that can be used for on online classes as a way of meeting the ongoing operational costs of the Club. You will need to either make your regular monthly contribution or use a “10-pack” to participate on-line. New members will receive a free “10-pack” on joining .

So enough for now. And as always, I will look forward to seeing throughout this year, first over the camera and eventually in person!

Michael Baczynski
(once again) President

AGM 2020

Hello all,

Just another reminder that the annual general meeting is this Sunday (19 April) at 4 pm (1600 hrs). Due to restrictions on meetings the AGM will be held in Zoom. Zoom details TBA.

Please make sure that you have paid your yearly membership dues, insurance fees and the relevant art fees before the AGM.

Thank you and see everybody on Zoom.

Online classes rolling out from this week

The last fortnight has certainly felt a little strange as we have all adjusted to the constraints of the socially distanced life. Sara and I went out on our first “commuting” bicycle ride together this morning — a jaunt out from and back to home— in an attempt to make our work day seem a little more normal, and at least get out in the beautiful fresh morning we have today.

It is a good time to remind everyone that best practice guidelines suggest that at a minimum you ought be doing 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, with a minimum of 30 minutes per day is ideal, in order to maintain good health. And good health, both mental and physical will be necessary to ride out the next few months while we are all in the current state of lockdown.

To help both your physical and technical capacity, the Club will be starting to offer some modified classes via Zoom. We have already had a soft launch with Systema last week, and Michael C will be continuing to run one hour sessions of Systema callisthenics and solo technical drills from 7 pm Tuesday nights and 11 am Saturday mornings.

We will be rolling out FlexiFit, Iaido, Kendo suburi and Jujutsu jumbi undo from this week, and other disciplines including Taiko, Arnis and Go will be looking to offer sessions too. Links to the classes will be available later today (Monday 6th) via the Club’s COVID-19 page (www.bbrd.org.au/covid19) and we shall also be putting up additional resources for you to look at and read in order to ensure that you can come out of the other side of this period ready to start training.

The Club has purchased a Zoom Pro account, through which we will run the sessions. We may be asking for folk to make a small contribution so that we can continue to offer this service — for instance a “10 pack” of classes for $20— but we will make an announcement about this in next week’s Bulletin once we have had more of a discussion around what is fair and sustainable.

For this week, if you are interested, simply contact your regular instructor/discipline coordinator for the log in details including meeting ID and password.

Hope to see you in the (virtual) dojo this week!

AGM 2020

Hello all,

The annual general meeting (AGM) will proceed on 19 April at 4 pm.

Due to the restrictions on in person meetings, the AGM will be conducted via Zoom (details on connection ID, password and instructions on connecting through Zoom will be given prior to the meeting).

Hope to see everybody in Zoom on the 19th.

Eric