Return to face-to-face classes

This week will mark the first face-to-face classes that the Club will have been able to conduct since March. With the change of venue, and the ongoing restriction due to COVID-19, there will be some alterations to what have been normal practices over the past few years. I would ask that you be both patient and understanding with the changes we have made, and they have been designed to meet our obligations and make things as efficient as they can be under these circumstances.

We are all feeling our way through at the moment, and here will be some inevitable tweaks and changes to our protocols, so please keep an eye out for.

The most important first step for you is to have a thorough read of the BBRD COVID-19 Member Charter, which is now up on the Club website under the Policy tab. This contains important information about what you need to bring and what you need to do on your return to the dojo. The headline things to watch out for are:

• If you are feeling at all unwell, then you must stay away from the dojo. This includes as a spectator. If you become unwell, you must immediately stop training, notify the supervising instructor, and leave the venue. You cannot return until you have been cleared of a COVID-19 infection.

• You must be on time to the dojo. If you are late, which means that you arrive after the scheduled class begins without having notified the supervising instructor of when you will be arriving, you will not be permitted to enter the dojo.

• You will need to sign in and sign out at the start and end of your time in the dojo. There will be a table set up at both the entrance and exit for you to do so.

• It will be necessary to bring sufficient water for you to drink during the session. Bans on bubblers and other publicly available water are still in force. At this stage, it ought not be too complicated to bring sufficient, but we will have to be mindful one the weather starts to warm up.

• You will need to bring one personal towel for each session that you are participating in. This will be used to help clean/sanitise the training area at the end of each session, and you will need to launder your towels at home before you bring them in. We would suggest some type of waterproof bag to transport them (and any sweat soaked uniforms) in.

• We will be strictly enforcing the “street shoes” off at the entrance to the dojo, and the need for dojo specific footwear to walk around the wooden floor on. There are additional protocols regarding footwear/feet sanitisation that are discipline specific, and this will be gone through with you prior to any particular session.

• Face masks may be required as part of specific COVID-19 planning for particular disciplines/activities. Again, you ought to be getting a message from your respective discipline coordinators outlining what you will need for your first session, and will be taken through this before training.

• We are still being cautious over the next fortnight, just to see the lay of the land with respect to Toowoomba-based community infections post the school holidays. Events in Victoria and NSW are of concern, and we want to err on the side of caution before we fully embrace what we are able to do under Stage 3 easing of restrictions.

• Many of us have not been anywhere near as active over the past four months as is usual. We will be taking this into consideration and ramping up the physical workload over a few weeks to try and avoid injury. However, you will also need to be self-monitoring in this regard, and not push too far beyond comfort zones initially.

Make sure that you have a thorough read of the Members’ Charter. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact either myself or the relevant discipline coordinator — ideally before class starts.

We need to be extra vigilant at this point. None of us wished for there to be another months-long shutdown and time away from training face-to-face.

New discipline at BBRD: Bankoku Jujutsu

This Thursday will see the start of a new class for Jujutsu in the regular 6.30 pm time slot.

Daen Fryar, who holds a shodan from Kokusai Jujutsu Ryu in Bankoku Jujutsu will be offering classes using the KJR syllabus.

Bankoku Jujutsu is a more koryu influenced style of jujutsu with an emphasis on some truly spectacular projection throws (and learning how to land safely from them), and police/military tactics for self defence.

I’d strongly encourage everyone to come and participate. As interest expands we will be offering the classes for a second session in the week. I’ll be enthusiastically strapping on my white belt and taking part!

Kyudo and Iaido training day at Matsuyama Dojo, Saturday 1 August

For those of you interested in Japanese archery, the inaugural monthly Kyudo training session will be held on Saturday 1 August at the Matsuyama dojo of Kohokai, located at the Pine Mountain Hall.

We will be participating in the usual Iaido training beforehand, and then rolling in for a session focussing on Kyudo taihai and firing into makiwara.

If you are interested in participating, please let myself of Daen know ASAP so that he can ensure there is sufficient measures for COVID-19 requirements, including physical distancing and loan equipment.

AWF 2020

The (first time virtual) 2020 Australasian Wadaiko Festival was held on Sunday 5 July, for 2 hours via Zoom. Two members of our Toowoomba Taiko tribe participated: Arielle Bangalan, who appeared online with the UQ Taiko group, and me (Sian), who introduced our Taiko to the Australian and New Zealand audience of other Taiko groups and leaders/speakers. Each group had 5 minutes, which seems longer when playing and no time at all when speaking, to talk about our taiko people and practice.

Some groups have been in existence for 10 or 20 years and have very professional videos. Others have been in existence for five or more years so, at three years, our group is one of the newest. NZ has around 11 groups in the North Island and two groups in the South. Australia has more than 20 groups throughout most States, not all of whom were online yesterday. Taiko is alive and well down under! One group have spawned professional Taiko drum-makers as well.

The generosity of the Takatsuki drum donation and the short snippet of energetic video, playing Isamigoma from the Kajoku restaurant Takatsuki earthquake fundraiser, impressed the viewers too. I look forward to the time we can play or attend in person at the Festival and catch the vibrant atmosphere. Taiko in Australasia appears to be a pleasant and supportive community, committed to promoting an eclectic mix of traditional Japanese and Australasian-influenced music and culture.

Online classes this week.

There are a few changes to the Club’s online classes this week. First Michael C is on holiday, so there will be no Systema classes till Tuesday 14 July. Second, I am heading to Bundaberg on Saturday to finalise some matters related to my studies. I am seeing what possibility there is for running both an Iaido and FlexiFit class on Sunday in Gin Gin, and will let everyone know if we will proceed with that plan, and at what time to start.

Jujutsu will be as normal from 6 pm Monday and Thursday nights.

Hope to see you over the camera, of for those in the Bundaberg district, in person this week!

Getting close …

And then it was the final week of the University/School holidays …

I hope that this morning finds everyone well rested from the weekend and thinking to the second half of the year ahead of us. I don’t have to labour the point that we have all experienced drastic change to our regular routines over the past few months. While we are still a long way from our pre-COVID habits, the announcement by the State government last week moving us to Stage 3 of the ease in restrictions is both a very welcome development, and presents ongoing challenges.

The biggest issue, of course, is our safe return to face-to-face classes. In aid of that, I have been drafting our Club’s COVID Safe blueprint, which covers all disciplines. Once that has been finalised, we will be making a copy available on the Club’s website, as we need for all Club members to be part of the team that allows us to get back into the dojo.

First some big announcements. We are now scheduled to make a return to face-to-face classes from the week of 20 July. We still need to confirm days and times, as there will have to be some inevitable changes to accommodate our requirements for maintaining a safe training environment in the face of the ongoing pandemic. As the Victorian experience illustrates, things can change very rapidly in the current environment, and we need to keep on top of this.

The second even bigger announcement is that the Club is set for a return to the USQ Toowoomba campus. After negotiating with Jenny Rix, the new CEO of the Student Guild, we look set to be able to run all of our pre-COVID classes at the Clive Berghofer Recreation Centre (CBRC), on Baker Street. The last time the Club was training in any capacity on campus was the last Kendo class we held in 2016, and for the bulk of the Club’s classes it was 2011. Coming back to campus significantly increases our ability to fulfil one of our primary charter items of servicing the University community, and especially disciplines like Kendo and Judo that feed into the Division 1 Australian University Games.

I want to thank Jenny for the opportunity to return to campus, and for her obvious vision and enthusiasm for the renewal of the Student Guild’s relationship with the University community. We are still finalising some of the necessary planning for the start of classes, and in next week’s Bulletin I hope to be able to provide full details of what this will mean for both instructors and students at the Club.

So this is definitely a case of watch this space closely. For me, I am probably equal parts excited and nervous with all of the change ahead. We are certainly getting close …

Policies and procedures refresh (And Kendo face shields)

I have very much enjoyed my first week of a less frenetic pace, restarting the remedial massage business after its COVID-19 hiatus, getting to projects around the garden and home that have been on the back burner for the past few months, and diving back into the important work of ensuring that the Club’s policies and procedures are up to date.

In particular, I will be working through a full update of the Club’s Risk Assessment and Management Protocols (RAMP) document for both organisational level risks/hazards and activity specific risks. We will be ratifying these at the next Executive meeting, and will make them available on the Club’s website.

Brady in this bulletin has outlined some of the requirements that we will need for all disciplines as we return, and each discipline will require its own specific control procedures. For instance, we will be following the AJKF and QKR guidelines for kendo in that we will need for folk to have a internally fitted face shield in their mengane to reduce the spread of droplets during practice. This will be a requirement for participation at any QKR-sponsored event for the foreseeable future, and indeed for BBRD club-level training. I am also of the understanding that John Isaacs sensei, will be making an identical requirement for training in Brisbane at the Kenshinkai. We are still discussing the need to use an additional mask (cloth or otherwise), and have received some medical advice in that regard. Rest assured, kendoka will be informed of what they will need to do well in advance of our return to regular training.

I have put in an order for face shields with the QKR, which has arranged for a bulk discount on both unit cost and shipping fees. They ought to be around $11 each for Club members.

Have a great week everyone! I’ll hope to see you at one or more of our online sessions.

Many thanks Prof. Peter McIlveen

I would like to write a quick note of thanks to Prof. Peter McIlveen for his generous donation to the Club of his kendo equipment.

Peter has always been an enthusiastic supporter and promoter of Kendo in Toowoomba, and a former Executive member of the Queensland Kendo Renmei. He was known for a style of kendo I would describe as quick, fluid, and beautiful. Over the years he has regularly supported the Club at public events like the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival and Harmony Day. On a more personal note, it was Peter that introduced me to Kendo and reignited in me a passion for the martial arts that had almost been extinguished by the time that I had moved to Toowoomba in 2007.

In recent years Peter has experienced significant ill health, and while broadly recovered, he has said to me that kendo keiko is a physical step too far for him. That said, I will continue to encourage him to consider taking up Iaido so as to continue his connection to the practice of the Japanese sword.

Peter’s bogu, keikogi, suburito, and shinai will be added to the pool in the Club kit, and my hope is that they will continue to inspire beginners to pursue the practice of Kendo.

COVID-19 Return to Play for the Club

Hi everyone,

What follows are some of the processes that the executive has actioned so that we follow the COVID-19 regulations for returning to training – the government’s COVID-19 Return to Play policy.

Every person must be aware and play an active role in ensuring these routines are strictly adhered to at all times. Doing so will help to minimise the risk of transmission. I encourage you to read the following and familiarise yourself with the new routines we must follow.

1.      We encourage you to consider downloading and using the government’s COVID Safe app.

2.      You are encouraged to bring your own water bottle, that is full of water, to eliminate the need to use the school’s bubblers.

3.      You must ensure that your equipment is in good repair and that you are the only person who uses them, because it limits the chance of transmission.

4.      You must ensure your personal hygiene, which means:

a.      Being clean before coming to training.

b.      Only coming to training if you are in good health, otherwise we need you to stay at home and rest to limit the possibility of transmitting infection.

c.      Bringing a clean uniform that has been laundered and dried after previous use. We recognise that this is normal practice, but it is even more important in our current climate.

d.      Wearing footwear (more details on that below).

5.      Entering and exiting the dojo will mean:

a.      Entering through the normal door (door closest to the bubblers on the southern side of the MEAC).

b.       Clean your hands at the sanitising station near the entry point.

c.      Maintain physical distance in regards to setting down equipment and preparation to train.

d.      Wear footwear at all times when you are outside of the red lines of the floor.

e.      You must wear footwear to the toilet.

f.       Footwear must be removed within the red lines.

g.      Exit the dojo through the side door. This refers to the double doors on the eastern side of the dojo.

h.      As you exit, use the sanitising station provided.

6.      Cleaning procedures for the area within the red lines:

a.      The tatami (mats) must be cleaned before and after use to minimise the risk of infection.

b.      The mats must be towelled down after mopping.

c.      Shoes must be worn when unpacking and packing the mats.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the executive for clarification.

Regards,

Brady

Congrats to everyone for getting through Semester/Term 1!

I am writing this morning, aptly the day after the Winter Solstice, having completed my last exam before transitioning to the next phase of my study that will be focussed on clinical placement and Honours project. It felt both a great relief and somewhat dislocating to know that, for now, formal class-based learning is over, and for the next 18 months will be focussed on honing my clinical skills to become a registered Physiotherapist.

Moments like the Solstice provide satisfying punctuation for mark significant rights of passage, and I want to congratulate everyone who has been studying for having got through the highly disrupted and unusual circumstances of our education journey over the past three months. All of you deserve to be able to take some time out to enjoy the successes of this past period, and build focus to look at the path forward for the rest of this year.

From my study perspective, it looks like I will be commencing my first placement toward the end of August, though this may change if I have one of next year’s scheduled placements brought forward (in which case it will be back to back placements from 20 July through to 30 October). Regardless, I will be spending a bit of time over the next three weeks sorting out some Club systems and, most importantly, putting our return to activity planning into action to enable us to get back into the dojo.

One of my first tasks will be to update all of the Zoom class details on the website. In general we have done well with these classes, getting healthy, consistent, numbers across out current offerings. In Iaido specifically, it has been excellent to get the regular input of Tom Johnson sensei, who has made the point that everyone seems to be progressing well in spite of the limitations of training online.

I do not think that we have seen the back-end of disruptions for this year. The recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Victoria and the extension of lockdown measures there is a reminder that situations can change very rapidly. However, I think that we will continue to be well placed to deal with what the second half of this year holds in store.

I will look forward to seeing folk either virtually or in person over the coming weeks. Have fun, stay safe, and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you have any specific questions about the Club or training!