USQ Open day and Club demonstrations

Although the Club’s community engagement calendar has been drastically curtailed due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have an opportunity to take part in the ‘virtual” component of the USQ Toowoomba campus Open Day on Saturday, 5 September.

We have been invited by Jenny Rix, CEO of the Guild, to do some rolling demonstrations at the CBRC between 10–11am as part of a live video stream. We will be making some plans through this week to see what we will present, but can you please let your instructors/discipline coordinators if you available that morning so that we can know what will be possible to do.

Have a great week everyone, and I’ll hope to see you in the dojo!

Coming up over the next few weeks.

Winter is still here in Toowoomba, and while we are not experiencing the biting cold that friends and family are further south, I was certainly glad to be able to restart the home fire this morning from last night’s residual coals.

It has been lovely to get the Club’s classes up and running over the past few weeks, and settling into the new space at the Clive Berghofer Recreation Centre. I have been very pleased to see old faces return to the dojo and a number of new faces start up across most of the classes we offer. It has also been lovely to have the luxury of time to be able to update some of the Club’s systems, including the website, and promotional materials. For me, this is about to end, as in two week I will be commencing back to back 5-week long clinical placements, that will see me exit out the other side in December, just before the still planned QKR summer seminar. My first placement is in Toowoomba, though in a different area to the one I had keen initially told, so I will have to do a little more condensed preparation than I had been hoping for. This means that the next couple of weeks will be the last I can do for a little while in terms of intensive Club work, dropping back to the teaching commitments I can sustain for the duration.

Fortunately, I think that we can certainly have all the important things up and running by this time, and I am ably assisted by the whole Executive and Instructor/Coordinator team here at the Club to keep the ball rolling forward to the end of the year.

Things that you as general members and friends can do to help include:

• making sure that you continue to turn up on time, keep your gear in a tidy and presentable fashion while in the dojo, and leave at the end of the session efficiently. Not only is this part of our COVID planning, but helps to get me home before 10 pm of a week night.

• Make sure all your training dues and membership fees are kept up to date. This allows us to continue providing the services that we do. If there are questions or issues, please talk with your relevant instructor/discipline coordinator.

• Take and active part of the conversations we have in our group chats and social media. Not only does this help to promote the Club to others, but it lets the Executive/Instructor team know what we can do to help make your experience more conducive to training

Before I disappear into particulars of clinical placement, I will be working with the Exec team to launch a few promotional activities both to the University and wider community. Can I as that when you see things come through for the Club, please like and share them, as this gets our message out there and brings people into the dojo. We will also be working towards finalising the set up of the physical space and AV links to that everything is set to operate efficiently over the next few months.

As always, I’ll look forward to interacting with all of you this week. Stay warm, have fun!

Virtual dojo links are live!

Saturday afternoon marked the first time that we had simultaneous, video linked training between Toowoomba and Gin Gin dojos. It was really satisfying to be able to support our sister dojo remotely, and I hope that everyone in Gin Gin felt part of a larger integrated class.

There were some hiccups, namely an audio lag that required us to mute the Gin Gin end, and a power outage in Darling Heights that cut the lights at the CBRC (yay for streaming using an iPad and back up mobile data). And we have a few things to sort at the CBRC end with the video projector so that we are able to use the “big screen” to more easily see what is happening at the other end. However, we have made a solid start and will continue to make improvements over the coming weeks.

This week, all CBRC dojo sessions will be streamed over Zoom. For those of us who might want to participate or watch but are not physically near either dojo, you can ask an instructor or discipline coordinator for the log in details, and look at the current class timetable to know when the session you are interested in is on. With a little bit of luck and planning, we might be able to entice the Sydney-based members of the Club diaspora to join in regular sessions in the coming weeks!

For those wanting to participate, we will have the same rules apply as we operated under our COVID-19 shut down. Specifically, you need to be a current financial member of the Club, have an emergency plan letting someone know where you are and what you are doing in the unlikely circumstance that you become ill or injured. And we ask that you either purchase a virtual dojo 10-pack or pay a monthly contribution to the Club so that we can continue to offer this service.

I’ll look forward to seeing you either in person or across the screen this week!

August already

The paradox that I think many have felt this year is both how quickly this year has flown by and how slowly time seems to have passed. I think that what has generated this is the fits and starts of our existence since March— both the rapid and dramatic change to our regular schedules and then long periods of physical stasis overlaid with huge volumes of external events happening beyond our cocooned lives. A new “normal”, indeed.

Looking at the Club calendar on Saturday with the picture of Michael S and Sean T at last year’s Festival, I certainly felt a strong sense of absence of our regular August rhythms, especially the regular activities we plan for and participate in. Toowoomba’s Languages and Cultures festival was an early scratching from the calendar, as was the IBF training day usually hosted by Peter Hills sensei in Brisbane, as might well be Carnival of Flowers if we have a resurgence of community transmission in the coming weeks.

Still, we need to continue moving forward with our training and planning for contingencies. This week we hope to set up our Virtual Dojo sessions running out of the CBRC, with the Kendo, Iaido and Jujutsu running via Zoom on Saturday. We will be doing some testing on Tuesday and Thursday night to see if we can get stable connection and useful camera angles. Once we manage this, we will be letting our Club’s diaspora know the relevant log-in details so that they can participate.

I wanted to commend everyone for their efforts over the past fortnight in getting back to the dojo, and in the swing of our COVID-19 protocols this part fortnight. In particular, it was heartening to see near our full compliment return to Kendo this week, and to be able to do full keiko with our new face shields and masks. While it will be a little bit of desensitisation training required in order to get used to the increase of stuffiness caused by the PPE, I am certain that we will be able to improve on both our comfort and our fitness over the coming weeks.

I want to remind everyone that we still need to be vigilant and methodical with our COVID-19 responsibilities. We have managed to mark out one keiko-jo on the dojo floor, and will be marking out the other this week. If you have not done so, please make yourself familiar with the COVID-19 Members’ Charter, which sets out what we all need to do in the dojo.

I wish everyone a happy and productive week. Looks like we will have a bust of typical August weather ahead, with a mix of fine warm days and then a cold damp front washing over us in the later part of the week. Maybe in reminding ourselves of the old normal, we care reconnect and mould it to fit the new. Be safe everyone, and I’ll look forward to seeing you in the dojo!

Matsuyama Dojo monthly training

I wanted to provide a quick note of thanks to Tom Johnson sensei for hosting us on Saturday to train Iaido and Kyudo.

It was the first of what we hope to be monthly trips to Pine Mountain to sharpen our skills in both disciplines (COVID-19 restrictions permitting).

For me, it was delightful to reconnect with Kyudo, after having missed out on Rick Beal sensei’s visit in March. It was a grounding and embodied morning spent focussing on the small stuff, and just working on getting protocol and physical action correct.

We are hoping that with regular sessions, we will grow the number of folk practising here in Toowoomba. When we get closer to the end of this month we will put out another reminder to see who might be interested in making the trip down!

COVID-19 contingencies

This week has served up an important reminder that we are still a long way from a resolution for the difficulties we face as a community with COVID-19. Victorians are now in a six-week Stage 4 lock down, with movement restricted to within 5 Km of their residential address (save for very restricted circumstances). Here in Queensland, we have an anxious wait to see just how widespread community transmission may be given the surge in cases in both Victoria and New South Wales, and both the very public and more frequent but publicly “unknown” breeches of the Queensland border crossing regulations. Here in Toowoomba, we have been notified of one active (but not community-transmitted) case. And on Saturday, Queensland Health put out a bulletin alerting people who reside or have visited a number of Brisbane, Logan, Beenleigh and Ipswich locations/suburbs/post codes in the past two weeks to be extra cautious.

Michael C and I were discussing this on Saturday, and have concluded that we are going to play this very cautiously within the Club. We ask that if you have visited one of the identified areas, that you please stay away from the dojo for 14 days after your visit there. A complete list of areas affected can be found at: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/contact-tracing and remember that the entirety of the Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Beenleigh local government areas now are under restrictions with regard to aged care facilities.

While this may seem painful given the interruption to our recently restarted activities, I’m sure that everyone will agree that we do not wish to be in the Victorian situation in a month’s time.

Please be cautions when you do visit the dojo. Remember:

• If you are at all unwell, please stay away.

• If you have two or more of the known SARS-CoV-2 symptoms, please get tested immediately

• Come to the dojo clean (both yourself, your uniform, and your equipment)

• Sign in, and sanitise your hands

• Try to leave space between your equipment and others. Be mindful of distancing, especially during change overs and at the end of a training day.

• Follow an discipline specific protocols for the session you are training in

• Leave the dojo promptly. No not change at the end of your session(s) and please, do not linger. We need to be better with our “Get in, train, get out — no hanging about” mantra.

I will provide another update next week. Stay everyone!

First week back — solid foundations laid

It is particularly wintery this morning here in Toowoomba, and I’m currently sitting quite snugly inside looking out as Middle Ridge is being blanketed by misty rain.

One thing that is warming though is the embodied reminder of our first week back to face-to-face training and in our new location. All disciplines trained at the CBRC this week, including Daen F’s new Bankoku Jujutsu class on Thursday night. It was also lovely to see Student Guild CEO Jenny Rix, stop by on Thursday night to see how we were settling into the new space. It has been delightful to have been so warmly welcomed by Jenny and the rest of her team this week, and I am very much looking forward to building on that relationship.

We will still be bedding down a few things over the next couple of weeks. This includes taping out the keiko/shiai-jo areas on the floor, and sorting out specific protocols for placement of personal equipment for those training. We will also be looking to set up the virtual dojo links for the greater Club diaspora in the next two weeks so that people can join in with Hombu classes in real time.

What we have sorted though (for now at least) is the class timetable. I have done a bit of updating on the Club’s website, so that the times for training should now be all up to date. Major things to note are some changes to Saturday classes. Specifically:

• Having a Systema class, which will run 3.30-5.00 pm,

• A second Iaido class running straight after Kendo from 3.30-4.30 pm

• Jujutsu now starting at 4.30 pm and running through till 6.00 pm

FlexiFit will remain as a Zoom class on Sundays from 5.30-6.30 pm. It is a pleasant way to finish off a week, and makes sense given that a majority of the current class participants are now out of town/interstate. A link to register for the class can be found on the FlexiFit page of the Club website. Virtual classes are either part of your monthly contribution, or you will need to purchase a “Ten pack” of classes for $20. This can be done either through direct bank transfer, you you can purchase them through the Club website.

Just a quick note that until the CBRC is open for regular Saturday use, you will have to use the rear fire stairs to enter the dojo of a weekend. The sign-in/hand sanitising desk will be set up at that end of the room for you to do as you would for a regular weeknight class. Please remember street shoes off before you step onto the wooden floor area! We were noticing that the floor became quite slippery once wet, so we will need to be mindful of keeping it clean and dry.

So onwards and upwards everyone for the new week. I’m looking forward to seeing even more of you back in classes this week. Stay warm, be well, and happy training!

Reminder: Iaido and Kyudo training at Pine Mountain this Saturday

Just a quick reminder that we are scheduled to take a trip down to see Tom Johnson sensei, this Saturday morning to train Iaido, Kyudo, and possibly some ZKR Jodo. Could you please let either myself or Daen know ASAP if you are interested in going so that we can organise car sharing and sufficient equipment for the day. Training starts at 8.30 am, so for those of us leaving Toowoomba, we will be stepping off no later than 7.15 am.

I will be checking with Tom sensei this morning to see how long he intends to have us training through till. At this stage, we ought to make it back for 2.00 pm start of Kendo, but will let everyone know if there are any variations to that for this week through our group chat channels. If in doubt, please contact me directly from tomorrow onwards.

Tozando mini order

It was fantastic to see people using the various goodies from the Club’s most recently arrived order from Tozando on Saturday. For those that missed out on that last order, you have a brief window to put an order in before Thursday.

Tracy is taking the plunge and getting herself her very first bogu set, and has generously offered to coordinate this order for those of you noticing something missing or in need of replacment after our returning to the dojo after our COVID forced break.

Please let either Tracy or I know absolutely no later than at Thursday training. This is a hard deadline, as a number of Tozando special offers end on Friday.

New beginnings, big horizons

This week marks one of the biggest changes for the Club in many years, with our return to USQ Toowoomba campus after nine years of training at other locations. On Saturday we removed all of our equipment from the MEAC, gave the storage area a thorough clean, and transported all of our things to the along to the other end of West Street and into the Clive Berghofer Recreation Centre (CBRC).

I’d first like to thank everyone who came out to help on Saturday morning — Brady, Callum, John, Kateena, Michael C, Sean T (for his efforts in staring the ball rolling last weekend), Tracy, and Zane — for dedicating their time to get us packed up, cleaned up and set up for next week.

Next, I would like to thank Holy Name Catholic Primary School for hosting us in their Hall over the past 8 1/2 years.

Finally, I would like to thank Jenny Rix and her team at the Student Guild for welcoming us so enthusiastically. It has felt like absolutely the right move at this time for the Club, especially with us about to restart face-to-face classes after our COVID-19 generated slumber (more on that in a moment). And even more importantly, it allows us to better serve the USQ community that has always been the foundation of the Club.

As classes start this week, I hope to see many of the Club’s old faces return to our new digs. We will be easing our bodies into the new rhythm of training. Some things will inevitably change, but I can guarantee that we shall continue to be a vehicle for the practice of high quality martial arts in the Toowoomba community.