Special Pine Mountain training: QKR Seminar Prep

Most of the Iaido folk at the Club will be aware, but just in case not, we have organised a special training session with Tom Johnson sensei this Monday (16th November) night at the Pine Mountain Dojo to evaluate how we are tracking towards our grading challenges in a little under three weeks.

I will be heading in from Brisbane, and Tracy will be organising transport from the Toowoomba end. Training starts at 6.30 pm sharp, so in order to get there in time you will need to be leaving from Toowoomba no later than 5.15 pm. If you are coming, make sure that you bring sufficient water down with you as it will no doubt be a very warm evening.

One last reminder. If you intend to challenge for an Iaido grade at the seminar, you will need to get your paperwork signed by myself or Tom sensei and lodged no later than Friday. Your best bet it to either e-mail a copy with your signature to Tracy before she heads down the hill so that she can pass them on to Tom in person (and obviously, if you have passed on the paperwork at Saturday’s training, then all is good!)

The likewise applies for Kendo gradings as well. If you send through an electronic copy to me with your signature on it by Friday, I will make sure that it is signed by me and forwarded on. You will also need to deposit your grading fee(s) into the QKR account before Friday

We will be finalising accommodation very shortly, and will require you to deposit directly into the Club’s transactions account so that we can pay the AirBnB. We will be contacting folk directly vis-a-vis details for this. If you have not indicated that you would like to stay with us and intend to, please urgently contact myself, Sean or Tracy so that you can be included in our calculation of beds.

Kendo and order news

Hi everyone.

I’ve finally been organised enough to write something on budo blog. It’s 4 more weeks left of Michael’s clinical which means only 4 more weeks of my best attempts at holding practice on Thursday nights. so for the next few weeks, we should be looking more at grading requirements. Those who are looking to attempt grading, please download forms and fill them out asap if you haven’t already done so.

As for the order:

The order is in, and being managed by Tozando. We’ve organised with the supplier to send the more easy to get items (uniforms and protectors etc) to be shipped asap and items that will take longer, shipped after. The best-case scenario is a clean ship and most of the new equipment arrives before the December seminar and the rest comes later, worst case it arrives after that date.

If you are attending the Seminar on the 5th and 6th of December, please try your best to make it to every practice you can and let us know if you will need accommodation so we can organise enough room. Trust me that it is very worth staying with the group. Again if you are not yet a QKR member, please ensure that you have put in membership forms and paid the fee ( the account info is on the form). Also, the cost of the seminar itself is $40 for one day $70 for two.Also another reminder grading forms are due 22nd of november and will probably not be accepted after that date. Remember to get Michael to sign them before emailing them off.

Thanks all.

Sean T

QKR seminar admin

Just a quick touch base for the QKR seminar this morning. We are wanting to finalise our accomodation this week , so for those attending, you could please reconfirm which nights you will be staying down with us. Please let Tracy or Sean know ASAP so you can definitely be accounted for when we are booking, rather than having to grab a swag/couch for the weekend.

Also remember that deadlines for grading applications are rapidly approaching. For Kendo, you need me to sign off on the paperwork before sending it through to the QKR. For Iaido Tom sensei will be signing off on this. At this stage, kendo and Iaido gradings will be available up to 3DAN, with Jodo still to be announced.

Have a great week everyone!

Next phase: November

We have hit the end of Semester 2 this week, and I would like to wish the best of luck to everyone who has final exams this week. For some Club members, it is the cap to a long term of study. For others, it is the final exam of their degree. I hope that everyone rises to their challenges and reaps the rewards of the hard work and effort put in over the weeks and months.

Tomorrow marks the last phase of my clinical education for the year as I embark on a five week stint at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. I’m leaving at a particularly uncivilised time tomorrow morning, so I’m instead taking the opportunity to write before I settle for the evening.

With a placement in a large metropolitan hospital, I’m expecting things to be pretty hectic. However, with earlier starts and earlier finishes than my previous placement, I’m hoping to make some opportunities in the evening to get some training in, starting with some Iaido and jodo hopefully this week. .

Back up the hill, we are slowly returning to a kind of normal. Taiko has been able to move back to the Hear and Say Centre of a Thursday night, with the group back to playing on the proper wadaiko. Daen has taken the opportunity to grab the second slot of a Tuesday night to teach KJR syllabus jujutsu. And numbers continue to remain at record levels for Iaido and Kendo. Additionally, many were quite excited about starting Jodo after Tom Johnson, sensei’s visit last weekend. Over the coming weeks the Club’s discipline coordinators will be writing in more details about these things, so do watch this space!

We are also planning for our end of year and the start of 2021. Keiko hajime is basically just around the corner. But before that we have gradings, and end of year social function and awards night, and of course the Christmas-New Year week where the dojo takes a well deserved break. Keep you eyes out for details over the new two weeks.

As always, I’ll look forward to seeing everyone either in the dojo on Saturday or over the camera this week. Take care, be safe and have fun!

Reminder: COVID protocols

I just want to put in a quick reminder that we are still needing to follow COVID protocols when we are in the dojo. Some of the most important things that you need to do are:

1. Turning up on time ready to start. This means coming to the dojo dressed ready to go. If you are too late, you will not be permitted to train. If in doubt, make use you message the coordinator or instructor to let them know when you will be in.

2. Making sure that you bring a towel. You need to help maintain the cleanliness of the space we are training in and minimise the time we are hanging about in the dojo.

3. Wipe down equipment after use. Again this keeps things sanitary between sessions, minimising the risks.

4. Help to keep the store room tidy. While not ideal at the moment, and most likely to be given a thorough reorganisation in December when I have time, try to keep the store room as tidy as possible. If you take something from there, please put it back neatly.

5. Try and maintain your social distance with you gear.

Together we can continue to keep each other safe.

December is coming …

In what has been already a “through the looking glass” sort of year, for me the realisation that we sit near the end of October has somewhat crept up.

I am still in the throws of clinical placement — another two weeks in Indooroopilly before a week five week stint at the PA hospital — so continue to have a sense of dislocation from the regular flow of the training year. However, COVID permitting, we are still scheduled to have our regular December commitments take place.

First up will be the QKR Summer Seminar and grading opportunity. This will be the weekend of 5-6 December, so straight after the last day of my clinical placements. We are holding it at Somerset College on the Gold Coast, where the past few Uni Games Kendo comps have been held.

While it is still just under seven weeks away, we need to make sure that all things are sorted well before then. First, as a reminder, to participate, you must be a financial member of the QKR. If you have not done so yet, please get this sorted by the end of this week.

Second, we will most likely be getting a group Air BnB for the weekend. If you wish to stay with us, could you let Sean T or Tracy C know ASAP so that we can get a booking made for what will no doubt be a busy time of year.

Third, if you wish to grade at the seminar, please talk to me this week about your eligibility requirements and what you will be examined on. We will start to tailor our training session to focus on your grading performance from this week.

Fourth, I still intend to hold a Jujutsu grading the following weekend (12 December) and have our end of year dinner and awards night for the Club that evening. Again, if you are intending to grade, please talk to me over the next two weeks, so that we are able to ensure you are getting sufficient practice to hone the skills you will need to demonstrate.

I’ll look forward to seeing folk face-to-face this Saturday, and virtually over the week. Keep well, train hard and I shall see you soon!

Vale Ian Webb

I wanted to pass my condolences to Sian Carlyon and her husband Mark for the recent passing of Sian’s Dad Ian.

Ian very generously had been a donor to the Club, and will be remembered as a fiercely independent and strong minded man. Ian’s health had been deteriorating for some months, and both Sian and Mark had been providing significant care and companionship for him while he had been in hospital over this time.

I would like to offer the warmth and support of the Club community to both Sian and Mark at this time, and ask that we keep them all in out thoughts.

Club orders

We will be sending off the latest Tozando order this week, so for those of you who have provided your list to Sean T , you ought to be in receipt of an e-mail in the next day or so confirming what you have on there, and the amount you will need to deposit into the Club’s purchase account.

This account is different from the usual one that we use to pay our regular fees into, so make sure that you check the details Sean sends so that you are correctly directing your contribution.

If there are any last minute alterations or additions (including if you have suddenly realise you want to get something) please let Sean know ASAP. If you ask really nicely, then we might be able to include it in the order.

Classes this Saturday 24 October

We will not be having a Kendo class this Saturday, and we are scheduled for a visit by Tom Johnson sensei to put us through our paces with Iaido and Jodo.

Class for Iaido will start at 2 pm and run through to 4.30 pm for the start of Jujutsu. Systema too will be unaffected and have its usual fortnightly 3.30pm start.

This weekend’s classes are an important check in for those contemplating grading at the December QKR event, which is now only a little under 7 weeks away. It will also be an excellent opportunity for those that have just started, or are contemplating taking up Iaido to see some high-level practice and receive excellent instruction to shape their foundations in the art. And remember that if you are physically remote from Toowoomba, you can always join us via the Saturday Virtual Dojo Zoom link.

I will talk through more details Tuesday night when I beam in to assist with running the class.

Change to FlexiFit time

FlexiFit is still being successfully run as a virtual dojo class, and getting good numbers week to week. Interestingly, the current composition of the class is almost entirely comprised of people outside of Toowoomba, with most of them south of the Queensland border.

As most of the class is currently under daylight saving time, we will be starting Sunday classes 30 minutes earlier at 5 pm (Toowoomba time) to make the class a little more accomodating for them over the summer period.

FlexiFit is a great way to finish off a weekend and just stretch and relax for the work week ahead. It is informed by Kit Laughlin’s stretch therapy approach, and my own physiotherapy studies to date. While it is a “general” class, we will modify the sequence of exercises to address particular areas that participants feel a need to address.

Remember that if you want to participate, you can either make monthly Club training contributions for all classes, or top up a virtual dojo pack of $20 for 10 classes.

Last night we discussed the possibility of running some lunchtime virtual FlexiFit classes tailored for those of us unfortunately chained to the desk. We will look to run those from December, so keep an eye out for announcement regarding those sessions when they are announced in a few weeks time.