Many thanks for help at the Club Expo this week!

Just a quick post to thank everyone who helped out on Wednesday to promote the Club and its activities, whether staffing the booth (Tracy, Kateena, Sean, Jon), helping to set up and smooze the crowd (Grant), or bring paper at a critically needed time (Joe)!

We had some good interest on the day and have already had some new folk turn up to the dojo in the latter half of last week, so all around a great success. Well done!

Training arrangements for March

I am just pulling together the last bits and pieces I will need for my first of five weeks away on clinical placement. It is both a familiar routine and one that is a little jarring after having had the past three months enjoying the rhythm of being home. In particular, I will have to see what I can do to continue my gym training and shoulder rehab while I am away.

As I have already said, I will be in the dojo every Saturday running classes, and Zooming into the week night classes as my own commitments allow. I am also going to try and get some of my own budo training in while down in Brisbane.

As a courtesy, I would ask that you please contact Brady, Sean and Tracy as the discipline coordinators prior to each session to let them know if you are coming (or not as the case may be). This is so they and I can put together an appropriate lesson plan for the session, and provide you with the appropriate support to get the best out of your training. You can either direct message them, or sent a message through a discipline-specific Messenger chat group. If you are on Messenger but not in the relevant group, please let us know so that you can be added.

I would urge you to continue making as many week night sessions as you can. They form an important consolidation of what we cover in the Saturday sessions, and they are especially important for those of you looking to grade in the next few months. Additionally, we have had a number of new folk start with us over the past few weeks, and it would be great to have all of the longer standing members come in to provide them with support over the next few weeks too.

As always, I hope that you all achieve the best out of the balance between work, study and training, and I will look forward to seeing you in the dojo soon!

Clinical countdown: last week of “normal”(ish)

With the start of teaching at USQ for the year this week and the start of my next 5-week block of clinical placement starting next Monday (1 March), the Club will having a few changes to our regular schedule till after Easter.

First, Go will be on hiatus till I get back ( I can’t be there this Thursday either) unless there is someone wanting to grab the boards off me and keep the sessions running. Likewise, we have had a bit of interest in Kyudo, Jodo and Arnis in the last few weeks, and we will look to run some introductory sessions once I’m back in town. Second, from next week I will be shifting to a virtual presence during the week to provide support where needed to the BBRD Jujutsu, Iaido and Kendo classes. I will, of course, be physically in the dojo on a Saturday afternoons.

I’d like to thank in advance all of the senior students and discipline coordinators for again taking up the slack while I’m away, and we will do some lesson planning to make sure that everyone is on track for events later this year.

I will hope to see as many of you as possible this week coming, and look forward to seeing your progress throughout the year!

Reminder: Student Life Club Expo this Wednesday 24 February

Just a quick reminder that we are scheduled to be out on the Y-block/Engineering lawn this Wednesday lunchtime for our annual member recruitment activity.

We will meet at the CBRC at 10.30 am to load up any equipment and promo material we will need from the store room, be “on show” from 12 till 1.30 pm, then pack up and grab some afternoon tea afterwards.

We have a few members already locked in to give a hand, but as always, the more the merrier, and it would be great to see the wider Club group of friends and supporters, even if you just have time to drop past and say “hi”.

I’m personally looking forward to flying the Club flag and seeing if we can translate our location on campus to even more participation with Club supported activities.

Kendo Iaido swap for this week.

This week we will be swapping nights for Kendo and Iaido on Tuesday/Thursday night. We will be aiming for an 8 pm start for Kendo on Tuesday just so we are tying in with the end of Systema on Court 2, and hence will finish at 9.30 pm.

Tom Johnson sensei will be paying us a visit on Thursday night for Iaido, and it would be lovely to see everyone turn out for this training opportunity. We will confirm start time, but it is likely that we will be kicking off around 7 pm. It will be a great opportunity to receive some high level polish on your practice and to start thinking about both the upcoming Nationals in June and the (date yet to be confirmed) State mini seminar and selection trials.

BBRD Jujutsu grading oportunity 23 May

Last year’s COVID related disruptions put a crimp on many Club activities, including our regular BBRD Jujutsu grading opportunities. While we had been toying with the idea of holding a February shinsa, after discussion with eligible candidates, it was decided that we would revert to a May grading instead.

The main reason is that we have had both an influx of new students, and a period of catch up with what we have been covering in class. Given that I will be away through the week from 1 March till 2 April, there will still be sufficient time to get some intensive revision in so that everyone can give their best on the day.

If you do not have access to the current grading requirements for the level you are attempting, please let me know ASAP and I can forward another copy through to you. If you have looked through the grading requirements and have any questions regarding specific aspects of what you need to do, please let me know sooner rather than later so that we can have sufficient time to work on it.

Student Life Expo and Club muster Wednesday 24 February

It is already that time again with the start of USQ academic year rapidly approaching. I want to wish everyone starting or continuing their studies all the best for the coming year, and hope for a less disrupted year than last.

Club muster this year will be on Wednesday 24 February. This provides one of our key opportunities to interact with the University community and see if we can get a few more folk along to classes.

As usual, we will run an information booth and some demonstrations depending on available space and availability of Club members to participate. This year it will be held on the “Engineering Lawn” between Y-Block and the Japanese Garden. We will require helpers to get equipment from the CBRC and set it up and put it back, as well as staffing the booth and demonstrations. The overall time commitment for the Club is between 10.30 and 3 pm (including bump in and out), though any time that you can be available during this window will be appreciated.

If you are available on that day, it would be wonderful to have your support. Please let myself or your relevant discipline coordinator as soon as you can so that we can start to plan for the event.