New Club year from Friday, April 1

Hopefully with the very disruptive few weeks that we have experienced at the Club (some planned, some not so much) we will be able to get some clear air and lay down some regular training schedules for the next few months.

One of the administrative calendar dates that is coming up is the beginning of the Club’s “year” on April 1. This means that all existing Club members will have to renew their membership in order to be considered “financial” members and hence covered by the Club’s insurances. The exception to this are members who have first joined the Club after January 1, who are already considered to have paid for the “2022–23” year.

There are some changes to the membership structure this year. First, if you are a current USQ student, your core membership (normally $20) is free! To activate this offer, you need to provide your USQ student number and your current contact details (residential address, e-mail that you most regularly check, mobile phone number).

Full time students at other institutions (including school) and current USQ Staff members will continue to pay $20. Again, some proof of current status such as a student card or staff ID will be required to access this discount.

All other people are considered to be “General Community), for whom the membership fee is $25.

As with previous years, to participate in various activities, you will still need to ensure that you have paid the relevant discipline fee, insurances (where applicable), and State/National membership fees.

Finally, everyone who joins this year will be receiving a Club branded metal water bottle as a thank you for your continued support of the Club and dedication to your training.

I am looking forward to everyone’s participation in what is shaping up to be a packed and exciting year ahead for the Club!

Notice of Annual General Meeting via Zoom. Sunday, 10 April 4pm

As part of the start of the new Club year, we are due to hold the Club Annual General Meeting on Sunday 10 April at 4 pm. As with the past few years, we will hold it via Zoom, which you can either use a computer link or dial in and participate by phone. The details for connecting to the meeting can be found below.

The AGM is a great opportunity to celebrate all the things the Club has achieved in the past 12 months, and to find out some of the plans for the year ahead. It would be great to see many of the ordinary (non-Executive) Club members participate, so that you can get an appreciation of the things that happen “behind the scenes” to make our training year possible.

In order to be able to participate at the AGM, you will need to have sorted out your financial membership of the Club, as laid out in the previous post. If you have any questions regarding membership status, please let either Grant (as Treasurer) or myself (as President) ASAP, and if you have any general questions regarding the meeting, please let Brady (as Secretary) know too.


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Training this week..

Apologies to our new kendoka and iaidoka.

This week of training will still be slightly disrupted due to the support required for the SE Queensland regional grading in Brisbane on Saturday. As a result, there will be no Kendo or Iaido on Saturday, and Brady will be directing traffic for Jujutsu that afternoon.

Tuesday and Thursday nights will be classes as usual. I hope to see everyone there!

Congratulations for all who participated at the NQ Regional grade

I’m back in Toowoomba after the weekend away in the heat and humidity of Townsville in support of the North Queensland regional gradings for Iaido and Kendo. It was great to see everyone’s enthusiasm and effort on both days in the face of the unrelenting weather.

Congratulations to all who graded successfully. As always, now the hard work begins to continue refining your practice to the next level.

Many thanks to Matt G, who hosted me over the weekend. It was wonderful to catch up and just spend the time with him and his family over the past few day. I really would like to come up and spend some more time soon!

Training for this week: Systema is back, I’m away this weekend, welcome for all new members!

I hope that everyone reading the BB has pulled through this last week in reasonable shape. I know that for some of you, there has has both damage and disruption due to the downpour and flooding. I just want to personally say that I hope things are relatively straight forward to put right, and that the Club community is always there to help out as it can, even if it is just a cup of tea, conversation and respite from the clean up.

This week we have a few things of note. First up, the plan is for the return of face-to-face Systema classes on Tuesday night. It will be wonderful to have the other half of the hall utilised and some familiar faces return to training.

Second, a big welcome to those that have joined classes over the past few weeks, coinciding with the start of the academic year at USQ. I hope that you get the most out of your experiences with us and we the continued pleasure of your company and commitment.

Third, just a reminder that I am off to Townsville this weekend, so will be handing over Saturday duties to the various seniors of the disciplines training that afternoon. It may even be possible to broadcast via Zoom from up north, so watch this space for details if we can make this happen.

Fourth, a selection of the new Club t-shirts should be arriving this week, so keep a look out for people wearing their new threads!

And finally just a reminder to keep an eye out on the weather and any announcements coming from the Club regarding changes to the training schedule. Stay out of flood waters, heed any weather warnings, keep in touch, and stay safe. While the weather bomb seems to be easing this week, its effects will still be around for a few days yet.

Take care everyone, and as always, I’ll look forward to seeing you in the dojo!

COVID irony: back to training (all other things being equal)

So, just hours after last week’s Budo Blog was posted up, I went into work at the Rehab ward to discover that one of my patients had tested positive to COVID and had been whisked away to the dedicated COVID ward at the Base Hospital. Cue a ward-wide “lockdown” and me deciding that until all was clear for both myself and patients, I would stay away from the dojo (taking out Tuesday and Thursday night training).

So, all other things being equal and there being no surprises for me when I head into work this morning, we ought be back to a nominally usual schedule.. Mike C is still erring towards online-only classes for Systema this week, but will confirm this through his usual SMS channel to let participants know. If in doubt, please contact a relevant instructor/discipline coordinator to find out if there has been any alterations to the schedule for this week.

Hoping to see you at training, especially the folk that started last week or have been promising to make it in to class after an absence!

Reminder: Grading application forms for Brisbane QKR regional grading

Just a reminder that if you are intending to grade at the Brisbane regional Kyu grading event (Kendo, Iaido and Jodo) in March that I would like to have a conversation with you this week regarding your progress and to start the paperwork necessary to apply for grade. We will be starting to do some targeted revision from Saturday of grading requirements once we have a clear idea of who will be eligible for what grades through this week.

And remember I still have a bunch of grading certificated from the last two successful opportunities to hand out to folk. I will be Bringing them along this week to the dojo to hopefully deliver to their respective recipients. Hope to see you all in the dojo!

QKR: Regional Kyu grades in Townsville 5&6 March, Brisbane 12 March

Just a quick note to say that I will be travelling up to sit on the grading panels for Iaido and Kendo on the weekend of the 5 and 6 March, and so any final preparation for BBRD folk wanting to challenge for grades in Brisbane the following week will have to be done with other senior members.

I will, of course be relishing in the opportunity to stay with Matt G and family while up in Townsville and to catch up with the North Queensland crowd!

For those wanting to grade in Brisbane the following week, you will need to talk to me this week so that we are able to get the paperwork in by the end of the month.

COVID update: Systema classes and more

Just a quick update to the ongoing COVID-related impacts on our regular training schedule. We are still playing things cautiously, but are hoping to return to more normal classes from Tuesday 15 February with Mike C planing the return for face-to-face Systema classes from then, and a relaxation of the mask vaccine mandates currently in place.

The primary triggers for this will be the State’s population attaining a 90% vaccination rate and the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service going to normal mask-wearing protocols (rather than currently where we are masked and goggled up at all times outside of taking breaks to eat and drink). This is in line with the advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the National COVID strategy, and of course will be subject to any revision that comes out of their offices.

Hopefully, next week we will be able to provide certainty to out plans to get back into the swing of things fully!

COVID protocols update

We have recently been sent a reminder by USQ Clubs and Societies of the rules for sporting clubs to operate under its auspices. As part of this, there will be spot audits to ensure everyone is doing the right thing.

On the plus side, we are already well practised in complying with the requirements. All we need to do is keep remembering to:

  • Sign into the CBRC with the QLD government app

  • Sign into the Club log in sheet

  • Maintain social distancing when setting up before practice

  • Wearing masks as appropriate

  • Sanitising hands/feet/equipment as appropriate

We will be continuing to monitor the COVID situation here in the Darling Downs and making modifications to our training practices as appropriate. Please talk to your instructors/discipline coordinators for the discipline specific things that we will be doing to ensure this.