I’m opening today’s blog still feeling the glow from the weekend we have just had in our reinstated November trip to Gin Gin. The last time we were able to do so was in 2019— pre COVID and all the disruptions that is has wrought over the past 20 months or so.

It was a near perfect confluence of factors this time around. From managing to avoid delays at the Cooyar Roadworks lights on the way up, stopping past my favourite country bakery in Goomeri, getting a great sweat on with a jujutsu and iaido session on arrival, having the warmest of puppy welcomes from Tamara’s puddle of Labradors, and the weather Saturday and Sunday being near perfect with relatively low humidity and acceptable temperatures for Kendo training Saturday and Sunday, convivial company Saturday night at dinner, and just the feeling of having so many pieces of the training puzzle “click” (and then having much to focus on/engage with in the coming months).

There are a number of key thankyous that have to be made. First of all to Tamara for her indefatigable organisation, food provision, hospitality, cheer and just plain fun. As someone who usually fills the role as chief cook and bottle washer on our trips away, it felt like a benediction to just have everything done with such aplomb.

A second thank you to Ivan, who has been holding down the kendo fort for the past 20 months with only the occasional face to face input. It is hard enough being remote from where all of the most nightly qualified teachers and senior kenshi are in Brisbane/Gold Coast and Cairns, but to manage to progress mainly through Zoom based lessons is a sign of extraordinary dedication.

Third thanks to Kateena and Sean who came up this weekend to share the fun, and for Kateena her ute and the driving. I really noticed the difference in terms of my tiredness after the journey I’ve done so often over the past 3 1/2 years at either end of the weekend. And the quality of the conversation was a feature both up, down and in between while we were in the car. Lots to mull over, make plans for and coordinate, and Sean’s unflagging energy was infectious.

Finally, the biggest thankyou to Takashi Itakura sensei. His suggestion of a road trip during the September regional grading and mini seminar set the foundation of what was an enormously valuable training. It was obvious even before we went up the considerable thought that he had put into his lesson planning, including a careful consideration of the experience/goals of the participants, the safety consideration posed by the environment, the use of peer-led learning models to have everyone actively engage with the process of learning, the integration of sport science and coaching into the framing of what we were doing, and the use of on the spot video analysis to drive our understanding of things we did well, and things to make improvements on. For me, the biggest gift was to see how my own inclination and professional training was reflected in someone who has such a thorough understanding and focus on Kendo, and giving me indication of where to go next with teaching in Toowoomba and Gin Gin.

It was also just lovely to catch up in a social sense with all of my Gin Gin friends, and to have the opportunity to get to know both Takashi and his wife Miki so much better.

So we now have a month before the December Seminar and Grading that we are hosting here in Toowoomba. It will be marvellous to see Ivan, Tamara, Quentin, Jack and Reggie down here and participating with the wider Queensland Kendo, Iaido and Jodo community. We will all be working hard to implement what we learned this weekend, and looking forward to what we hope to be continued regular opportunities to train and learn together.