Saturday saw Matt G and I head down to Brisbane to get some one-on-one time with the kodansha of the Kenshinkai, and I would like to offer thanks to John Isaacs sensei for the generous invite and the excellent input. We both have things that we shall continue to shape and polish until the next opportunity to train, though I suspect the sole of Matt's foot will probably need some attention after a delamination caused by the surface of the Mt Gravatt SHS hall.
The end of June brings a number of things to a close. We reach the winter solstice on June 21, and the financial year ends on June 30, which coincides with the end of the Queensland Kendo Renmei membership year. Kendo and Iaido practitioners should be receiving reminders of new membership dues (and if you do not, please contact me as your details may be incorrectly registered with the QKR). Please attend to your dues ASAP as it will make life much easier for the QKR executive, and in turn for yourself as well. Remember that you must be a current financial member to be covered by insurance, and to participate in any QKR/AKR events.
We are continuing to evaluate changes to the training times for Kendo and Iaido, with the possibility of adding a short Iaido session either just before Jujutsu or Kendo on the weekends. Itakura sensei also expressed interest in making a visit up to Toowoomba one Sunday morning to whip us into shape, and we still are working towards some of the senior sensei to come up and participate in a public "relaunch" of Kendo in Toowoomba.
I will be heading to Canberra in just under two weeks to visit family and participate for one session of the Iaido seminar with Nagayama sensei, which I am most looking forward to. This means that Kendo training will be without me on Sunday 11 June. However, in light of the QKR winter seminar, it may be good to still have an informal keiko that day to keep the training edge sharp.
The seminar will again be hosted on the Gold Coast, which will mean that Toowoomba-based folk and friends are most welcome to join us in getting an AirBnB rental for the Friday and Saturday nights. However, if you do wish to share accomodation, please let me know no later than the end of this week so we can look for an appropriately sized venue at a reasonable price.
If you are intending to present for grading at the seminar, you will need to have the appropriate paperwork in within the next two weeks so that I can sign off on any Kendo candidates and Tom Johnson sensei can do likewise for Iaido candidates.
Best of luck to all who are preparing for gradings. And I'd love to see absent friends and new recruits come to train with us over the coming weeks!