May has always been my favourite month in Toowoomba. Cool nights, warm days and plenty of things to prepare for with respect to the Club. At the moment, it feels even better as I almost have a fully functioning bathroom again after renovations the past four weeks — just the shower screen to go. “Al fresco” is nice in the warm sun, but it has been pleasant to have “inside” showers again, particularly after training in the evening.

A few thing regarding the Club for this week to note.

First up, just a reminder that the BBRD Jujutsu grading is set for the afternoon of Saturday 22 May, and we will be offering and opportunity to grade up to and including 3KYU. If you have any questions about what you need to demonstrate for your grade, please contact me urgently. We will be working on grading prep this Saturday, and I would highly recommend that you come this week to just make sure that you are on top of things.

For those interested and able to challenge for grade, please let me know definitely by Saturday so that we can have sufficient time to organise the appropriate material.

Second, the Toowoomba Language and Cultures Festival is scheduled for Sunday 30 May. I will be following up this week with the organisers to get more details regarding our commitments there. We will need to know exact numbers of participants, and the total number attending this year (both participants and public) is strictly limited.

Third, and quite excitingly, the Club’s order of mats has finally arrived in Australia, and is being prepared to be shipped to Toowoomba hopefully by week’s end. It will be marvellous to have the extra room to train on, meeting one of our long terms goals for the Club.

Fourth, we will be coordinating a Kyudo training session down at Pine Mountain in the coming weeks. For those who have been interested in trying it out, make sure that you let me know and do take advantage of the opportunity once it is locked in.

And finally, we will be putting in uniform and equipment orders very soon. Please discuss with your instructors and coordinators regarding what you might possibly need so that it can be sent off in a timely fashion. Sean Thompson will be putting out reminders over the next fortnight to get your item list to him so that we can place the order pronto.

Have a great week everyone and as always, I’ll look forward to seeing you in the dojo!