Mats up for school contractor clean

Holy Name Catholic Primary School has scheduled its pre-term clean of the MEAC for Wednesday this week. As a result we will have to put away the tatami tomorrow night (Tuesday). This will align with the new arrangements to shift the Jujutsu class to a Tuesday night on an as-needed basis so that we are maximising the benefit of using the MEAC for multiple disciplines.

I am aware that there are few people available for training, but it would be most appreciated if we could get one or two of you in for 6 pm to assist me. I shall be there from around 5 pm to do a small audit of the Club’s first aid kit and equipment, and if we have some interest in a Jujutsu class, we can run one before we pack things away.

Taiko workshop: 7 March with Takatsuki Taiko

Exciting news!

Toowoomba's sister city in Japan, Takatsuki, is generously donating several Wadaikos (taiko drums) to Toowoomba, for use by our taiko group. 

We would like to invite people in Toowoomba region to participate in a Taiko workshop, followed by the Mayoral Reception, on Wednesday, 7th of March, from 9:30am to 13:30pm at the Empire church theatre.

Members of Takatsuki Taiko group will perform and also instruct in taiko drumming. All are welcome and it is free. 

Come feel the sound of wadaiko!

Last week of school holidays

While it seems that summer will continue to have a sting for some time, this week marks the last full week before school returns for the new academic year. This will mean that we will have to once again put away our training surface and accouterments each night, and make our contributions to the shared facility of the MEAC. It will also mean that there will have to be inevitable changes to the Kendo timetable, as we will no longer have easy access to the MEAC of an afternoon due to the Extend After Hours program. 

The first order is some housekeeping — we will take the opportunity this Saturday to do a very thorough clean of the MEAC from 2 pm, including our tatami and the storage room. I would like as many hands on deck as available to ensure that we can be as thorough as required.  

Second, we will need to again look in earnest for a facility to hold kendo practice, as a single Sunday session is insufficient to maintain the training momentum, particularly if we are keen to send competitors to the Australian University Games this year. Can I ask that everybody keep a look out for potential venues. In order of priority, we require somewhere with sufficient ceiling clearance and a safe surface (sprung floor ideal) and of sufficient size (minimum of 120 square meters). 

So I'll look forward to seeing many of you through this week!

Sports Master order this week

I will be putting in an order with Sports Master later this week for a number of large bulk items including some kettle bells, a nagakomi mat and a few extra items for FlexiFit and Gym classes. 

If any Club member would like to get something in this order, please let me know ASAP so that we can work out the cost of the item and shipping. The Club has a wholesale account with SMAI, so enjoys a substantial discount on the retail prices displayed on their website. So if you are interested, please point your browser to: www.smai.com.au let me know what you are interested in before Wednesday and arrange to have the money deposited in the Club account by Thursday.

Happy New Year and welcome back to training

 明けましておめでとうございます！Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! trans. "Congratulations on the dawning (of the new year)."

I hope that everyone in the extended BBRD community has had both a recharging and enjoyable time over the past few weeks, and that everyone is ready to engage with the year ahead with energy, joy and good humour.  

While I am sure some have already indulged in hatsu geiko, or their first training session of the new year, the official Keiko Hajime for the Club will be Tuesday evening starting at 6 pm sharp. Prior to the start of training we will have a general dojo clean up, including mopping down the tatami. I will be there from 3.30 pm and invite all who are available to come and ensure that the keiko-jo, store room and toilets are in a suitable state to formally begin our year. 

Could those who intend to be there for the evening please make sure that you let me know you will be attending. As with previous years, we will have some light refreshments at the end of the training session, so ideas on numbers will be important.  

The evening will be scheduled in a similar fashion to previous years, with a spread of activities representing the disciplines and activities supported by the Club, and I am looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible participating.

2017 looks to be a period of considerable opportunity for the Club, and I am looking forward to building of the solid foundations laid down over the past twelve months. University Games is on the Gold Coast again this year, there are many upcoming opportunities to train with senior sensei and test our progress, and chances to share our passions with the wider community. 

However, as always, it is important to remember that the strength of any organisation is rooted in the people who comprise it. And I have been enormously proud to be associated with everyone here— active members, supporters, friends, visiting sensei. All our lives would be poorer for the absence of anyone in that  community. 

Last drinks for the year — Training this week

Just a reminder to everyone that this is the last week of classes for the year across all of the disciplines. We will be taking time off from (and including) Saturday 24 December till Monday 2 January. I'm both looking forward to having a rest and dreading being away from training, as usually happens at this time of year for me.

This week, we will be polishing the footwork in Kendo Monday afternoon, Fire and Flow will be on as usual Monday evening, we hope to have Tom Johnson sensei and Rob Doncaster come on Tuesday for Iaido, we will be finishing off our month of ground work in Jujutsu, working on breathing and movement in Systema,  perfecting the swing in Jodo (Monday and Wednesday), stretching out on Wednesday night in FlexiFit, and having one final twirl of the canes in Arnis on Thursday. 

Could I again ask that if you have any Club equipment, especially uniforms, that you are not actively using (i.e. It has been more than a month since you have put it on and come to training) that you arrange to return all items before New Year, either at the dojo this week or to Michael directly in the interval. We do need to have a stocktake and evaluation of all the Club's gear so that we can make plans for what we need to purchase in the coming 12 months. I will be chasing up with some folk, but please arrange a time to bring it in before I contact you ...

Keiko Hajime will be on Tuesday 3 January, where we will do our usual tradition of a New Year clean of the MEAC (and the tatami)  a spot of integrated training and then have some tea and nibbles afterwards. Could you please let Michael know if you intend to come to Keiko Hajime before the end of 2016 so that it can be appropriately planned and catered for. 

 

Nihon Matsuri wrap up

It was great to see the turnout on Saturday for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Toowoomba-Taketsuki Sister city relationship. The weather mostly held out till the end though we were not able to undertake the jujutsu demonstration due to the thunderstorm. The food was lovely, the drummers awesome, and it was gratifying to see Toowoombans get out there and support an event such as this. 

Many thanks to Dylan, Peter and Tracy for the load up and unpack into the dojo on the day, for Tom Johnson sensei for the loan of the yumi and ya to add to the general display and coming up to observe proceedings, a big special thanks to Raymond for not only driving all the way from Kingaroy for the day, by stepping into the breach when no other Toowoomba-district kendoka were available to assist Michael with the demonstration, and to Eric for being a stalwart and staffing the information booth along with Tracy and Michael in the heat (and his marshaling of kids during the kendo demonstration and his Jodo demonstration under time pressure).  

It was also lovely to see Lauren Ole and Dave Johnson in the heat, and many thanks to both of you for assisting in the hurried pack up as the rain hit!

We had quite a bit of interest in folk wanting to do iaido, kyudo and kendo, so we will look forward to seeing that translate onto the dojo floor in coming weeks.  

Gym now at Anytime Fitness, Ruthven Street

A new month provides an easy opportunity to start fresh with your training. Brady and I have taken this to refocus on our ancillary training, building towards an expected opportunity to grade in Jujutsu within the next six months. 

Mostly driven by Brady's desire to have 24 hour gym access and an ability to continue training when out of town, we investigated a number of options and decided the best fit was to use the facilities at Anytime Fitness. We have been able to secure a corporate rate for BBRD members of $54.95 per month for a 12 month contract term, with no joining fee. If you are interested in taking up the offer you just need to let Holly the gym manger know that you are a BBRD member when you are signing up. You will still need to pay the fee for the door controller (around $69). 

Once the weather warms up and the outdoor pool opens again, we will be having a separate swim session at Milne Bay Aquatic Centre.  

Are you a code monkey willing to barter?

Current CITO for the BBRD

Current CITO for the BBRD

Are you someone able to do some HTML5, CSS and/or Java scripting? Do you have a little spare time on your hands and would like to do a project for the Club?

We are wanting to develop a few interactive elements on the BBRD website and are willing to do a trade — some free training (classes and personal training sessions) in exchange for some work done on a suit of interactive tables for the Club.

If you are interested, please contact Michael ASAP!