Inaugural SEQ kendo jigeiko session

I wanted to just make a brief mention of how much I enjoyed the inaugural session of planned monthly inter-Club jigeiko training.

Seven of us from across four clubs came together for rolling four minute rounds of jigeiko and a final round of anjingeiko to fill out an amazing afternoon of solid practice.

I really value the opportunity that this provides me to extend my own practice, and the wonderful “second dojo” catch up afterwards at the Plainlands Hotel.

Will be very much looking forward to the next opportunity in February, and hope that more will come to join!

Changes to training this week

Just a reminder that this Saturday there will not be any Kendo, Iaido or Arnis on Saturday (21 January),

Sean and I will be heading down to the inaugural SEQ multi-Club Kendo keiko session that afternoon. Weeknight sessions will be as usual, as will Jujutsu for Saturday.

We will be doing these “away” sessions on the third Saturday of each month, for those that want to pencil that into the diary.

New Year’s message

It is a particularly pleasant morning up here on the Hill, a kind of gentle hint to the memory of summer’s heat past while still remaining pleasant. Gardeners will always wish for more rain in such circumstances, but I hope that all of you reading this have been able to enjoy the festive season, and recharge for the year ahead.

I saw a Nathan W. Pyle cartoon this morning that reminded me of the arbitrariness of annual celebrations, which started my thinking about what I would like to get out of the year ahead. I suppose that aside from Pyle’s point that I/we survived another circumnavigation of the Sun, the start of a new year does give the opportunity for reflection on what we have been through and what we hope to achieve in the time ahead. However, both can wreck an unfortunate toll on a sense of peace and equilibrium as remorse for opportunities “squandered”, and guilt for not seizing the new opportunities as they arise can lead to a paralysis of action continue the wheel of self doubt and even shame. New Year’s resolution are notoriously prickly in that respect and there is a reason why new gym memberships flood the weights room for around 4-6 weeks before a mid February slump where they once again become near ghost towns.

Without wanting to sound trite or hackneyed, it is important to understand the value of goals being the process that take to achieve them. A highlight reel of achievements is fairly meaningless without the transformative journey that you take to get there. So resolutions and goals are important, but their value is in their capacity to help you grow towards something new. It is the sentiment that was first expressed to me in the context of Kendo. Shinsa (challenge/grading) is not an achievement showing who/what you are. Instead it is a reminder of what your learning or growth needs to be focussed on. Because no matter how much we achieve or what status that confers, there is always benefit in understanding the beginner’s mind — shoshin — both in terms of the frustration that can come from “sucking at something new” and the excitement in the promise of exploring new ground.

Goals will help to provide some externalised markers for setting our mind towards that journey. This year ahead, the Club has a number of opportunities to look forward to in terms of “home and away” events such as the first QKR State seminar to be held in North Queensland in many years, the development of more opportunities to train with people from other Clubs, and a revamping of the classes that we support. In these opportunities with come the chances for gradings and competitions, challenges to help reveal what we need to work on next.

In essence, I would like to offer up a hope that everyone in the Club community can experience the joy of being and doing rather that be here in twelve months with a grim tally of what has and has not been achieved by the arbitrary standards set at this time of the year. And I would wish that every one can experience the joys that come from that, even from the difficult and painful bits.

I want to circle back to the notion of I/we survived. I want to acknowledge that for a number of people in our community, this past twelve months has thrown up some enormous challenges and trauma. I want to acknowledge that this can feel all encompassing and lonely. However, I want to say that as a community of friends, you are never far away from people’s thoughts. I personally promise to make deliberate time for self and other care this year, to bare witness to the idea that we only ever succeed in the context of support from each other, and that you are not alone.

I also want to acknowledge all of what we have achieved this past twelve months. Survival, yes. But also hosting seven back-to-back regional State and National events for the Japanese Sword arts since September 2021 (regional gradings x2, State seminars x3, and the National Jodo and Iaido events). We have grown participation in Arnis from me occasionally doing some twirls in the back yard to keep my eye in to sessions of up to 10 participants. People’s hard work has resulted in well-deserved grading successes in Jujutsu, Kendo, Iaido and Jodo. We have been instrumental in keeping the spark going for Kyudo in Queensland, Systema classes have continued their success and provided opportunities for advanced level training. The re-invigoration of on-Campus Go has been delightful to support. The ongoing community contribution that Toowoomba Taiko continues to make. And in no small way Club members have begun the hard and long journey to instigate positive cultural change within the QKR.

So I hope that over the coming weeks we take the opportunities that are presented to us: New passions, new jobs, new friends, new experiences. I wish all the best for success in what you set your minds to in the year ahead. And more than anything else I hope that everyone reading this has both peace and joy in the twelve months ahead.

Be well everyone, and as always, I hope to see you in the dojo soon!

New year of training kicks off tomorrow (3 January)!

Just a reminder that tomorrow from 6 pm we will have our customary kick off to the training year. As always, the precise order of events will vary depending on who is there (both in terms of instructors and participants). However, the broad brush strokes will be:

  • 6 pm dojo doors open for set up

  • Opening address and reiho

  • Demonstrations or mini-sessions of the disciplines represented of around 15-20 mins each (most likely Japanese sword arts from 7:15)

  • Light supper from 8:30 pm

I will hit up the various chat channels today to pin down numbers so that we can cater appropriately. Could I ask hat everyone please bring their own drinking vessel for tea so that we don’t need to cart too many to the dojo and back.

It will be wonderful to see a solid turn out tomorrow, and I’ll hope to see many of you there!

Reminder: Timetable changes for the new year

Just a reminder that from this Thursday (5 January) we will be making timetable changes for Kendo, Iaido and Jodo.

Kendo will now start at 6:15 (sharp) on Thursday night, so please make sure that you are ready to start at that time. Iaido will be shifting to the second session of Thursday with a 7:45 start. Jodo will then be moving to Tuesday in the second session (7:45 start).

I will try to ensure that these changes are reflected on the Club website today.

I am optimistic that these changes will allow for more people to engage in Japanese sword art classes this year.

We will also be using the calendar on the Club website and Facebook to lock in “out of town” training opportunities that will mostly impact Saturday training sessions. This will be a work in progress, so please stay tuned for updates!

Last Hurrah of the year ... some timetable changes ahead

As we enter into the last few opportunities to meet as a Club community for 2022, I just wanted to thank everyone for the contributions you have made personally and collectively to the culture and spirit of the Club. We are heading into the Club’s 15th year in 2023, and I look forward to what this year ahead will bring.

It has been a year of significant change for me personally, re-entering the world of full time work after four year’s spent as an undergraduate student (again), and now with the added change of a new workplace commencing as of last week. It has also been a year of change and challenge for a number of the Club’s membership.

Just to flag that there will be one significant change to the timetable of classes in the New Year. Kendo will be moving for the first time to the earlier Thursday time slot of 6:15 start, and Iaido will be run after the kendo class. Consequently, Jodo will shift to Tuesday after Jujutsu. We have a number of regular class attendees who are travelling significant distances to get in for training, and the time shift will facilitate an earlier, safer journey home for them at the end of an evening.

Take care everyone! I will hopefully catch up with some of you this week before we close down for the year, and will look forward to seeing you once we get back in the swing of things.

Reminder: Taiko solstice event this Thursday from 5 pm

As noted last week, we won’t be training on Thursday night in order to free people up to go tot he Taiko Summer Solstice event in Queens’s Park. Things will kick off from 5 pm at the Campbell Street end of the park (opposite Cob and Co. Museum).

Grading successes

The past two Saturdays have been very full with the QKR seminar and grading opportunity, and the Jujutsu grading held in consecutive weekends.

I would like to thank all of the sensei who travelled up to make these opportunities possible — in the QKR space K. Kuramochi sensei, G. Nicholas sensei, N.Tamura sensei, and T. Johnson sensei both for grading panel duties and providing excellent instruction as always in the seminar that followed. For Jujutsu we had the pleasure of Kyle Elkenhans sensei of offering to come and sit on the panel for our Nyumon exams.

There is an astonishing amount of effort that does into the background in order to run these sort of events, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of these events.

And now to results! I’m very please to announce the following grade promotions:

  • Clint Duffill 3KYU Iaido

  • Tamara Kelly 2KYU Iaido

  • Ellyse Reese 5KYU Kendo

  • Aren Rossiter 5KYU Kendo

  • Quentin Brandy 3KYU Kendo

  • Ivan Hills 1KYU Kendo

  • Ryan McGrath 9KYU Jujutsu

  • Brett McGrath 8KYU Jujutsu

  • Lochlan Reese 7KYU Jujutsu

  • Oliver Boucher 7KYU Jujutsu

  • Mathew Clulow 7KYU Jujutsu

  • Heather Butler 7KYU Jujutsu

  • Rebekah Caudell 6KYU Jujutsu

  • Imogen Caudell 6KYU Jujutsu

Gradings are a critical for learning. They throw a spotlight on what you need to focus on in your training for progression, whether it is consolidating things you have started to practice, or learning new skills.

Well done everyone who sat for examination in this past fortnight. I am genuinely looking forward to helping you on your journey forwards in the new year!

Equipment and uniform orders

I have spoken to a few people over the past few weeks and am keen to place a few orders for uniforms and equipment with our regular suppliers.

Make sure that you have a look at tozandoshop.com and Grapplingstore.com if there is anything you want to purchase. You must get a firm order into either myself or Sean no later than Thursday and transfer your deposit money to the Club’s purchasing account no later than Friday, so please get that done as soon as you can.

By way of deposit, you need to deposit 70% of the web-listed price from either of those stores. We will then purchase and work out what you need to contribute to pay the remainder once Club discounts have been applied. You will need to pay in full before you receive your items.

We are always wanting to pass on the full discount to members, but have had difficulty in the past getting everyone to pay on time. By doing things this way we hope to smooth this process. In addition, we will be making separate orders for “in-stock” items like uniforms and custom jobs like wooden weapons so that people can get their gear ASAP.

I’ll look forward to receiving orders over the next few days.

Classes over the next few weeks

We are rapidly approaching the end of year and I just wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of the important dates coming up.

First, the last training evening of the year will be Tuesday 20th December. We will be training BBRD Jujutsu, Iaido and (TBC) Systema for only last time this year.

Last Kendo and Arnis sessions will be on Saturday 17 December. Last Jodo session will be Thursday 15 December.

Our traditional Keiko Hajime will be on Tuesday 3 January, and return to scheduled classes from Thursday 5 January.

There may be some shuffling around of classes in the new year once my new work schedule has been established but we will be consulting with everyone to make sure that we have the best spread of classes for everyone.

Next Thursday 22 December the Taiko Tribe are holding an inaugural Summer Solstice session in Queens Park. I’d encourage everyone to come along and say hi in support of this! Details will be sent through next week.

As always I hope to see everyone in the dojo (or out and about during the festive season)!