Takase Shihan New Zealand Shinryukan 40th Anniversary

I’m just back from Auckland where I attended celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Takase Sensei’s arrival in New Zealand and the founding of the Shinryukan aikido organisation. This was a great event that included a training seminar and social events in the evenings. The training schedule consisted of classes by Takase, Smibert, Sawada, Horii, Masuda Shihan and special guest, Waka Sensei Mitsuteru Ueshiba. In short, the classes were all superb. It was also an opportunity to catch up with a variety of aikido friends from both sides of the Tasman. I shared a room with Bruce and Chris from the Brisbane Aiki Kai who were part of a fairly large international contingent. There were people there from all over the Pacific and the Australians included groups from Aiki Kai Australia, Darius Wingate-Pearce and the crew from Newcastle Aiki Kai and notables like Paul Sinkinson from Sydney. I suppose the point is that we can all play together without the sky falling.

The only negatives were Bruce’s snoring and Qantas managing to leave my luggage behind again. Apparently, it is a good idea not to leave your keys in checked baggage when you’ve got your car in the long term parking.

Once again thanks to Sue for keeping things under control at Bayside Budokai and Naoko and Emi for letting me go.

Lastly, on the subject of travel, I have finally managed to post the account of our trip to Japan last November. It can be found here on the Articles Page.

Visiting Instructors

Things are shaping up for a busy couple of months with visiting teachers.

Firstly AKR Technical Advisor and iaido 8 Dan hanshi Oda Sensei is scheduled to visit and teach on the weekend of 10/11 April (NB This visit is not yet 100% confirmed).

Shimamoto Shihan will be visiting us again and conducting a weekend aikido seminar from 14-16 May.

Nagayama Sensei, joined this year by Ohara Sensei, will be coming to Queensland from 15-18 June as part of their jodo and iaido east coast tour.

Stay tuned for more information as I work out the details.

AKR National Iaido and Jodo Seminar

I made it to Perth and back for the national iaido and jodo seminar. I have to report that the visiting Sensei were once again in fine form. In spite of the 40 plus degree heat it was a great event, thanks heaps for the hospitality of the WAKR. Due to commitments here I had to come back early but a bunch of Bayside Budokai regulars hung around for the championship and grading events. I hear that congratulations are in order for Tony Kavanagh and Tom Johnson for success in the competition and again for Tom for his grading to 3 dan iaido. Well done.

I’d also like to offer our congratulations to our friend the Doctor and Dojo-cho of the Brisbane Aiki-kai for achieving 4 dan at the recent Aiki-kai Australia Summer School.

Back for 2010

Happy New Year to everyone and Happy Birthday to the Ronin, who hit the big 4-0 on New Year’s Eve. Classes are now back as per the advertised schedule. At this stage 2010 is looking like a big year with heaps of training events on the horizon. First up, a few of us will be heading to Perth on the annual pilgrimage to the National Iaido and Jodo Seminar, this will most likely mean that there will be no class on Tuesday 18 January. As always the New Year presents a great opportunity to start something new or to get back into training. For current members it also means that the annual membership fee is due. The insurance premium must be paid somehow, unfortunately. Anyway we look forward to seeing you back in the dojo.

End of Year Schedule and All of That

We obviously made it back from Japan in one piece. Emiko had some quality time with her grandparents and I ended up getting some quality practice as well. I’m working on an account of the trip which I’ll post as soon as I get organised.

We have also come to the end of another year, my deepest appreciation for everyone’s efforts throughout 2009. Hopefully 2010 will be bigger and better. Our last class for 2009 will be on Tuesday 22 December and we will be back in action on Sunday 3 January.

Finally, due to the QKR Seminar and Grading in Toowoomba next weekend (12/13 December), there will be no iaido class on Sunday morning with aikido commencing at 0800 instead.

Changes to Training Schedule

As mentioned below. there are some temporary changes coming up to the training schedule. There will be no Tuesday evening junior aikido or jodo classes on November 10 and 17. Also there will be no 5.30 pm jodo class on Friday 13 and 20 November. The full training schedule will be back to normal as of 23 November.

San Dan Rodent

Congratulations are in order for Damon Schearer, travelling companion, Ipswich refugee, and aikido asylum seeker who nailed his third dan aikido grading at the recent AKI gasshuku in Sydney. Well done!

Home and Away

I’ve just made it back from a flying visit to Singapore where I managed to endure lost luggage and a cancelled return flight to take in a weekend seminar with Shimamoto Sensei hosted by Aikido Shinju-Kai from October 24 to 26. I was joined by Damon Schearer from Canberra who took in the seminar before embarking on a business trip.

In spite of being hampered by a shoulder injury, Sensei led some inspired training. In particular, I took heaps away from a session aimed at instructors on the Sunday morning. Sensei was accompanied by Mama San and our friend Itamar from Shosenji who endured the tropical heat to provide expert ukemi and translation for Sensei.

I’d like to thank Philip Lee Sensei and the good people from Shinju-Kai for their generous hospitality and allowing us to share their beautiful dojo.

This was actually the first stage of some overseas training for me. Next month Naoko, Emiko and I are off to Japan for a couple of weeks. The girls are going to play in Hokkaido whilst I head to Tokyo and Osaka for a spot of iaido and aikido training. My absence will lead to a few temporary changes to the training schedule (details above).

September Gradings

Belated congratulations to those who were graded this month. On 6 September Tim Hanlon powered his way to 3 kyu aikido and the aikido juniors fronted up for their test on 15 September. With the help of the celtic guest grading assistant, the gang all got through, great work all around. Flynn Jullyan was awarded 8 kyu, Jae Rundle, Roberto and Annika Quesada 9 kyu, with Griffin and Cooper Jullyan along with Oliver Sutton making it to 10 kyu.

Shimamoto Shihan Seminar Report

As promised I have finally gotten around to writing a more detailed report on Shimamoto Sensei’s visit last month. It is included on the ‘Articles’ page and can be accessed here.

Iaido Photos by Sue

Sue Reilly has posted some of her photos of iaido action at Bayside Budokai on picasa. You can check them out here.

Shimamoto Shihan Seminar

On behalf of Bayside Budokai, I would like to extend thanks to Shimamoto Sensei and all the attendees for a successful and enjoyable seminar last weekend. I’ll post a more detailed report when I get a chance, but briefly the planned events all went ahead without a hitch. Sensei led some inspired training on the Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. The juniors on Tuesday evening were also given an unforgettable special class. One of the most pleasing aspects of the weekend was the participation by members of a variety of backgrounds, many travelling long distances to attend. Our special thanks to those from the Newcastle Aiki Kai, AKI Australia (Sydney, Canberra, Noosa), the Shosenji Cop, and also to our friends from Yuishinkai for their support and use of their mats.

Sue Reilly took heaps of great photos over the weekend. Here’s a few of the action.

Shimamoto Shihan Seminar

The momentum is building for the seminar with Shimamoto Shihan in a couple of weeks with attendees coming from far and near. To accommodate the seminar there will be no iaido or jodo training in Brisbane on Friday 3 July and no iaido practice on Sunday 5 July. As Sensei will still be around on Tuesday 7 July there might also be a change to the Tuesday evening schedule. We also anticipate having our little welcome party for Sensei and Mama san at the dojo on the Saturday evening.

Nagayama Sensei Visit and Aftermath

The class schedule is momentarily back to normal following the visit by Nagayama Sensei. Sue Reilly and I both managed to make it to Canberra over the Queens Birthday long weekend for Sensei’s seminar which was attended AKR members from Victoria and NSW. We then jetted north to escape the cold and Sensei led classes at our dojo and also made a visit to the Tengenkai Dojo at Noosa. Special thanks to Steve Dodson and the gang up there for their hospitality. Tuesday and Thursday evening classes at Wynnum were well attended and as promised daytime budo junkies all got a chance to get some close scrutiny and advice from Sensei. Georgie and Thelma even got a crash course in the jodo Midare Dome and Ranai sets. All they have to do now is learn the other kata leading up to them.

No sooner was the visit over than we had the bi annual QKR seminar. This included iai gradings on Sunday 21 June. Congratulations to Bayside Budokai members Jeff Harris, Scott Reading, Ashley Weissensee and Chris Howells who were graded to 3 kyu. All of the local clubs were represented by grading candidates with Kohokai and Tengenkai people showing great form. A special acknowledgement also to Steve Dodson whose experience was reflected in a polished performance in his shodan exam.

Pictured below are a couple of shots from Sue of the action involving Nagayama Sensei at our dojo.

Weekend Seminar with Shimamoto Sensei

Plans are on track for the weekend aikido seminar with Shimamoto Sensei in July. We will be hosting keiko on Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning. Full details can be found here.

Changes to Class Schedule

Please note that there are some changes to our regular schedule to accommodate the visit by Nagayama Sensei early next month. The juniors aikido class will be from 5.00 to 6.00 pm on 9 June and the aikido class on Thursday 10 June will be replaced with iaido.

Nagayama Sensei Visit Schedule

As mentioned previously, we will be hosting a visit from Nagayama Sensei, the AKR Jodo Technical Advisor. Sensei is 7 Dan Kyoshi in both iaido and jodo and also 7 Dan in kendo. This is a rare opportunity to train with someone of this calibre.

He’ll be with us from June 9 to June 13. This is immediately after the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Most of the classes will be at Bayside Budokai apart from an overnight visit to Noosa Tengenkai on Wednesday.

Please find the class schedule here.

The daytime classes should be small enough to allow for one on one attention with Sensei. We will cater for both iaido and jodo depending on who can make it.

Arrivals and Visitors

We have received word from Tojinkai Headquarters in Melbourne that the Pickering baby has arrived! Congratulations to Tony and Andrea on the birth of their daughter, Sabrina Andrea. It is great to see more people joining the ranks of the sleep deprived.

Speaking of sleep deprived, fatigue levels in our household have gone up a notch with the addition of Sachi, a four legged bundle of trouble pictured below.

Also, I’d like to mention a visit to training last Friday night from Mr Shinichi Okamoto. Mr Okamoto practises jodo and iaido at the Hokkaido Jingu Dojo in Sapporo and comes to Queensland each year on business. This was his second visit to our club and it was great to see him again.

Upcoming Events

Winter promises to be warm this year as we welcome a couple of special visitors over the next few months. Firstly Nagayama Sensei, the national technical advisor for jodo will be conducting an east coast tour in early June. This will consist of visits to Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, and Brisbane. He will conduct a seminar in Canberra over the Queens Birthday long weekend and then head up here. He’ll be in and around Brisbane from 9 to 13 June. Similar to last year this will involve relatively informal day time training at Bayside Budokai.

On the aikido front we are expecting Shimamoto Sensei in early July. This will include a weekend seminar at Bayside Budokai on 4/5 July. For those that came in late, Shimamoto Shihan 7 dan is the head of the Aikikai Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo in Osaka, and a fantastic person to boot.

I’ll post more detail on each event as it becomes available.

Happy Easter

The regulars will be aware that training continued as normal over the Easter break but Happy Easter wishes to everyone just the same. Personally, I skipped the chocolate and had an aikido feast instead, heading down to Canberra for the AKI Australia Easter Gasshuku. I managed to get in two great days of training before heading back to Wynnum for the normal Sunday session. I’d like to thank Steve Seymour for his invitation and all the AKI people for putting on such a fantastic event. The classes I attended with Seino Sensei were full on and everyone was great to train with. Naturally, I also got to catch up for a few old friends, thanks again to Rodent for putting me up. Also congratulations to former Brisbane resident and sometime Bayside visitor, Kim Walker who has seemingly turned away from the dark side to put on a pretty impressive nidan grading.

Dojo Photos On Aikiweb

Thanks to Sue our dojo photos are currently featured on the front page at Aikiweb.com.

These images will probably get replaced when new ones come in and will then be found here: Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

Thanks also to the unnamed uke in the pictures, I suppose the obvious lesson is that when you come and visit the Bayside the whole world is going to know about it.

2009 National Iaido & Jodo Seminar

Classes are back to normal from this week with our return from the AKR Iaido and Jodo Seminar. Thanks to Damon and John and everyone in the ACTKR for a great event. As usual the delegation of senior teachers from Japan provided high quality instruction. I personally was given some pretty close scrutiny by Oda Sensei and now have heaps to work on to improve my iai.

The Queensland group did not achieve success of any note on the competition front but all acquitted themselves well in grading examinations. Congratulations to Bayside Budokai members, Sue Reilly and Ronin who passed the 2 Dan test in jodo. Also Georgina Sexton who was graded to 1 kyu in jodo and 2 kyu in iaido. Other QKR members also did well with Tom Johnson being awarded 2 Dan in jodo and Jason Lloyd 2 Dan in iaido.

Locally, we can now look forward to a proposed east coast tour by Nagayama Sensei which will include a visit to Brisbane scheduled for early June.

Pictured below is Ronin looking the goods during his match in the International Goodwill Iaido Competition.

Farewell Chobi

The major downside during the week away was the phone call from the kennel last Thursday morning saying that our beautiful old girl Chobi had died suddenly. After coming home it is still hard to believe she has gone after almost 12 great years together.

Here’s a shot of Naoko and Chobi taken a few years ago

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! Classes are now in full swing and being a new year it is a great time to start something new or for some of us, get back into training.

There’s a couple of things on the horizon, you will see below that Bayside Budokai will now be offering jodo and iaido classes at Newstead on Friday evenings. This class will be incorporated into our monthly fee structure so anyone paying the monthly fee can join in at no extra cost.

On the subject of fees, the God of Insurance is demanding his yearly tribute. In other words yearly membership fees are due.

Also, many of us will be heading to Canberra later this month for the national iaido and jodo seminar. This means that there will be no classes from January 18 to January 25.

Jodo and Iaido Classes at Newstead

Effective from this month Bayside Budokai will be providing jodo and iaido classes at Newstead on Friday evenings.

Those in the know will realise that these classes have been going for a number of years at the Brisbane Aikikai Dojo. The story is that the Aikikai has determined that they no longer wish to directly provide jodo or iaido training meaning that Bayside Budokai will now actually be responsible for the classes.

The times are 5.30pm to 6.30pm for jodo and 6.30pm to 7.30pm for iaido. Venue is Brisbane Aikikai Dojo 95 Commercial Road Newstead (cnr with Harcourt Street).

The times and venue remain the same. The only real difference is that these classes will be incorporated into our normal fee structure. That is $10 casual or $60 per month, all inclusive.

Everyone is welcome and I hope to see you there.

Thanks for the Great Year

2008 is almost over and I would like to thank everyone for all their hard work and support. That is not restricted to those who have come along and practised but everyone who has supported them throughout the year. Personally I’d like to especially than the parents of the juniors and also Marty Towers from Think Creative who has been a massive help with designs for our brochures and more recently grading certificates.

On the subject of gradings, big congratulations to all who completed tests last Thursday. John Kneeshaw received 3 kyu and Tim Hanlon 4 kyu. Among the juniors, Flynn Jullyan received 9 kyu, Roberto and Annika Quesada together with Jae Rundle received 10 kyu. Well done everyone. A picture of the happy gang can be found below.

Most people are aware that classes will continue over Christmas and New Year but there will be no training on the actual public holidays.

For those that might have time on their hands over the holidays, I finally got around to completing a story on our trip to Japan in October. It can be found here.

In the meantime Merry Christmas to all.

Up Coming Events

In addition to the National Iaido and Jodo Seminar in January, there’s is a bit happening locally in the next few weeks. Aikido kyu gradings for juniors and seniors are scheduled for Sunday 7 December. Following weekend (13- 14 December) will be the Qld Kendo Renmei Seminar at the Kenshinkai Dojo at Mt Gravatt. This will include iaido training on the Saturday and gradings Sunday morning.

Reminder National Iaido & Jodo Seminar

The AKR National Iaido and Jodo Seminar in Canberra 19 – 25 January 2009 is fast approaching.
The makeup of the Japanese Sensei delegation has been confirmed as follows:
Katsuo Oda iaido 8 Dan Hanshi
Kuniaki Nagayama iaido 7 Dan Kyoshi, jodo 7 Dan Kyoshi
Tetsuo Ohara iaido 7 Dan Kyoshi, jodo 6 Dan Renshi
Shuji Chaida iaido 7 Dan Kyoshi
Toyoko Shoji iaido 6 Dan Renshi, jodo 7 Dan Renshi
Hisao Tsuchiya iaido 7 Dan Renshi
Natsume Yazawa iaido 6 Dan, jodo 4 Dan


Anyone interested in attending will need to forward their registration and payment through me. More details and registration forms are located at the seminar website. Please note that the early bird registration discount expires on 12 December.

Contact me by email or phone 0409250065 and I’ll provide bank account details for electronic transfer.

DB Rocks Bayside Budokai

We’ve just had a great day with David Brown Sensei with guests coming from far and wide. This included Shosenji Cop from Darwin, who it seems is no longer content with stalking me overseas and now wants to get on to my home turf. Anyway back to the story, DB was full of life and gave us a heap to work on until his next visit when he will hopefully be a new man complete with newly installed bionic hip. Seriously though, best wishes to Dave from us all for a speedy recovery. Photo below shows the Wizard invading the Ronin’s personal space.

David Brown Next Month

As promised David Brown 6 Dan will be visiting us next Month. Rather than the full weekend on 29/30 November, Brown Sensei will be our guest on Sunday 23 November only. Training will be from 0900 to 1200 hours, cost will be $25. This session is open to all, but space may be limited. Hope to see you then.

Back from Japan

Naoko, Emiko, and I made it back safely from our trip to Japan and all classes are back to the normal schedule. I intend providing more detail when I get a chance. For the time being though, we had a great couple of weeks. From a budo perspective I had the opportunity to practise some iaido at the Shudokan Dojo at Osaka Castle and join members of the Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo in a trip to Tanabe to participate in the International Aikido Federation World Congress. This included attending a demonstration at the Kumano Shrine and a class by Doshu Sensei the following day. I also made a quick trip to Sendai where I caught up with Nagayama Sensei for some fairly intense jodo training. Here’s a photo of me posing next to the statue of the Aikido Founder on the waterfront at Tanabe.

David Brown for November

David Brown 6 Dan from Melbourne will take the opportunity to visit his new grandson and do some aikido with us on the November 29/30 weekend. Training will be on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, I’ll organise and post the details when I’m back in a couple of weeks. Oh yeah, congratulations Dave, Anita and the whole family on the new bub.

Raincheck for Tamayuki

You can unmark your diaries for the Shimamoto Sensei visit next month. Due to circumstances beyond our control he has had to postpone the trip. At this stage it looks like early February will be a definite goer. I am still working on having something for that last weekend in November and will post details when and if I have something.

Tamayuki Unplugged

As promised we will be hosting an aikido seminar on the weekend of 29/30 November. This will coincide with slightly belated and modest celebrations for the first anniversary of the dojo. Guest instructor will be Shimamoto Tamayuki Sensei 5 Dan from the Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo in Osaka. As many people will be aware, Sensei is a former live in student at the Aikikai Honbu Dojo and an outstanding instructor in his own right. At this stage I would envisage training on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Please mark your diaries and I’ll post further details when arrangements are fully confirmed.

No Junior’s Class on 14 and 21 October

I will be overseas from 8 October until 25 October. As a result there will be no Tuesday Aikido Junior’s Class for 2 weeks (14 & 21 October). Adult classes on Thursday and Sunday will continue as normal in my absence.

August Update

I’ve been remiss in not updating the site over the last month or so. First of all a few people have been successful with gradings. Firstly, Georgina Sexton was awarded 3 kyu in iaido at the QKR grading on 29 June. On 13 July Tim Hanlon completed his 5 kyu grading in aikido, and then it was the juniors’ turn on 27 July with Flynn Jullyan, Angus Ramsay, and Jack Moore powering their way to 10 kyu. Congratulations to you all.

On another note, the dojo’s first anniversary is approaching. To celebrate, I’m presently in the process of organising a special guest instructor for a weekend seminar late November or early December. Watch this space for details.

Nagayama Sensei Visit Washup

I think I’m starting to recover from the visit from Nagayama Sensei last week. I went down and attended the Canberra leg of Sensei’s tour before accompanying him back here with Tony Pickering from Melbourne. Thank you to Damon and Kim Schearer and everyone else in Canberra for their hospitality.

As anticipated, the visit proved to be a great opportunity for people to get to know Sensei and receive some personal attention from him. This time Sensei concentrated on the small details in iaido and jodo that contribute to overall performance such correct utilisation of the fingers and wrist during kirioroshi and nukitsuke in iai and gripping the jo and twisting the feet when performing hikiotoshi in jodo.

It was pleasing to see Steve Dodson from Noosa and Jason Lloyd from Toowoomba travel down to join the training. Thanks also to the Shubukai Dojo on the Gold Coast for hosting Sensei’s visit for iaido last Wednesday night and Kenshinkai at Mt Gravatt on Thursday where Sensei joined kendo keiko.

Get Well Soon Ronin

Last reports still had the Ronin laid up in the RBH following skin grafts to repair damage to his knee after dropping his motorbike just prior to the visit from Sensei. Organising to have the week off tempted fate, it would seem. Hopefully he will be back in the dojo soon and will give up the bike in favour of his other sedate hobby – hang gliding.

Wynnum Herald Article

We scored an article in the Wynnum Herald this week. For those who missed out on the paper edition you can check it out here

Regular Schedule Changes

Please note the changes to the class schedule due to Nagayama Sensei’s visit next week. There will be no training next Sunday 15 June (iai & aikido) and no aikido class on Thursday evening 19 June. However, check out the schedule below for additional day time classes during Sensei’s visit.

Nagayama Sensei Visit

We are fortunate to host a visit from Nagayama Sensei next month. Sensei holds the grades of jodo 7 Dan, iaido 7 Dan and kendo 6 Dan is is the Jodo Techical Advisor for the Australian Kendo Renmei. He is pictured here (on the right) teaching at the recent national seminar on the Gold Coast. Sensei will arrive on Tuesday June 17 after leading training seminars in Melbourne and Canberra and depart on Saturday June 21. Please note there will be some changes to our regular schedule during this time. The Tuesday night jodo class will be changed to iaido and the Thursday night aikido class will be cancelled. Sensei will be teaching from 9-11.30am and 1.30 to 3.30pm on June 18 & 19 and from 9-11.30 am on June 20 at our dojo. These day time classes will be on an informal basis and will enable one on one training with Sensei in either jodo or iaido. This is a rare opportunity and should not be missed.

Canberra Seminar

During the Anzac Day weekend Naoko, Emiko and I went down to Canberra. The girls spent a fair bit of time shopping whilst I went training with the good people from the Kuroyama Kai and Canberra Iaido and Jodo Group. There was a good role up of about 18 people for the seminar and great to see the interest being shown. Thanks heaps to Damon and John for inviting me down there and also to Sue for looking after things on the bayside whilst I was gone. Here’s a photo of us and the autumn leaves near the old Parliament House.

Easter Training

Classes will continue as per normal over the Easter weekend from 21 to 24 March. Hope to see you then.

Singapore Shinjukai 20th Anniversary

I’ve just got back from Singapore where I attended the 20th Anniversary Celebrations for Aikido Shinjukai 7 to 9 March. It was a real privilege to be part of such a well organised event and mix with aikidoists from all over the world. Foreign guests came from a diverse range of countries including Russia, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and a host of others. The highlight for me was a training seminar by leading teachers from the Asia Pacific area and Japan. The Japanese teachers included Tsuboi and Kubota Sensei who have previously visited Brisbane as well as Shimamoto Sensei, a close friend of our club. I’m pictured here catching up with Yano Sensei, Shimamoto Shihan and Takahashi san from Shosenji Dojo after training at the Shinjukai Headquarters. The seminar was headlined by the remarkable Hiroshi Tada Shihan 9 Dan, who certainly showed no sign of his 78 years. I’d like to express my thanks to Phillip Lee Sensei and everyone in Singapore for their hospitality and also to the Ronin and Sue who kept things going here in my absence.

Iaido and Jodo Seminar Photos

Photos taken by Sue Reilly at the Iaido and Jodo Seminar and Championships can be located here. Also at the bottom of the page you’ll notice a PDF of our article in the Gold Coast Bulletin, it should be apparent that press interviews are not my forte. Anyway, my advice is to bookmark the new site and keep up to date with plans for next year in Canberra.

Goodbye Gotaro

We bid farewell to Gotaro Kitayama and his parents who have decided to move back to Japan. Over the past few years Gotaro has become somewhat of a legend in Brisbane aikido circles and his boundless enthusiasm will be missed. Apart from aikido, Gotaro’s other great passions are food (preferably Japanese) and keeping things clean, especially cars. Gotaro and his family first moved from Japan to Adelaide then Canberra where water restrictions prevented them from washing their cars, this prompted them to move to Brisbane and bring about the onset of prolonged drought here. It’s probably no coincidence that the heavens have opened no sooner than they bought their tickets to return to Japan. Forget El Nino, it’s the Kitayama weather pattern at work!

Gotaro first started aikido down south, and in spite of those dubious beginnings he soon became a mainstay at the Brisbane Aiki Kai, with the picture of Janiv Sensei coming down from his bedroom wall along the way. Anyhow I’d like to say thanks to Gotaro for all his help and support over the past years and wish him and his family all the best back in their native Kansai. Take care and hopefully we’ll meet up on the mat sometime soon.

Congratulations

The good news for me personally is that the Iaido and Jodo Seminar and Championships held on the Gold Coast last week are now over and the stress is gone for another seven years. More details on the week’s events will follow but everyone seemed to have had a good time. Special congratulations to Sue Reilly, Bruce Eccles, and Lynford Rosos who were graded to 2 Dan in iaido. More congratulations to Sue and Lynford who were also graded to 1 Dan in jodo, and not to forget Georgina Sexton who powered her way to 3 Kyu in jodo.

Dojo Closure

Just a reminder that due to the AKR Iaido and Jodo Seminar on the Gold Coast, there will be no classes from Sunday 20 January to Sunday 27 January inclusive. Classes back to normal the following week. This year there are 6 top Sensei from Japan coming out. Details are available on the links page. This is a great opportunity to see some top level iai and jo, so come down and check it out. On another note, congratulations to the Ronin who passed his 3 Dan aikido grading at the Aiki Kai Australia Summer School. Word has it that his uke, the mediocre cobbler got a right pounding in the process. Not before time.

Christmas and New Year

There’s no rest for the wicked and classes will continue over the Christmas period. However, naturally there will be no training on Christmas Day itself. Why not get 2008 off to a good start and join us for aikido from 8.30 to 10.00 on New Year’s morning?

Visitors

We’ve had a bunch of visitors over the last few weeks. First of all Miss Wakana from Tada Shihan’s Gessoji Dojo in Tokyo dropped by for a Thursday night practice. Following that former rogue cop now Canberra bureaucrat, Damon Schearer turned during a weekend visit for his high school reunion in Ipswich. Damon has started an iaido and jodo class at the ANU and details can be located here. Then last but not least, Dave Brown Sensei led two inspired classes. I’d like to than Dave and everyone who turned up and filled the mat.

Guest Instructor David Brown Sensei

David Brown Sensei 6 Dan from Melbourne will be visiting Brisbane early next month and will our guest instructor for aikido on Thursday 6 and Sunday 8 December. Normal class times and costs will apply and everyone is welcome. This is a great chance to pick up something special from one of Australia’s most experienced and popular teachers. Drop me an email or call if you need more details.

Dojo Up and Running

Well the dojo is now up and running with the first classes having started last week. Thanks to everyone who helped out and came down. On Tuesday the Ronin learnt the difference between Wynnum and Wynnum Central Railway Stations and Flynn Jullyan earnt the honour of being the first participant in the juniors’ class. Sunday’s iaido class got off to a good start and a bunch of aikido heavies came down from the big smoke to shake off a few of my cobwebs and check for signs of dugong feasting on the sea grass beds down at the foreshore after training.

Iaido Seminar with Oda Sensei in Melbourne 27/28 October 2007

I have just returned from an iaido seminar with Oda Sensei 8 Dan Hanshi hosted by the Kenshikan Dojo in Melbourne. Sensei was in fine form and his seminar covered the first 8 kata of Zen Ken Ren iai in some detail, personally giving me a fair bit to work on. The event was very well attended by the various clubs affiliated with the VKR and included dan and kyu gradings in iaido and jodo on Saturday afternoon. My personal thanks to the Kenshikan for organising the seminar, and Tony and Andrea Pickering for their hospitality. Don't forget Oda Sensei will be joining us on the Gold Coast in January for the 2008 Iaido Jodo Seminar and Championships.

Welcome to the Bayside Budokai

Preparations are now underway for our first class due to commence on Tuesday 30 October 2007. There will be juniors aikido starting at 5.30pm and then our first jodo class at 6.45pm. This is a great opportunity to get in at the ground floor and start something new! Remember there is no obligation for your first class. If you have any questions feel free to call or drop me an email.