Iaido Grading
Pretty warm weekend at scenic Redbank Plains for the QKR Seminar. Congratulations to Peter Chmielewski and Kim Bowman on being graded to 1kyu.
Well done!
QKR Seminar
The December QKR Seminar is coming up on 14/15 December. The venue is the Collingwood Park Sports Complex, Smith Street, Redbank Plains. Kick off will be at 9.00am both days.
Saturday will run to about 4.00pm with kyu gradings after lunch on the Sunday. As a consequence we won’t have iai at Newstead on Friday 13 December. The aikido class will be on at Wynnum on Sunday 15 December but we will start at 8.00 am.
Christmas and New Year Break
The end of the year is fast approaching. Our final class will be on Sunday 22 December and we will resume for 2014 on Thursday 2 January.
IJSC 2014
The 2014 AKR Iaido and Jodo National Seminar and Championships will be held in Queensland during the week Monday 20th January till Sunday 26th January. The venue being the Collingwood Park Sports Complex.
The Japanese Delegation of sensei will now arrive on Sunday 19th and will be in full attendance of the event (previously they were not arriving until the afternoon of the 20th).
The Deadline for early bird registration with the Event Coordinator is the 20th December. People wanting to participate should have their registrations (forms and fees) into their State Rep no later than the 15th December to allow them time to process and submit the registrations to the Event Coordinator and fees to the AKR.
All details, including the registration forms, can be found at the above link to the Official Website of the event.
Once again, I am the State Rep for Queensland for the purpose of registrations. Please contact me direct for account details for funds transfer.
Another Iaido Grading Attempt
I’m back from Japan after another unsuccessful tilt at iaido 6 dan. The good news was that Claire Chan from Victoria passed on her first attempt. What a great effort! It was not all bad from my perspective having had the opportunity to do a bit of training in Osaka before going to Tokyo. Here I am with the good people from Dai Ken Kyo, led by Ikeda Sensei in front and centre. Once again thanks to everyone here and in Japan for their support. By the way, classes are now back to normal in the lead up to Christmas.
Aikido Gradings
We’ve been getting into aikido gradings again. On 3 November, Jeff Nesterowich graded to 3kyu with Georgia Fleischer and Oliver Sutton to 4kyu. For Oliver this was a switch over from the junior to senior ranks, well done! Tests for the juniors were conducted on 5 November with the following results: Theresa Walsh 8kyu, Nakula Wrightson 7kyu, Kristianna Quesada 6kyu, Sundara and Narada Wrightson 5kyu, Roberto and Annika Quesada 2kyu. Big congratulations to everyone for your hard work.
Class Changes
I’ll be away for a bit, so there are some schedule changes in the wind. There will be no iaido next Sunday (10/11), Tuesday (12/11), or Sunday (16/11). No juniors aikido on Tuesday (12/11). Next Sunday (10/11) aikido will start at the special time of 8.45am. Aikido classes on Thursday (14/11) and Sunday (16/11) will be as normal at 6.30 pm and 9.30am. Friday class will run as normal at Newstead. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Andrew and Irene Williamson at Brisbane Aikikai
The Brisbane Aikikai will be hosting Andrew Williamson 6 Dan and Irene Williamson 5 Dan for a seminar from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 October. The upshot of this is that there will be no iai at Newstead on Friday 18 October. The Sunday morning aikido class at Wynnum is cancelled, go to Newstead to train. Iai will be on but we will kick off at 7.00am.
Dave Brown
The Ronin has organised a visit by Dave Brown Sensei 6 Dan from Melbourne. The Wizard will be in BrisVegas from September 5-8. He will be joining us on Thursday evening 5 September and also on Sunday morning 8 September.
2014 Iaido & Jodo National Seminar and Championship
The 2014 event will be held from Monday, 20th January till Sunday 26th January 2014 with the Japanese Sensei delegation attending from Tuesday 21st January.
The venue will be:
Redbank Collingwood Park Sports Complex
Smith Street,
Redbank QLD 4301
(07) 3437 8588
There is also a listing of the event on the AKR web site.
The FULL EVENT registration will be $410 per person and will include a ticket to the Official Dinner (buffet) on the Saturday night. As always, lunch catering at the event is also included.
QKR Seminar
The QKR Seminar on 13/14 July turned out well. We were lucky to have Emiko Yaguchi Sensei 6Dan join us and lead the training. A really great opportunity for the more senior members attempting grading tests in the not too distant future. Talking about gradings congratulations to Baysiders Kim Bowman and Peter Chmielewski who paased 2kyu iaido on the Sunday. Iai and jodo people should note that Collingwood Park will be the venue of the next AKR National Iaido and Jodo Seminar/Championship from 20-26 January 2014.
Schedule Change 12 and 14 July
As a consequence of the QKR Seminar on 13/14 July, there will be no training at Newstead on Friday 12 July or iaido on Sunday morning 13 July. Aikido will be held as normal at 9.30am at Wynnum that Sunday morning. Iaido fans should make sure they head to Collingwood Park for the seminar.
Nice Going Georgia
We had a kyu grading on Sunday 30 June where Georgia Fleischer put on a polished display for 5 kyu. Here she is with Gotaro following the belated presentation of his 2 Dan Certificate. Happy Days.
QKR Seminar
Looking ahead, the QKR Seminar will be held at Collingwood Park on the weekend of 13/14 July. This will include iaido training all day Saturday and a grading on the Sunday.
Welcome Back Gotaro
International man of mystery Gotaro Kitayama, has returned from his extended visit to Japan. Here he is with Tamayuki Sensei when I caught up with him in Osaka recently. He hasn’t lost his appetite, I lost count after he polished off ten serves of soba.
Another Tilt at Iaido 6 Dan
I’ve been away again to challenge for 6 dan in iaido. This time, the shinsa was in Hokkaido. The short answer on how I went is that I will have to try again. Thanks again to Sue and Ronin for looking after the club in my absence.
Junior Grading Results
We have had some gradings for the juniors over the past few weeks. Congratulations to everyone for your hard work. The results were Theresa Walsh 9 kyu, Nakula Wrightson 8 kyu, Isaac Rogan Benfer 7 kyu, and Kristianna Quesada 7 kyu on 21 May. Abigail Rogan-Benfer 7 kyu, Sundara Wrightson 6 kyu, Annika Quesada 3 kyu, and Roberto Quesada 3kyu on 28 May. Lastly, Narada Wrightson 6 kyu on 4 June 2013. Well done!
Schedule Change: No Class 11 June
I'm embarking on another journey. As a result, there will be no junior aikido or iaido on Tuesday 11 June. All other sessions will continue as normal.
Thanks Brisbane Aikikai and Takase Shihan
A big thank you to Brisbane Aikikai and Takase Shihan from New Zealand Shinryukan for a great seminar last weekend (13/14 April). It was fantastic for us all to get together and practise again. Congratulations too for the guys from Brisbane who were successful in passing grading tests on Sunday afternoon. Really impressive efforts by Tom Garwood and Richard Spry (2 kyu), Kit Barker, Luke Pearcey and Andreas Dias (2 Dan), Lance Wilson and Paddy O’Regan (3 Dan). Apart from Sue and my surprise cameos taking ukemi , the star of the day was Bruce Eccles Sensei who unleashed to rock the house in a flawless grading test for 4 Dan. As the Gecko Dojo Kiwis would say….”Choice”.
Class Schedule Back to Normal
With school holidays and the Takase Shihan Seminar now over, all Bayside Budokai classes have now returned to normal programing. Thank you to Sue for running the show in my absence. We headed to Japan for some family time. Naturally there was some training involved between the Onsen and a Mister Donut marathon. I managed to catch up with Okamoto san, our friend in Sapporo and join in a session of iaido training at the Yoshinkan Dojo at the Hokkaido Jingu. The hospitality was much appreciated, especially Ishii Sensei for spending time to try and fix my Zen Ken Ren.
Easter and Beyond
There’s a few changes coming up with Easter, School Holidays and some special events. There will be no iaido at Newstead next Friday 29 March (Good Friday) training at Wynnum will continue as normal on Easter Sunday. There will be no Junior’s aikido or iaido at Wynnum on Tuesday 9 April. Due to the seminar with Takase Shihan hosted by the Brisbane Aikikai, there will be no iaido at Newstead on Friday 12 April. Iaido will be at Wynnum on Sunday 14 April, but no aikido. Aikido types should all be heading to the seminar and being prepared to help bring our mats back afterwards.
Visit by Dave Brown Sensei
Ronin has organised a visit by Dave Brown Sensei (6 Dan) to Brisbane. He will be taking scheduled aikido classes on the Bayside at 6.30pm on Thursday 21 February and at 9.30am on Sunday 24 February. He will also be teaching at Brisbane Aikikai on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Note: this means that there will be no iaido at Newstead on Friday 22 February.
AKR National Iaido and Jodo Seminar
As indicated last time, Sue and I made it down to Hobart for the AKR National Seminar. Here we are with Keiji Igarashi, Shacho of Nosyudo, rising iaido star and all round good bloke. I managed to get in a solid three days of iaido supervised by Inoue and Oda Sensei. Hopefully it will pay off. Good news was that Ohara Sensei passed the test for 7 dan in jodo in Tokyo just before the seminar. Ohara Sensei has been a fixture in the annual delegation of teachers from Japan and has previously accompanied Nagayama Sensei to the Bayside. Congratulations to Sensei from everyone at Bayside Budokai. Next year’s seminar will be in Queensland, which will be a great opportunity.
Happy New Year 2013
We are back for 2013 with classes having started Thursday 3 January. Happy New Year to all and we look forward to seeing everyone back in action. The National Iaido and Jodo Seminar is looming and Sue and I are heading down for a few days. As a consequence, there will be no iaido class on Sunday 20 January and no juniors aikido or iaido on Tuesday 22 January. On the subject of iaido, I have added links to a couple of articles. The first called Sore Zore Iaido is a translation of an article featuring Yagyu Sensei from Osaka and the other is a translation of an excerpt of an article by Ishido Sensei that formed part of a book by renowned teachers on important aspects in judging high level grading candidates. Both provide a number of important insights on the art and the background of Osaka iai, particularly Sakamoto Sensei.