Last Class for 2018

We've had our last class for 2018. Thank you all for another great year. Also happy to finish off with a few more aikido grading results.

Congratulations to Evan Haklar 3 kyu and James Webley 2 kyu on 13 December and also Georgia Fleischer and Jeff Nesterowich for 1 kyu on 16 December. Big effort all around.

After class we dropped down the road for a coffee to celebrate. Unfortunately, Jeff was absent and according to the tracker, stuck in Noumea on board the Pacific Aria. Hang in there Jeff!

See you in 2019.

End of Year Schedule

2018 is rapidly drawing to a close. Our last class will be Sunday 23 December and then back in action on Thursday 3 January 2019.

Japan Trip

A bunch of Baysiders headed off to Japan at the end of November, basically to catch up with Shimamoto Shihan and the good people at the Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo in Osaka.

Rob Fleischer took off a couple of days early in order to fairly unsuccessfully get his bearings in Tokyo. Col Tibbetts and I flew out of Brisbane on Tuesday 27 November to hook up with Damon Schearer (our man in Canberra) for the flight from Sydney to Kansai. Only difference being his taxpayer funded status credits got him upgraded to Business whilst his mates did the hard yards down the back.

The following day, we paid our respects to Sensei and Mama san and headed off to wander around town and check out Osaka Castle. That evening we hit the mats at Shosenji, for Col and Rob this being their first taste of aikido in Japan.

On Thursday we joined the tourist trail in Kyoto and took in the obligatory Kinkakuji and also Ryoanji where the boys got the Zen Garden experience.

That evening, Gotaro Kitayama, Lynford Rosos and Tom Garwood from Brisbane Aikikai arrived on the scene to complete the touring party. A Magnificent Seven.

During the morning on Friday 30 November, the ladies group at Shosenji Dojo generously allowed us to join their class with Sensei. At the end of the class, Shihan generously conducted grading tests for the boys with Colin Tibbetts and Rob Fleischer passing shodan and Gotaro Kitayama, a long overdue sandan.

After that, we joined Sensei and Mama san for a sushi extravaganza in downtown Toyonaka. Thanks again Sensei for looking after us.

We fronted up at the dojo again that evening for a sensational class by Tamayuki Sensei. All I can say is that his skill is on another level.

In typical Tamayuki style, we then went out for a meal and one or two drinks to celebrate the day.

After a bit of a rest on Saturday, Col, Rob, and I explored the Kyoto bus network until we finally made our way to see Haruko at Tozando to pick up some kuro obi and hakama. That evening, it was back in the saddle at Shosenji and our final training session with Shihan. With the team making their separate ways the following day, we went out for bit of okonomiyaki and a couple of beers with Tamayuki Sensei.

Left to my own devices on Sunday morning I went over to Dai Ken Kyo iaido practice. Unfortunately, most of the Sensei were tied up a University Student Taikai. I did however have a good session with Shokoji Sensei. It looks as though I’ve got a few issues to work on.

Thanks again to Shimamoto Shihan, Mama san, Tamayuki Sensei and everyone at Shosenji for your hospitality and support, the Bayside Team for a great trip, and the partners and families for granting the leave passes.

Schedule Changes

A bunch of us are going on a trip. This will result in the cancellation of classes for about a week. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the there will be no classes at Wynnum or Newstead from Tuesday 27 November to Sunday 2 December inclusive. Back in action as of Tuesday 4 December.

Junior Gradings

We have been working through gradings for the aikido juniors over the past month or so. It is great to see everyone working hard and doing so well. Congratulations to you all.

• 9 October: “Fire” 5 kyu
• 16 October: Emiko Kolb 7 kyu
• 23 October: Lucian Van Staden, Declan Phillips, Ben Webley 9 kyu
• 6 November: “Burn” 8 kyu
• 13 November: Omkara Wrightson 8 kyu, Lucca Ferraz 9 kyu, Azumi Masuda-Kevans and Clarissa Chong 10 kyu.

Here’s Azumi and Clarissa celebrating their first aikido milestone.

Brown Belt for Nakula

Congratulations to Nakula Wrightson for being graded to junior 1kyu aikido as of 28 August. A first for Bayside Budokai.

Here he is yesterday sporting his new brown belt. Nice going!

Dreamy’s Jodo Certificate

Got to present Ka Lun Leung with his 3 Kyu Jodo Certificate last night and add another picture to his photo album.

The big fella has now got his name up on the Jodo Nafudakake as well.

QKR Winter Seminar

We had a solid weekend of training at the QKR Winter Seminar on the Gold Coast from 14-15 July. Thanks to Tsukadaira Sensei for his guidance with our iaido.

Congratulations to Ka Lun Leung who passed 3 kyu in jodo at the grading on the Sunday. Here’s a photo of the Bayside Crew including the big fella on the far right.

Dave Brown Visit

The Ronin organised a visit to Brisbane by Dave Brown Shihan and we were lucky enough to have him on the Bayside on Sunday 8 July and the following Thursday 12 July.

Thank you DB for sorting us out again and all the guests from near and far who came to get the drum.

Back in Business

I've survived the Commonwealth Games and the GC and it’s back to business on the Bayside and up at Newstead on Fridays. Next on the agenda will be Takase Sensei at Brisbane Aikikai 5-6 May. As a result, head to BA for aikido on Sunday 6 May.

Grading Lucca Ferraz

We had a grading test on Tuesday 20 March. Congratulations to Lucca Ferraz Junior 10 kyu in aikido. Well done!

Classes Cancelled

Due to some work commitments there is some major disruption to our training schedule. All regular classes, apart from Thursday evening aikido, are cancelled up until and including Tuesday 17 April. Our last normal classes will be iaido and aikido on Sunday 25 March. Normal programming will resume on Thursday 19 April. Thank you to Gotaro for taking care of Thursdays for us.

Declan 10 Kyu

Declan Phillips broke his arm late last year and missed out on doing his test. Caught up with him last Tuesday 20 February. Here he is with his certificate and nametag for the nafudakake. Keep up the great work!

Welcome to 2018

Happy new year to everyone! I’m happy to report that things are up and running again for 2018 and there’s already a bit that has been happening.

I made it up to Japan for about 10 days where either side of experiencing some ice and snow, I got to check out the Osaka Iaido Taikai and also the ZNKR Jodo Seminar in Tokyo. A really great chance to experience some of the best in the business in both iaido and jodo.

Pretty much straight afterwards we had the AKR Iaido Jodo Seminar and Championships in Sydney from 20 -25 January. Bayside Budokai was well represented with Sharma, Sundara and Narada Wrightson leading the charge. After some top level instruction from the teaching delegation and enduring a few days of hot weather, the Wrightsons blitzed the iaido competition events. Sundara punched above her grade level to take out the individual 2 Dan event and then teamed up with the rest of the family to make up the Queensland Team and take out the 2018 title. To top it off, Sundara came close to a finals berth in the International Goodwill Competition representing Indonesia (go figure) and Narada picked up the Iaido Encouragement Award.

The IJSC concluded with grading tests where happily Sundara was successful in being graded to 2 Dan and Narada to 1 Dan. Congratulations to you both. Yours truly also managed to get over the line for 5 Dan jodo.

Here's a snap of us with this year’s delegation leader Shiiya Mitsuo Sensei, 8 Dan Hanshi jodo and 7 Dan Kyoshi iaido.

It was a real privilege to learn from Shiiya Sensei and the teaching delegation he put together. The good news is that it looks like he will be back for 2019 in Tasmania where we will hopefully get some cooler weather.