By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018
I have already introduced you readers to an article about special training with Kimu Sensei. The three articles I now want to present to you will go more in-depth with both the special training, but also my personal benefits, both physical and psychological, as well as the experiences with this, both internal and external. This series of articles is also material for other future 1. dans, where I represent the new generation with the publication of a 1. dan's thesis. This reflects the extensive upheavals that have occurred in the Jokokan association over the past few years, with a more open communication policy following in its wake. In order to better understand the motivations for the special training and the road to 1st dan, we start with the beginning...
Prehistory
On a normal working day in March 2002, I received a call in the middle of my work (when I was still working at Merlin A/S) from Kimu Sensei. You never know whether to answer the phone when Kimu is on the display, and pressing “pick up” would also prove to be a fateful choice. Actually, I was supposed to get an answer on whether I was allowed to teach self-defense and Tae-Bo at the local training center, which I had inquired about, but Kimu Sensei had more sinister ulterior motives (never try to figure that man out). The conversation ended with a very simple question loosely phrased; “Do you want to start a school in Korsør now, there is fertile ground for a new karate school there?” From that moment on, my life changed, and I transitioned into a transformation process that I of course could not yet see at first. The next week passed with restless nights, as I simply had difficulty making a choice. Later, I have recognized that this was where the actual “test” and special training began, not that I received actual instruction, but that things started to happen mentally.
After endless email correspondence with Kimu Sensei, and not one step closer to a decision on my part, I was put in touch with the “Jokokan advisor, Personal Coach” for Jokokan. This person has an insight into the spiritual aspects of life in his capacity as a clairvoyant, which I do not have, and was able to quickly find a blockage in the subconscious that prevented me from making such a crucial choice. I will not go into the treatment process here, as it is deeply personal and individual, but it set my thoughts in motion and a process with our associated “Jokokan advisor, Personal Coach” began. I came to the first session with an open mind and was not biased and skeptical, as many are towards something inexplicable, such as the spiritual. After the first session, I was more clear about myself and what I had to work with.
As you know, I agreed to the task of starting a new school in Korsør, which of course required a lot of work, but it turned out to be the right choice for me today. At the same time, the time was ripe for me to be nominated for 1st dan Yakami Gensei-ryu, which I passed on 15/6 2002 at the annual I-camp. This camp was tough both physically and mentally, but my visits to the associated "Jokokan advisor, Personal Coach" had helped me in, among other things, kumite, where I had become better at delivering punches, but also took on more people who passed through, as my mental block was gone. This manifested itself physically in that a week after the camp I urinated blood, which came as a shock, but I had the explanation and it turned out that it also passed again.
My career within Jokokan had really started, and I accepted the offer of special training, which was a reward for my hard work and my willingness to lead the way by starting up a new school. This resulted in me attending the first special training with Kimu Sensei at Tjørnely School on 15 September 2002 (1 week after the start-up of Jokokan Korsør) (we all know it by now, otherwise you can try to notice the traces of blood, the sweat shields and drag marks on the long corridors next time you sign up for a T-camp). The special training was to consist of 6 lessons both with psychological counseling and physical training and correction, thus the way was paved for my 1st dan Yakami Taijutsu graduation in week 8, 2003. The last lesson I found out later was also a pre-graduation.
The grains are sown
As the diligent reader has already figured out, there is a point to the above and that is of course that it was to form the background for my special training on the mental level. I did not know that, but Kimu Sensei did, who of course knew everything in advance. In addition to this, I was of course asked to write down things that I thought I was missing in the syllabus up to 1st dan Yakami Taijutsu, which was to form the framework for some of the physical training. It naturally turned out to be a few things or more, and in order not to embarrass myself and subject myself to bullying and other whims from both instructors and students, I will not publish the list here. Otherwise, I simply got the message from Kimu Sensei: "It is you who determines the benefit of the training".
The first conversation was intended as a sales collaboration meeting, and was supposed to remove the worst nervousness and in this way create a student/teacher relationship. Kimu Sensei expressed the essence of the training process in a beautiful way, which I have adopted: “I sow the seeds in you, then it is up to you to let them germinate”. The more you think about the words, they can be used in many aspects of life, which I will also go into more detail later. This is where you notice that training Yakami is training in all aspects of life, which can be difficult to understand, but this will also be addressed in these articles. As many of you know, or you will know now, there is never anything that is accidental when Kimu Sensei says it.
The essence of the above statements, which I only later really understood and experienced, is of course that everyone can train karate in the traditional way, but it is up to the individual whether they want to train martial arts. Only when you start training instead of practicing movements do you cultivate martial arts. This is what is completely up to you, and along this path you must create the yield or, as it is written, make the grains sprout. Of course, you should not take this as a guideline for how the special training should be, as it is individual. So when you once get the opportunity, it is not the same question you will be asked, it will be adapted to the situation and life cycle with you. The reason why I was faced with having to create the yield myself and make the grains sprout was of course with the ulterior motive that I had a hard time choosing, like when I had to choose whether to start a new school. So although it may sound strange, it was actually to lend me a helping hand so that I could move forward on the road of life and make the right choices. Making the right choice was reinforced by a question from Kimu Sensei that was familiar to some: “Do you want it, right????”, “It’s up to you to show it”. You then sit and mull it over while chewing through a roll that feels more and more dry. There’s not really much to say about it. During this conversation you inevitably look your teacher in the eye every now and then (you don’t actually die from that, but he has X-ray vision….believe me). The funny and strange thing is that it’s not always Kimu Sensei who is sitting in front of you, but you yourself. This shouldn’t be understood as you seeing yourself physically, but it feels like looking into a mirror and seeing the good and bad sides of yourself, talking to yourself and asking nasty questions. It can be quite hard, and at times you feel really pressured and speechless. The next thing I was told before we started the actual physical training was that I had to trust my teacher to show it to me. right way.
There wasn't much physical training for me during the sessions themselves, but again it's a question of what is needed. I needed to talk and get some aspects of my private life in order, so ergo “we trained here”, or in another way, which is also the essence “In Yakami you have to train the weak sides and in this way also make the strong sides stronger” or in everyday speech “The chain is not stronger than the weakest link”. I liked the trust thing, that is what we build a lot of the order society on, which again reflects that Yakami is an aspect in the whole purpose of life. I naturally expected that now we would have to train all the old and secret techniques from ancient scrolls. And we were supposed to, but the secret is not that big, it is called basic techniques. In fact, I think the scrolls are empty and you write the content yourself, understood again as the special training is individual. The techniques we are talking about here are the five basic parades: age-uké, gedan-barei, soto-uké, uchi-uké and naname-uké. But that was not enough either the techniques oi-tsuki and the three basic kicks mae-geri, mawashi-geri, yoko-geri were to be trained. I was asked to show the techniques as I thought they should look. I suddenly had a moment of clairvoyance and supernatural abilities when I could read Kimu Sensei's thoughts and facial expressions "Haven't you understood a living meter of it all?", he of course didn't say it out loud, but I could see it. I was asked to train the basic techniques 3-4 times a week in a number that I won't mention here, as someone will think I'm crazy or a training addict.
If that is the case, that is fine, but they do not belong to a specific place, but there must be room for everyone. What I am trying to say again, and as I was asked: “Do you want it?”. How should one respond to that? A well-known phrase from the Olsen gang is perhaps appropriate: “Yes, I will,” but don’t say it to others, say it to yourself, and you must mean it! After that, you can just pack your bag and sweat it out, say thank you for the lesson and go home and water the crops.
