By John Christensen, Member until 2010

It has been many years since I attended my first camp in Jokokan. Back then, times were different, and so was Jokokan!

Once in a while it's good to stop and look over your shoulder, make it clear what happened? Why? how?

When you have been a member for a few years, you can sometimes hear yourself say: "back when we..." why is it really so important for us to look back? One answer must be that if we want to know who we are, we must know where we come from and where we are going.

When I started in Jokokan, we were about 40 members. A club in Copenhagen and one in Slagelse. In Copenhagen, there were virtually no members with the 4th kyu degree or below. The daily training was based on a high technical level.

The various camps during the year were also organized on a high physical and mental level. Now that might sound negative, but I don't experience it that way. It's pretty much the same people who are the instructors today, so that type of training has also paid off!

So why has it been important to revise the style?

With the recent arrangement in mind, it seems obvious to me. A net increase of very many members.. Positive feedback from many of the new members.

What has made the biggest impression on me, however, is the community spirit that now governs our camps. Where the practitioners used to train at one end of the dojo, together with Kimu Sensei, beginners at the other end, together with Jens Shihan. Children! Yes, there weren't many of them.

Today we train together with a lot of benefits. Children and beginners have some to look at and be inspired by. The experienced have the opportunity to help and explain, and thus make themselves aware of what they are doing exactly, and thus also learn something valuable.

Thanks for a good camp!