By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018

The first thing that comes to mind to say about this year's winter camp is: It was hard but great fun because it all just worked as it should in one long continuous flow. I'm sure those of you who were there will quickly nod in agreement. In the many articles about various camps, you have experienced that more and more words of praise have been written about the same, with good reason.

The first thing you can say about these camps and the articles is that emphasis has been placed on the description of how many we have now become and can we continue. It has turned out that we can keep going, but of course there is a limit. At the moment, we have a participation of around 100, but there is still room for more. We don't yet know exactly where the limitation is, which is why we are also adapting to the situation both in terms of instructors but also in terms of premises, which you have also experienced. If you look back just a few years, the situation was a little different. Of course there weren't that many of us either, which you will also be able to experience by looking a bit in the archives.

The system has developed in the direction of being more open, as the requirements compared to before have been lowered due to a division of the original system and the flow of members is still increasing, in short, there is room for everyone (have you heard it before :). However, don't forget that it is still possible to move from step 1 up to step 2, etc., if you want! It has not been without costs to go through the major cultural change in Jokokan Denmark, which we will not dwell on here, but it must be mentioned, as it has contributed to us being where we are today (you can find more in the archives). We have many to thank for this success. Firstly, there are your students who come and train and secondly, the people who, from Jokokan's early start in Denmark, have gathered the best from previous camps, so that we now have the finished concept.

That's what we call the long cool move over many years, and if we haven't guessed it already, it's Kimu Sensei and Jens Shihan, of course with the support over the years of black and brown belts. But we also have the same people to thank for maintaining the system in Denmark, management through various difficult eras, as well as the technical expertise and not least the connection to our grandmaster Soke Sensei Tonegawa. The Japanese have shown us the honor of going to Denmark to be taught Yakami-ryu Taijutsu by Kimu Sensei. It is a great honor and we thank and hope that within a number of years we can go to Japan and reciprocate the gesture, especially after the great success our Japanese colleagues have had i.a. with Soke Sensei's articles in Hiden Magazine and the offer of new luxury training facilities in elegant surroundings, which you have also heard about.

But what does all this have to do with this year's winter camp? We can probably call it the culmination of many years of preparations, improvements, lessons learned etc. As you can also see from the previously presented photo collage, Jokokan has become a place where people meet around a common interest "martial arts", but with a touch of humor and community unique to Jokokan. As instructors, we have thereby also been given the opportunity to give our knowledge from us in a positive way, which at the same time presents challenges.

The style of instruction at this year's winter camp built on the improvements of recent camps, making full use of the instructor team, consisting of all black belts with assistance from brown belts. I hope you find that the group teaching with different instructors, combined with the overall management, principle and basic training of Kimu Sensei, is a good and versatile way to gain new knowledge.

The feedback has been very positive and there was also great enthusiasm for the group discussions, which have gained great value in Jokokan. This year, it followed up on the group discussions from last time, which dealt with the Emergency Guardianship Act, with violence in everyday life and how these situations can be tackled. The youngest Jokokidz had fun drawing from even the same subject, which gave very nice and colorful results. The adults expressed their creative ability through the traditional Jokokan "show", which is characterized by a 10-second choreographed display, which is later judged based on established criteria. The icing on the cake was the final Jokokidz graduation, which was performed really well by all students and this time too Jokokidz got extra praise.

But it does not end here. There were just a few barrels to break for Jokokan's knock the cat out of the barrel event, which was taking place on the way to the bathroom. Subsequently, during the clean-up, we could then enjoy some delicious home-baked Mardi Gras buns, which Karina from Jokokan Korsør, a member of Jokokan's joint committee, had brought. Then there is someone they want to know how to bake and handle 115 Mardi Gras buns, they know where to turn.

We must also not forget our faithful audience, which had become a little bigger at this year's winter camp. They contributed appropriate shouts and whatever else they could come up with for good advice when you're not standing in there sweating yourself :. But it's great to see our camps becoming bigger and bigger audience magnets, we could have to ask for admission :.

Enjoy the many pictures from this year's winter camp and think back to the atmosphere in the sweaty sports hall filled with 100 happy karate practitioners; it is unique and you are part of it.

Happy Easter holidays