Around 150 Jokokaners have just completed the summer convention successfully. Of this, approx. 120 set for graduation.

For most instructors, including myself, it was also a graduation that was the culmination of the season.

For instructors, there are 5 stop tests leading up to the assessment itself: Thesis, Physical test, Syllabus test, Yakami Shinsei-ryu Shiai test and Teaching test. The purpose of the course is for us to be in absolute top shape; physically, technically as well as mentally when we reach the graduation itself, so that we can concentrate 100% on it.

But the preparations have started long before then – in fact right back to the start of the season; and intensified further during the last six months. As part of that, we have been tested on many leads and edges. In particular, I remember a session in the late spring, where we were briefly told for our weekly Friday training that today there was a stop test and that we had to go through 3 sets of bronze circles. And why? Yes, it's simple enough. The interesting thing is to see what we can do when we are pushed to the bottom, have no more resources to consume, and when the big overview and profits are gone.

The training started with walking kihon (basic technique) at a high pace, back and forth in the full length of the big neck, to be interrupted after the first few techniques by the first set of bronze circles, which of course had to be completed within a specific time requirement (5 minutes as I recall) or the next set of circles was automatically bonus upgraded to silver circle (2 extra of all the exercises in each of the 3rd circles). And then, by the way, we could start all over again by redoing the lifting, so that the chin came all the way up over the top rib.

Successfully completed (just within the time requirement), it was straight back to basic walking exercises, with encouraging and rousing comments from Kimu Sensei about whether we were tired and wanted to give up or it just seemed that way. It triggered the second set of circles, again on time. This time we failed to meet the time limit, which is why we were interrupted and ordered back to the floor. We got another chance to show our best walking basics, this time as walking kihon kumite with thrusts, kicks and parries 2 and 2 facing each other, again the entire length of the hall. After some time walking, the 3rd set of circles, bonus upgraded to silver circles, arrived again on time. Again we were interrupted and put together for kumite, later in groups and shiho form. When the test ended after 1½ hours with individual feedback from Kimu Sensei, everyone was flat.

From training sessions to test sessions to deeply personal conversations, Kimu sensei has done everything to motivate and show the good example of how to generate the greatest possible pressure in a minimum of time, which means that we all get the opportunity to show our true selves, when we are left with no profit, and stripped of our good intentions, with our actions and the cash settlement.

As Kimu Sensei says: "The future is created by your actions and not by what you say you will do".

With pressure on so many different fronts, we are better off as there is a much greater likelihood of success on one of the fronts. Then it is about capturing that success, remembering it, learning from it, and repeating it in the other areas.

In addition, I can feel that it is easier for me to stay focused and calm under pressure, and to concentrate on the essentials, namely learning from the situation, rather than avoiding it

In addition, it has brought many new toolboxes, e.g. through Tai Chi course package 1, and the core competency courses kenjutsu course package 1 and kotachi course package 1, with essence from Hassei Yakami-ryu. The subsequent dan degree courses have brought a greater focus on comfort zones and the realism of the training, and the explanations behind it.

One of the biggest eye-openers has been the realization that the many complex issues and technical challenges that exist in martial arts and martial arts can always be explained in a simple way. At the same time, the well-known curriculum has also unfolded and proved to be able to be combined in many more ways, and to contain many more possibilities than previously seen - when I think outside the box and do not let myself be bound by previous perceptions.

For me, this season has culminated in the best instructors meeting so far, with many things falling into place during both the Friday and Saturday practice sessions.

And I am grateful that Kimu Sensei has gone ahead and shown how well motivated I am with the right circumstances and incentives. I am well aware that, with my successful 4th dan graduation, the invitation to Kaidenkan "The real and full Budo and Bujutsu teaching and path for anyone who wants" and the new tasks as assistant trainer in Honbu 1, it is increasingly up to show myself that I can and that I want to. First of all to myself.

But here, the season ends, like most training lessons, with a big smile on the face, and a list of work points that need to be looked at more closely.