By Jan Vendelboe, Member until 2014
An "eyewitness" report.
Kimu Sensei welcomed us into the classroom with introductory information about the day's program and at the same time welcomed Kjeld Renshi-dai 4th dan and Brian Renshi-dai 3rd dan as our instructors for the day's continuation.
Kjeld Renshi-dai and Brian Renshi-dai then took over and continued the introduction and information for what was to be an extremely exciting and educational day. Initially, Kjeld and Brian first gave us some background knowledge about their past, background and history within martial arts. This was done in a fun and active way, where Kjeld told us about Brian, and Brian in turn told us about Kjeld. We clearly got the feeling that the two black belts knew each other incredibly well and had a long comradeship/friendship behind them as well as a passion for the sport we practice together.
Thus, their respective presentation of each other was spiced up in a humorous way with small anecdotes from the past. In addition to the fact that both had countless freestyle matches behind them, with both Danish and international tournament championships as well as beautiful bronze medals from the WC in Japan, Kjeld could tell, among other things, that Brian had been so fascinated by martial arts and Japan that he from a very young age had lived in Japan to learn the noble art of martial arts. Brian had for a period had intense schooling in karate, where the rhythm of the day from Monday to Saturday was training, work and sleep, training work and sleep and then on Sundays - yes, he could sleep.
The gratifying and fascinating thing for me was partly to get a little behind our instructors and hear their own story, but also to hear and sense their own joy at Shindenkan. Contrary to other systems that our two instructors have been familiar with earlier in their careers, Shindenkan contains so much more. In our system we can thus experience one of the most complete karate systems with a myriad of possibilities and tools which in the long run can give us greater challenges, insight and understanding, not least about ourselves.
Thus, this competence course was not a course in learning to hit Søren in free and uncontrolled freestyle, but to learn to build up from below - use what we have learned since 10 kyu and quietly as you build a house, - make sure the foundation is in order before we continue to build on the walls and roof.
Good enough, Brian and Kjeld told about the difference in freestyle from our 6 kyu to 2 kyu level, to the latest training camp with sports freestyle for 2 – 5 dan, where blue eyes, knock outs and broken legs were on the program. But they assured us that what we now had to train first was the understanding in freestyle, to read one's opponent, find the openings and strike with body markings with hand distance - i.e. no full contact and touch as at dan level. Still, I think that most people in the room were happy that we had remembered the step protectors we were now wearing, as well as the mouth guards we had to get used to having in our mouths a little later.
After the introduction, it was with anticipation that we got started with the active part of the course in the hall. Initially, we were divided into 4 groups which were to function as evaluation groups after each training session. After this, we started the physical training against our various opponents for the rest of the morning.
Again, Brian and Kjeld were skilled and motivating instructors who first showed us the drill and then gave us our attack tasks with punches and kicks before we had to test ourselves. Thus we practiced hitting techniques and kicking techniques first at 40% intensity and later at 80% intensity. Each exercise was first against an opponent standing still in kamai, and later with an opponent in motion who "defended" himself by taking a step back in new kamai.
I myself think that these exercises were exciting and educational. Reading your opponent, finding the small openings and then launching the attack and seeing if you succeed as intended is very exciting and challenging. Logically, there is an incredibly large difference between a stationary opponent and an opponent in motion, but trying to read the opponent's moves in both an attack and a defense is extremely fascinating. There was a big difference between one's different opponents, with some protecting themselves well in a narrow kamai, while others were open like "a roof itself table".
Kjeld and Brian ended the day with our respective groups being able to talk about the main points from the day's experiences and the observations and considerations we had found. There was broad agreement that our basic techniques are the basis for a good defense and attack in a freestyle match. It is not always easy to find the opening in the opponent in motion and you run a risk and expose yourself in an "uncontrolled" attack. There was also agreement that there are advantages and disadvantages to any attack, regardless of whether it is punched or kicked. The range of the kick, the technique of an opponent's "freight train" in coming forward, everything can be dangerous, but also turns from defense to counter-attack.
And what did I get out of the day myself? First of all, an exciting and educational day. Good introductory exercises and understanding for the freestyle matches we will later train and learn. I understood right from the first day in Shindenkan that we had to learn the basic techniques first before we are released in freestyle, so I know we have to crawl before we can walk. And that there is room for everyone. But I have to admit that I'm having fun and it's extremely rewarding on a day like today when the "toolbox" is slowly being opened and we can start testing ourselves in what we've learned over the past few yearsJ.
Big praise to Brian Renshi-dai and Kjeld Renshi-dai for their unique presentation of the day's curriculum, which was carried out positively under controlled conditions and, as always, with happy practitioners from their own dojo and the other departments.
