After completing Jujutsu 2, it is even more clear to me that Jujutsu arose out of the need for survival on the battlefield. And survival is neither nice to look at, stylistically and aesthetically executed, nor lucky enough to have a referee who gives points and stops the match in time. It is far away from our normal daily life or it is something we experience at a distance on TV. Short struggle for survival is brutal, animalistic and to most people repulsively ugly.

But why do we think it's so ugly? What is it that makes us find it repulsive?

Maybe it's repulsive because it reminds us of something inside ourselves, that we also possess animal instincts, just hidden far away, deep down at the bottom of ourselves - it's called survival instinct. Maybe it reminds us of what another person is capable of doing to us and it scares us! Or worse yet what we ourselves are capable of doing to another human being if we let these instincts loose and that makes us even more afraid!

We can of course renounce our animal instincts and imagine that as modern humans we do not use these "forgotten" instincts - then we can also better endure ourselves, right?

But my claim is short and well, it is ugly because we are not clear on how far we want to go and that it is necessary in a survival situation - yes to increase the chances of survival.

Remember, regardless of whether we like it or that it destroys our brilliant image of ourselves – the fight for survival may become necessary for you too!

But back to Jujutsu…
When we talk about survival or self-defense, the bottom line is that it's about looking after yourself and being good to yourself. This is the common thread in Shindenkan and which follows from Jujutsu course 1, on to Jujutsu course 2, on to Jujutsu course 3... and on to all other training in Shindenkan.

Why use melee techniques such as throws and locks if you can defend yourself more optimally with distance combat such as punches and kicks. Why expose yourself to the increased risk of being very close to the opponent - because you are supposed to take care of yourself.

The original Jujutsu was created through experiences directly from the battlefield to take care of yourself if, or rather when you got into a really bad situation, where you had lost your weapon or you were fighting with more than one opponent at the same time .

In the original Jujutsu, you had to take armor into account ie. there were fewer openings and it was difficult to use punches and maybe also kicks. We don't have to do that in the same way today, and therefore today's Jujutsu must of course be adapted so that there are more opportunities to make decisive use of vulnerable areas.

But regardless of origin, it is about doing what is necessary to increase one's chances of survival or to sell oneself as dearly as possible.

Sports Jujutsu as it is today is composed of the 3 systems Karate, Judo and Aikido which are trained and demonstrated e.g. in duo games in 3 separate system phases which are marked and judged. Precisely this constitutes a paradox because there is a change between systems and each change creates an opening for the opponent - it is not fluid and therefore not optimal.

In a fight for survival, there is no time to show off systems and regardless of whether you are fighting one or more opponents, whether they are armed or unarmed, in true Jujutsu you must be able to fluidly switch between ranged combat and close combat without thinking and it must be completed 100 % otherwise expose yourself to increased risk and danger.

Some feel better with ranged combat because they feel that greater distance gives better protection and others feel better with close combat because they feel it gives better control, but ranged combat, close combat - hm... this is a level of understanding and learning, i.e. theory, because in in practice you can't divide it up, there is only struggle and you have to do what is necessary to survive.

Another aspect that has a great effect on how a combat situation proceeds is fatigue. As a match progresses, you become more and more tired and are therefore unable to keep your opponents at bay. This reduced fighting distance leads to both more openings and a gradual change in the relationship between distance combat and close combat, and here our attitude is decisive.

Remember, it's not the system that makes the difference, it's yourself and your attitude!

My learning
Kimu Sensei taught me a long time ago that there must be no difference between whether it is close or far - it must be the same. This is about comfort zones, because usually the closer you get to it, the more tense, nervous or scared you become. This is also why it requires a higher level of the practitioner the closer it gets, especially on the mental and spiritual level.

But what Kimu Sensei has taught me is that you have to see what is close as if it were far away and what is far away as if it were close. In other words, you must be in physical, mental and spiritual balance all the time to defend yourself and fight optimally - regardless of distance.

How can one go from sequential self-defense carried out as separate system phases to fluid self-defense with fluid transitions between ranged combat and close combat to armed combat?

First of all, you need to have the correct setting, i.e. that even if you train under controlled forms, it must be realistic, otherwise the real consequence will not be revealed! The techniques must be trained with a view to the purpose for which the techniques were made - i.e. fight for survival and with the same mental attitude.

Next, it is important to experience or recognize that all systems are tools and that the true and total essence must be found in mastering the 12 principles and 8 forces which are universal for all systems.

Training in and understanding of the 12 principles and 8 forces. Now what kind of nonsense is that! So what are we going to do with a system?

Mastering principles and powers is of course very difficult and requires a long time of training to raise our level and you have to crawl before you can walk and by that I mean that you have to train in a system that focuses the development of people through gradual mastery of the universal principles and forces.

That's what we do in Shindenkan and I'm quite proud of that - Well, it's not the common thread!

What I want is to move from sequential combat to constant fluid combat, to be systematically trained to gradually master the 12 universal principles and to be able to use the 8 forces fluidly - to be able to move freely and optimally in every situation. I will be in Kaidenkan.

Essence of Jujutsu course 2
The essence of Jujutsu course 2 can, for me, be briefly summarized in the following points:

• It is not the system that decides the battle, but the person and the attitude.
• Be 100 % clear about how far you will go to defend yourself, your family and friends.
• Keep it simple and do what is necessary, no more, no less – but do it 100 %.
• Be efficient, the less time you are in combat, the less risk you expose yourself to.
• Move fluidly and use everything you've learned.

Rounding off
It is important that we in Shindenkan deal with the fact that fighting for survival or self-defense leads to damage to both ourselves and others and, in the extreme, death to both ourselves and others.

You cannot close your eyes and imagine that it will be beautiful just like in the movies or that the people who are witnesses perceive it in the same way as you - that would be an illusion.

In other words, it doesn't happen without deep scratches in the paintwork!