By Agnes Schwartz, Member until 2015

My attendance at Kodosoku-kai Gensei 1, was full of wonder. First, we were introduced to a lot of history and some quick and dry numbers, after which Jens Kyoshi could tell that everything was a lie. After that, the real facts came on the table and there was a lively discussion about the many postulates surrounding the birth of karate. We entered honorary degrees. , the Japanese mafia and other fraud and deception. I tried to write down as much as possible, which was very little, because Jens Kyoshi is both a very lively and fast narrator.

After Ryugi, we started with Ryuha.

Yaburi shiho, where you have to think in terms of directions, center, cross tensions and tai-sabika. Sansai kata, where there is essentially the same focus. Nanahon kumite, which was so fascinating and a gymnastic challenge that I only managed 1 of the exercises.

After the course, I thought a lot about why we should learn something that was not in our curriculum. Could we use kata and shiho to train center, tai-sabaki, power generation and cross tension? Could we use it for comparison?

Was it history?

I don't know yet, but it has sparked some thoughts, resulting in more searching about our roots in Shindenkan