It was Friday afternoon, the late summer sun was shining as best it could, and the city was buzzing with life. We were drawn over the bridge to one of Sweden's pearls, Malmö - the place many Danes make a pilgrimage to to shop, eat, party and otherwise enjoy the exchange rate advantage of 20% against the Swedish krone. There was a town party, and there were lots of stalls, street performers, festively dressed and thigh-high shorts. The company's only unmarried participant was busy turning his head out of joint to enjoy the sight for all of us.

However, we were not in town to drink draft beer or dance the night away. We had completely different activities for. For this was RRCamp10.1 – a first of its kind for almost all attendees, and it's not too much to say we were excited. Leading up to the camp, we had been "prepared" with good advice about being well-rested, well-trained, very focused and highly motivated. There was also something about not expecting anything at all, but being prepared for anything; nor should we expect too much sleep, etc.

This is not the first time that we have been "prepared" for camps and the like, so we knew very well that for us it was about keeping the ground connection, being calm and composed, and doing our 100% the best, because then there is nothing more we can do.

We had been accommodated in a hotel in the center, and now stood anxiously in the lobby waiting for Kimu Sensei. Everyone was dressed in gym clothes and clothes with the Shindenkan's Mon (coat of arms) as prescribed, and in the hotel rooms was the well-packed bag with laptop, notepad and other essentials.

And then all of a sudden we were up and running. Kimu Sensei appeared at the battle and gave a short orientation, and then it was up to some practical work and straight up to the top floor to the fitness center. There were several good places with a view of the city, and soon we were divided between treadmills, rowing machines and exercise bikes, and then it was just out of there. We are all used to being tested, and we all had ice cream in our stomachs. After all, the summer holiday was still a bit in the body, so within no time the pulse was up and running, and the view from the 20th floor was disturbed by showers of sweat. And now it was also teaching in cross training, so we were placed on activities we were not quite used to. Everyone survived as expected, so fresh and free we went straight to the weight training machines to be introduced to the latest research on fitness training targeted at martial arts and martial arts. We all went to it because we wanted to, and judging by the colors on our faces, we gave it everything we had. Fortunately, that doesn't hold back a martial artist, and Kimu Sensei was buzzing all over the center with good advice and, as needed, equal parts encouragement and pointed comments about whether we were paralyzed, still on vacation or what.

After a quick shower, we went into the meeting room, where the ground rules were laid down. The camp was one long test, and the test only ended the moment we dumped, or were told we passed!

So, now it's not fun anymore!

Pointed comments and unequivocal truths abounded in the subsequent session, where we had to look at ourselves, assess ourselves and each other, and judge our efforts on all points. The key word was honesty, and if we were having a hard time with that, Kimu Sensei could quickly come up with an encouragement, in the form of an unequivocal truth that burned deep inside.

Do you know the feeling? There is something that is not quite as it should have been, and you are also willing to admit that - right must be right, after all. But that person keeps wading through it again and again and again - and now that's enough. Now it's not fun anymore! Now they have to close the drawer. Normally I wouldn't put myself through this kind of treatment, but partly it is difficult to contradict well-argued statements, partly I was well aware of why I was there, where I have my skeletons in the closet, and what should really be done about that. Motivation makes all the difference

Over the course of a few hours, we all got our halo well and truly peeled off. Had we thought that we were selfless and self-sacrificing angel basses, even the most thick-skinned (me 🙂 ) gradually realized that this was probably not the case. When it was said emphatically and started to seep in, we could start looking at what we could use it for, because we were at RRCamp10.1 – leadership development. We had to learn a lot, and this time too it was about ourselves – the person who is always and constantly present in our world.

On this foundation, demands for 100% concentration, honesty and presence were then built on with targeted exercises that specifically required honesty and presence, and which included 100% honest feedback from everyone, with the stated goal of moving from boss to leader. The tool was organizational development with clear goals, clear communication, and honesty (again, again)

We made concrete plans with measurable results, had them torn to pieces by our fellow colleagues and Kimu Sensei if the fellow colleagues did not approach the matter with enough honesty. Then we made the plans again, only better.

The rest of the camp was one long corridor of concentration, where there was not 2 superfluous minutes anywhere, but one long series of carefully planned and consecutive activities. At the same time, we were of course informed about the latest optimisations, improvements and developments within the system and organization that Kimu Sensei had made over the summer. And if anyone lost his concentration in the slightest, or began to believe that the halo had returned and the Holy Sepulcher was well preserved, Kimu Sensei was ready with new developments in how dry, fast and straight to the bone the truth could be served.

And how did it actually go with all the predictions: It turned out that you can not expect anything, and yet be ready for everything; that the truth sets you free; that one hour of sleep is actually quite a lot; and that the view from the fitness center on the 20th floor only gets better the more you look at it.

The summer sun shone with undiminished strength on Saturday, when after a "late checkout" we had our lunch in the square outside the hotel, before driving back over the bridge to Denmark, with a completely changed perception of time after 26 hours in the tunnel of concentration. Back to everyday life, but also back to the task of implementing everything we had come up with.

Thought to words to action.