TLUS POMW 1 is for TG4, Yakami Shinsei-ryu black belts. All the KYU competence courses were developed and created by Yamana-Itotani Sensei, and this also applies to all the DAN – black belt competence process courses.
TLUS POMW 1, is divided into three process modules; TSM A, B and C, which will be launched in 1H, 2012.
The superstructure part; PLEASE POMW! 2 runs from 2H, 2012 and will initially only be for chief instructors.
The result of TLUS POMW 1 will be decisive for when TLUS POMW 2 will be held again for all TLUS POMW 1 remaining participants. If things go as we expect and hope, 1H or 2H 2013 will be a good opportunity.
The entire TLUS POMW 1 & 2 course takes approx. 1 year, and through a structured, optimal and with a clear common thread, will provide a reasonably good professional competence and understanding of the history, use, strengths and weaknesses of various firearms in the modern world, as additional competence to Shindenkan's other competences in the system toolbox expectedly targeted at TG4 , black belts (1st dan and 1st dan Sr. corresponding to the single track 2nd dan to 3rd dan).
TSM POMW A with 28 highly motivated participants was kicked off on Friday, January 27, 2012.
You will soon be able to read about their experiences on the website, together with other brown and black belts' experiences and experiences during other of Shindenkan's internationally recognized competence courses from the multi-track system "toolbox" with more than 1,000 years of experience and knowledge.
In the coming months, the Shindenkan website will focus on Yakami Shinsei-ryu's multi-track brown and black belts, corresponding to single-track systems' black belts. So you have a lot to look forward to!
Yes, but what the hell is that POMW for?
POMW – Project Old Modern Warrior is a unique, innovative, exciting and for some controversial course that deals with something that people don't always like to talk about – namely emotions. The feeling of being settled or not settled, to be able to take a life or not.
Hhmmmm – is there something here that is not quite clear? Wasn't the course about shooting? Yes, but shooting is the tool on the way to the goal and the goal is martial art. Ooooohhh- -now I don't understand anything!
So let's start from the beginning.
POMW is a project derived from a hypothesis written by Minouchi Sensei that addressed the possibilities of learning, between warriors of the old school and the modern school. That is can they learn something from each other and where can it be used.
Both fighters use weapons with different purposes, such as melee and ranged combat. The old warrior uses, among other things, knife, sword and spear, while the murderers fight, among other things. uses knife, pistol and rifle. If you look at the technological development of weapons since black powder was invented, we must also mention cannons and giant bombs as weapons for the modern warrior.
What is the common quantity in this here?
Yes, whatever weapon is being talked about, there is a person behind it. Sometimes it's right behind and other times it's about pressing a button, very far from the weapon's use. In close combat, the man is directly behind the weapon and can see the result of his actions immediately. When we switch to long-range combat, with e.g. large bombs or cannons, the consequence is quite a bit further away. And many times the decision to use the weapon is also made very far away. That is that it is the politician who makes the decision, but it is the soldier who presses the button.
In short, you can say that the closer the weapon is to be used, the greater skills and clarification it requires from the warrior. So when using something as simple as a knife, it requires a very high correlation between technical development and competence development. On the other hand, man has been able to have a very high technological development of weapons, but has lagged behind with skill development. That is that the requirement to be able to press a button to set off a bomb is not the same as having to kill with a knife. And yet because there are people behind both parts. And this is where the martial arts have their advantages, because through martial arts there is development which is expressed through Densho degrees, which are old Bujutsu degrees that express a person's fulfillment of his full potential according to Michi-Do.
But what is a person really capable of and where is the connection and common thread in all this?
It's actually quite simple.
It is real and there are people behind it, so it is about internal clarification. Clarification of what you as a human being are capable of when it really matters. Can you do what needs to be done if you are in a sharp situation up close and see the consequence immediately? If you e.g. is up against an opponent with a knife and has the opportunity to strangle - do you want it? Or if you are up against an opponent with a knife and you have the opportunity to get hold of a gun – do you want to use it? Of course, the same also applies the other way around - but here, however, there is something that plays a very important role. Namely, a technical understanding of the use of firearms.
Is it easier to defend yourself against firearms if you know how to use them? Maybe a little but what it really comes down to is the size of the gun holder's clarity. Have you got what you need? Can the person involved pull the trigger, and here too see and live with the consequences of his actions immediately? Only one knows. So you can say that it goes both ways, i.e. the quality and level of competence of the person both in front of and behind the weapon.
So what can we in Shindenkan use all this for?
It is again fairly simple, namely to make use of a tool that can show you the way towards total clarity. That is "empowerment" which is about leadership development and self-knowledge. POMW is certainly created for the bridge between martial arts and martial arts - from Joden to Menkyo when we talk about Densho degrees, and here the project is already a success and proven. But the most interesting thing is where the border is - where the lines are crossed in the coordinate system between elite sport shooting and martial arts clarification, attitude and professional competences. We have an assumption that this is between TG3 and TG5, where Yakami Shinsei-ryu students have at least from 5 years to 30 years of martial arts training with an average of three to four weekly teaching lessons as a YSK multi-track martial artist. It will be very exciting to find out whether the setting is good enough or better for optimal yield and testing, compared to normal elite sports shooters at different levels of clarification. This depends on a test during the POMW project, and time will tell the final conclusion, hopefully without political or personal ego interference outside Shindenkan.
It's one thing to shoot on a long and stationary range where the target hangs still on a wall. Another thing is to shoot on a trading lane through small holes, under tables and have to hit targets that are moving. These are two very different things that require training to a certain extent. On the quiet standing track you can focus, take breaks and generally keep calm. Conversely, on a shopping course, you have a lot of things to take into account, namely the connection between focus and breathing, the speed of the target, the size of the holes you have to shoot through and their location.
What the POMW project is about is taking the lessons from the old warrior such as kihon, kumite and kata and applying it as the way to use firearms. So deal with the essence and effect of a piece of steel that can be deadly when it is in the hands of someone who is 100 % settled with himself. The result and the direct consequence of the training can then be seen in the tally of points and the time spent on the individual rounds that you have to go through on the course.
Shooting on a trading range is not a matter of setting up some obstacles. No, but shoot in a way that most reflects reality in the past, present and future as much as possible. This will support and be in line with what we already train on in Shindenkan. That is why we have chosen to shoot on IPSC shooting ranges, which are shooting's answer to formula 1. So you can say that we at Shindenkan are uncompromising when it comes to skills, the same also applies in combat. And precisely in combat, it is important to be uncompromising and totally clear, otherwise the biggest consequences can be transferred to yourself. And this applies to both the match with an opponent and the match with yourself.
