By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018

Shindenkaner – Know your body !!

In the midst of the darkest times, there is always a light burning, and that is at Shindenkan. When everyone else hides away in the warm living rooms behind the tiled table and the living room altar, a small group of people brave the winter cold and darkness and meet for a 24-hour training camp, where the focus is to get to know themselves a little better. The small group are Shindenkan black belts and black belt aspirants ie. from 2nd kyu (Yakami Shinsei-Ryu Karate do and black belt in single track karate-do) and upwards, the place where the light burns is Måløv Hallen.

For the first time, Kimu Sensei had chosen to try a new concept of , not that rallies are new, but the location and the course, as it must support the new 2010-2015 strategic plan, which includes is about development in the black belt degrees and management. Therefore, in the future you must also participate in the 2 annual TSM courses, which are before the summer meeting and the Xmas meeting, if you have hopes of progressing in the higher degrees. Kimu Sensei is a limited resource and currently the only one who can develop us black belts in the right direction, so there are also limited days when this can happen, and if it is to be a natural process, the xmas and summer convention is a good choice . At the same time, the subsequent summer or xmas convention is part of the leadership training, where some of the tools that have been reviewed at the black belt convention can be used directly, which is also expected.

I myself had been looking forward to this TLUS TSM1 after the content had been revealed, and was also pleased that three of my students were to participate – Karsten, Bjørn and Mads. I was happy on their behalf because now they got to experience what it is like to be taught directly by a real Yakami grandmaster, where the teaching at the same time becomes very personal and goes close to the individual's limits both physically and mentally. We had been told in advance that this meeting would be of a technical and mental nature rather than physical and kumite oriented, which will then be the focus area before the summer meeting, like this year's summer meeting, which you can read about in the many articles from the same. In the invitation, it was stated as "One stroke - one kill" through, among other things, koryu naihanchi 1 and 2. "One stroke - one kill" doesn't mean you have to kill, but it's the attitude behind it and the all or nothing mindset, which I personally think is cool. I was also really happy that it was going to be of a technical nature, as I love getting new tools that I can use to get to know myself both physically and mentally. At the same time, the dark time is also a time when you are most inclined to immerse yourself and few people are at the very top of the shape curve, which this year's physical test revealed, where I myself dumped for the first time ever (will not happen again  ). Then you can always excuse yourself with the fact that it was a new type of test and that you had been sick leading up to it, but you can't use that in reality, apropos of "one stroke one kill". Kimu Sensei always tries to include as much unpredictability as possible in the teaching and the lead-up, so that you cannot anticipate the events. This is not to embarrass us students, but to help us to let go of control and be in the moment and act on our instincts and attitude.

The TSM convention itself was structured so that there would be two consecutive lessons on Friday from 16.00 to 17.30 and from 17.30 to 19.00, then dinner for half an hour, after which there were Ryugi group assignments until 23.00. After this time, you could drive home and sleep, train further or prepare for the following day, when the training started at 8.00 with presentations of last evening's Ryugi group tasks this time right up until 09:30, after which the tour went to the dojo. This was followed by this year's xmas convention, which is also leadership development for black belts and chief instructors - a total of 17 hours of teaching in 26 hours, which is close to RRCAMP trends 🙂

Everyone was ready exactly at 16.00 when our training camp was supposed to start and even before, taught by past awards for being late. It is a waste of everyone's time if you arrive late, as it means less training time for everyone. As the good teacher Kimu Sensei is, he naturally started with a survey of expectations, as there were so many new ones, but also for us all to start thinking and think about what we would like to get out of this training camp. We also learned a very important and universal teaching. Remember the prerequisite for learning: You must be the leader of your own life, be open - the dojo is the place for enlightenment. You're only stupid if you don't ask questions. What is corrected in the others should also give you a hint about what you need to correct, and if others receive praise, it may be that this praise also applies to you.

After the warm-up, we had to start the first lesson of the day and what do you start with. Yes, you don't have to look far in the syllabus until you find the syllabus for 9th kyu and the various basic positions heisoku, musubi and heiko dachi as well as kiba and shiko dachi. This is where we started, because the most important thing is to understand the starting point and foundation of all martial arts, and it lies in the basis (kihon), hence the connection kihon-kumite-kata, we've all heard that before. But there is a lot hidden in the basic positions and the entire first lesson was spent reviewing these and how they are connected. They all have their advantages and disadvantages and work in multiple dimensions (axes). If the premise is not correct ie. the body's position, muscle tension, etc., you also cannot take proper advantage and benefit from the different leg positions. I would say that even though I have been training for almost many years, there were also many new things for me hidden here, which made new sense when they were reviewed again with a new approach. So here during the Christmas holidays there is really something to work on, also something that will probably be used in the local schools. When we had taken it standing it was time to move into basic positions and again, what do we have in the syllabus that is the foundation for basic movement? Ido-unsoku. Ido-unsuku is actually quite difficult to perform when you have to include all small partial waists from the 4 leg positions that it contains, so go back to the 9th kyu syllabus and train! Now of course there is more to ido-unsoku than just movement, there is posture, cross tension, breathing, and intermediate positions just to name a few of the elements. Ido-unsoku is one of the most important basic tools in the curriculum at all. The first lesson went surprisingly quickly and right on schedule, which Kimu Sensei was really happy about as we could then move on to the next point.

The next lesson naturally built on the basic positions. Because one of the prerequisites for you to be able to move correctly is that you understand how your body works both consciously and unconsciously. To train this, there is an ancient tool that originates from koryu bujutsu, which is called tai-seigyo. Tai means body and seigyo means control – ie. body control. If you think you know everything about the use of your muscles through karate training and your weekly visits to the fitness center, think again. Tai-seigyo is about getting to know your body and the individual muscles, i.e. how do they work individually, together and which ones do you use how and when to create movement and energy. We spent a good hour and a half in the company of our own muscles and irritation that we might not have the power over our own muscles that we wanted. An example of an exercise that I think was really good and enriching can be described as follows: Standing in heiko dachi with your arms out to the side, you must now first pull the right shoulder blade towards the spine, without the rest of the body moving, then you must feel that you are pulled by the left arm, i.e. the whole arm is pulled slightly from the body, which causes you to shift your upper body out to the left without moving your hips or legs. As a help, you have a partner standing behind your back who with one hand fixes your hip and with the other hand marks with a finger on your shoulder blade so that you can feel what you have to move. I have to say hello and say that an hour and a half of this kind of exercise is really, really cool, but also hard and you can feel it a few days later. It gives an incredible awareness of the body and how it works, which is also the meaning of tai-seigyo. We only just got the chance to "smell" a little at koryu Naihanchi 2, where you have to show all the body control etc. you've learned, but didn't really get the chance to try it out, but there was also plenty to tackle in in advance.

3 hours goes by very quickly in the company of good training, so there was time for half an hour's dinner before the evening's next lesson could begin. The next hours until 23.00 went with group work, where three tasks had to be completed in time. We do not know the tasks in advance, but they are always connected and relate to what is being trained physically in the dojo. This time the theme was "the common thread" in the syllabus, which naturally connected with what we had trained all day - standing kihon to walking kihon and tai-seigyo. As I said, the tasks had to be solved on time and in groups, and the conclusions had to be written down in a short presentation that could be presented in plenary the next morning. The 3rd and last task was for many the most awaited as it had to combine today's practice with the evening's theory in a demonstration, which was to be shown the next day to everyone at the xmas convention. In addition to the "common thread" in the curriculum, the task also involved Shindenkan's newest pillar in the multi-track martial arts system - POMW (Project old modern warrior), about which you can read much more in already published articles. You can judge whether it was successful from the displays you experienced at the Xmas convention 🙂

At 23.01 we all left the Måløv hall to drive home and get a few hours' sleep before we had to meet the next morning for the first lesson/assembly at 08.00. Before I could sleep in my own bed in Ringsted, some notes had to be written, so bedtime was only around 01.00. Already at At 06.15 the mobile phone's alarm rang and Karsten, Claus (they had spent the night with me) and myself ate some breakfast and drank a good strong cup of coffee before we drove towards Måløv. In addition to fresh rolls, today's lesson offered a lesson in presentation technique and what absolutely not to do if you have to present a message to a seasoned crowd. Several of the participants had a deja-vu back to the summer training camp, where they were "raised around the ring" by Kimu Sensei, who sees even the smallest bent thumb and reads all body language from both the presenter and the rest of the group's dynamics. It's fantastically educational and I'm sure the lucky ones who were up to present are all grateful for the personal feedback that was given 🙂

After the approx. an hour and a half of ryugi training we were back in the dojo. First, a short recap and conclusion was made of the farm day's training before we started again with the basic training, but also tried it in the ippon kumite designed for the purpose. At the same time, we had come so far in the day that the 4 students who were due for brown belt graduation were present to go through stop tests 2-4 (theory, syllabus and kumite). Therefore, in this lesson there was also self-training of the new tools containing basic, tai-seigyo walking and standing, cross tension, breathing, etc. When basic and tai-seigyo were trained, it was tested in kumite and then back and train basic again. It was a very good way to practice and afterwards feel the consequences of what you had trained, whether it worked or not or whether you did it correctly or not. It was also interesting to experience how Kimu Sensei, while keeping maximum pressure on the graduates in another room (the barefoot hall), is able to coach and spar those of us who went to the large hall and trained ourselves on the given individual tasks.

At 12.00 the event ended for the time being for us, and some had the opportunity for some free kumite with some protective equipment against the by now rather battered graduates who had to prove themselves where it really counts. I think this technical TSM camp has been one of the best and I have reached a sod deeper in my self-perception both on the physical but also mental side. This was also the purpose, I was pushed to my limit and I'm happy about that, that's also why I stand there every time voluntarily - I want to learn a lot more about myself and my body physically as well as mentally.

Ura additions:

This year's Xmas TSM, has personally been a welcome event for me as I feel it as a catalyst in this dark time, but also a good tool towards my hopefully graduation this summer. It's no secret that it's been a tough year for me. I had to fight back and keep my energy and spirits high while landmark things happened in my life. But it has been a fantastic but also tiring journey, which, as I said, I hope will culminate this summer.

I think the essence of this TSM has also been to see the common thread in the curriculum already from 9th kyu and how the tools still high up in the grades are essential to address again. Nothing is accidental and it is connected from day one onwards.

Leadership has been an essential point for this TSM as well. In particular, I have worked on being able to lead myself before I can lead others. I could relate this to the controversial POMW and our internal clarification in shihan kai the month before, held up against the clarification process and reaction that was from the rest of the participants at TSM.

The common thread and the bridge between martial arts/martial arts show me the way to the fact that I don't know my body better than I know myself, or in other words, if you don't know yourself physically, you don't know yourself mentally either! I think that Tai-seigyo is a really good way of working with the body and I hope that I will gain much more knowledge in this area, and I really like training the exercises.

All in all, you can say that this TSM has been about body, mind & spirit association, as I have interpreted it, precisely because we have worked a lot with attitude (one stroke – one kill) and the physical body, what is the prerequisite for a correct technique and not just an empty movement. But it all comes from within and if you are not clear it is reflected in your technique, which we learned in the learning spiral tai-segyo, walking base and kumite over and over again.

In kumite I could feel an improvement in myself, I was not as focused on success as I have been previously but more on the method of achieving success, namely the technique and the clarification. It is of course born from both the work with TF3 but also my path towards Joden and Kimu Sensei's personal sparring. I try to be more aware of the struggle in myself rather than hitting, ie. focus on what makes me not hit every time or parry every time even though I can't imagine anything but that I can only hit or parry 🙂

Regarding self-development, I naturally found that I have to train a lot more with myself, but that I have also now got several good tools that do not necessarily require you to spend several hours a day, but you can e.g. quickly train some tai-seigyo exercises, one of the most important is the quality of the training. Regarding teaching, it was also a pleasure to be able to test methodologies on over 100 people and 3 co-instructors, which I think was exciting. The plan held up reasonably well, but of course with room for improvement, which I have taken to heart.

I am looking forward to a new season where there is fertile ground for much more and I know that I can accelerate further and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.