"We meet where people are and take them on a journey", The KYU course and background

Shindenkan now has 46 years of history in Denmark (2013), and more than 1,000 years of history in Japan. The consistent person throughout the last 46 years in Denmark has been Jokokan International's and Bujutsu Kodosokukai's supreme grandmaster, the 34th Soke (selected heir), Soke Sensei Tonegawa no Yukio (b.1938). The 1960s were an exciting time in martial arts Denmark, where the Japanese systems in particular made inroads as the world became smaller. Within karate-do came systems such as; Shotokan, Goju-ryu - and Gensei-ryu to Denmark.

It is unique that Soke Sensei Tonegawa (SST) lived in Denmark in the period 1967-1974. When he went back to Japan, there were 11 Gensei-ryu Karate-do schools in Denmark. In the period 1974 to 1992, there was a split in SST's Gensei-ryu schools in Denmark, respectively. tournament and traditional Gensei-ryu branches. From 1988 SST's multi-track Bujutsu and Budo family system was gradually introduced in step with Kimu Sensei's progression. This meant that in 1992 Kimu Sensei was appointed chief instructor and official representative of SST's multi-track family system in Denmark, and in 1994 also fully for Europe. In the partnership with Jens Hanshi-dai, the Jokokan schools functioned as very elitist and targeted schools, where 2-4 dan, black belts from other systems assessed that a 3rd kyu, brown belt was most often equivalent in knowledge and competence to the 2nd dan of many other systems to 3rd dan, black belt. Which resulted in funny episodes, where newly crowned karate-do World Cup medalists in Japan, had great challenges with Jokokan's 3.kyu, brown belt during guest training, or in their own words "We got mega bank and we suffered a giga ego break! ”.

It was common for 12-18 hours of weekly teaching in the Dojo, where it was necessary to have almost as many hours of self-training on the side. Training events lasting 7 days from 06:00 to 24:00 in three to four four-hour blocks daily, however with half a rest day in the middle of the week. After such a training event, it was not unusual that you were only up to your feet again after 2-4 weeks. It was also during this period that the physical basic form test for black belt was 3 x military bronze circle in a maximum of 5 minutes (normal was under 4 minutes). A three-minute break to change into running shoes, after which it was a 10 km run in a maximum of 50 minutes (normal was under 40-45 minutes). A three-minute break to take off running shoes, after which the basic form test was completed with 3 x military gold circles in a maximum of 9 minutes (normal was under 6-7 minutes). After that it was normal that we then trained in the dojo for 2-3 hours..

It goes without saying that this very elitist form was not exactly a "kiosk basker" and the dropout rate of new members in the first year averaged around 95 %. But all that was focused on was developing according to the old Japanese methodology and form of learning, which has its origins in "the complete elitist samurai training through the optimal physical, psychological and mental preparation for the coming civil war, as an additional survival and motivation factor ”.

The modern explanatory and motivational factor, and challenge was just that, for example, there had not been a civil war in Japan since the 1860s, and in Denmark for over 1,000 years, - and around the turn of the millennium we were only approx. 45 members. In addition, there was only one person who had achieved the competence level of martial arts grand master and one martial arts master in Denmark, according to the ancient Japanese densho degree's standard - a somewhat meager result after 46 years of work and targeted effort and tens of thousands of practitioners over time - but according to SST's standard a very nice and satisfying result!.

Therefore, in the wake of this self-examination in the year 2000, a re-definition of competence requirements, attitudes, teaching methodologies and the building of a bridge between the mysticism of the East and the West – the best of the best from both. It brought life advice and mottos such as; "Space for everyone - the elite as exercisers", "We meet people where they are and take them on a journey" and "You can do much more than you and others tell you", etc.

This led to a gigantic cultural change and turnaround of Jokokan in Europe and Denmark. Greece, Cyprus, Ireland and the UK were previously cut off in 1996, when there was "politics in it" with all that comes with it. This also meant a natural replacement of many instructors and senior practitioners, as the focus had now shifted to "Space for everyone - the elite as exercisers", which also entailed a much greater demand for management and organizational development, in the middle of a turnaround and culture change process, at the same time as a massive expansion of members and local schools. For many years it became "Tordenskjold's soldiers" as it often happens in voluntary and unpaid association work, which naturally also entails many hats for the very few.

The biggest challenge was actually the entire core of Jokokan; to make the over 1,000-year-old system understandable and visible, at the same time as "We meet people where they are and take them on a journey".

The only one who could do this was a martial arts grandmaster who had a "full journeyman's certificate" according to the 1,000-year-old competence standard within martial arts, thus 1,000 years of knowledge and skills were passed on intact with a clear common thread. So after 20 years as federation chairman, Kimu Sensei passed the chairmanship torch on to the next generation to concentrate on Honbu dojo and local school Jokokan Ballerup Karate School, which was started by Jens Hanshi-dai and Kimu Sensei, as a socially responsible contribution to their municipality of residence.

In the years 2005-2011, the multi-track martial arts system Yakami Shinsei-ryu was made more understandable by making the values visible, where the various professional skills were made visible, but following a clear common thread at the right time and place in the development of the individual member in the system. Six years it took Kimu Sensei to put the finishing touches on the last KYU course, all of which were carried out in uncompromising quality to the highest international standards.

This also led to the greatest international recognition from SST and the other martial art grandmasters from various Japanese and Chinese martial art systems, that Kimu Sensei (though more or less forced on Kimu Sensei's part, as he was happy for the recognition, but in his own opinion had only done his work), was named independent system and organization martial arts grandmaster under Bujutsu Kodosokukai (BKK) and the Jokokan Umbrella in 2008. This led to a name change to the Shindenkan organization. However, Kimu Sensei has chosen to keep the international organizational affiliation locally, thus all local schools are called Jokokan + town name. For Kimu Sensei, it is important to know and respect one's roots - and it is also much easier to communicate after many years of building up and hard practical work with the Jokokan name :-).

TG1, TG2, TG3 and TG4, the KYU courses are the prerequisite for progression and basic subject competence understanding in the multi-track martial arts system; Yakami Shinsei-ryu. TG groups are degrees that we know from experience enjoy each other as a group, as there is someone in front, behind and right next to you on the journey.

The KYU courses consist of 18 competency and curriculum seminar courses, all of which take place under the auspices of Honbu. In the beginning, there are Friday courses, which turn into weekend courses, which gradually turn into a 2-3 month competence course in close cooperation with local repetition and self-training. Kimu Sensei has taught all the KYU courses, which are recorded on video, so the original version and the standard of competence will always be the same for everyone who goes through the courses. However, the course courses are continuously improved on the basis of the pedagogical and educational input that Honbu receives in feedback from the course participants. The next step was instructor development and handover to Honbu KYU instructors, then the ongoing quality and standardization follow-up.

Each KYU course has taken between 400-800 hours to develop, validate, document, produce and disseminate. During each course development process, the relevant people in Kimu Sensei's international network are contacted, and a large amount of books, videos and other documentation are purchased for an increased understanding and approach from other systems and grandmasters, - all so that the courses are not of a "cheese bell quality" , but all-embracing, timeless, tolerant and holistic at the absolute highest international level. The courses are maintained both locally and under the auspices of Honbu - where honbu auspices ensures standardization and the level of subject competence at all times.

With "Plads til alle - the elite as the exerciser", we also have, under Honbu's auspices, a targeted curriculum directly for each belt and thus for individual progression courses. We also know from experience that it is socially, humanly and professionally inspiring to train together with other like-minded people towards the same goal, and where everyone in the group has the same professional skills, but very different backgrounds and from all the different member schools in Shindenkan.

Therefore, we have developed and refined KYU honbu curriculum seminars, which also encourage gradual leadership development, as we need local leaders in the voluntary and unpaid association work;

• Honbu Curriculum Seminar 1; 8.kyu to 5.kyu which must go up to grades 7.kyu to 4.kyu. 2+2+2 Saturday seminars of a total of 4 hours x 6 per season, which takes place leading up to an assembly and graduation session
• Honbu Curriculum Seminar 2; 4.kyu to 1.kyu which must go up to the grades 3.kyu to 1.dan. 10 annual Saturday seminars of a total of 4 hours x 10 per season which is monthly.

There are also three annual "Folkefests" - honbu conventions, where the atmosphere from 220+ Shindenkaners on the floor and just as many outside, provides a fantastic shared atmosphere and experience.

With a total of approx. 500 Honbu teaching hours from 10.kyu to 1.dan, this gives an average price of a minimum of DKK 12/honbu teaching hour to a maximum of approx. DKK 52/honbu teaching hour, seen through the eyes of the average student over 9 years old, in addition to the normal local school quota, and depending on whether the local school can afford to provide a financial subsidy.

Whether it is expensive or cheap depends on the eye that looks at it and what you think "the product is worth". But this teaching system is built up flexibly so that if you become a first dan in just 8-9 years, the average price is perceived to be higher than if you become a first dan in 11-12 years. But on the other hand, it is often the case that members who make an effort and contribute to local development also receive a larger subsidy, in contrast to the student who simply "comes and goes". We think that is fair, and in this way there will be "room for everyone - the elite as the exerciser", - but seen from both sides and a "Win-Win situation".

The significant financial investment in the KYU courses, to make visible the values of the Shindenkan and the 1,000-year-old system, was of course very large in the beginning - and a large loss-making business. But in 2012, the "break-even point" was achieved, so that the surplus can now be used to develop the significantly more demanding and thus more expensive black belt courses. The black belt courses take between 3-4 times as long to complete from "start to finish".

But with only one resource to carry out this work, usually only one Black Belt course can be completed per year. season, possibly two at times. As you can read about in the "Yakami Shinsei-ryu's curriculum handbook", there are over 40 black belt courses up to JODEN, 4th dan Yakami Shinsei-ryu, 5th dan Bujutsu Kodosokukai Karate-do. This means that this work will probably not be completed in Kimu Sensei's lifetime - but he has promised to make an attempt :-). But it is also possible that the future will hopefully bring another martial arts grandmaster on the field, thus doubling the resources and halving the work. We can only hope for and strive for that, but no one passes without meeting the same competence criteria as for over 1,000 years. Here it is completely uncompromising.

Per 1 February 2013, the Shindenkan organization consists of 12 local schools and a total of approx. 1,300 members.

Read next time;

Honbu's teaching structure through competence and in-depth seminars 2
"We meet where people are and take them on a journey", the Dan course

Experiences, benefits and reflections from participants in the Inclusion stage; SBTLUS - Black Belt Topic Leader Development Seminars