Friday at 17.00, the wolf hour is at the door followed by Disney fun and Friday sweets.

But not in Shindenkan, because here we start on the course Jujutsu 1 – fall technique, where we work with body control, balance and center of gravity through structured learning, step by step.

Mats had to be laid throughout the room, and this time some of them had to be fished out of the new mat room, where they were at the very back, right up under the ceiling, so it took a little longer than expected.

Apart from one small delay, all 25 participants arrived on time - not bad. In fact, most people came so early that there was good help to lay out the mats.

For many, this was their first course in Shindenkan, and there was therefore both a bit of nervousness and excitement in the room.

The course started with Ryugi; philosophy and theory - why, where the course is put into perspective.

Then we warmed up and got down to Ryuha – the technique itself. The course was carried out with extra staff, in the form of Jan Shisho and Oliver Shidoin, who were in high spirits and constantly active.

Our joint task was to deliver a good course to the students – i.e. not only corrections, but also encouragements, and keeping the key words: TaiChi pace=very slow, you get dizzy, go too fast, watch yourself, bench bite/beach ball, etc.

We worked through the various fall techniques with a long time for the most basic fall, and then took our experience to the next fall, etc. - step by step. Everyone worked well through, interrupted by demonstrations and technical input.

After an hour and a half, the peace was over, as the burglar alarm went off and kept ringing. I checked the door and spoke to a gym instructor from the nearby hall, who announced that the guard was on his way to turn off the alarm. I encouraged the students to take it as a challenge – there are always plenty of disturbing elements out in the real world, but a student who was a nose-ear-throat specialist made me aware that you could get tinnitus from such a continuous howling tone. So unfortunately there was nothing for it but an extra break that was spent outside in the lovely sunshine, until the G4Security guard came a few minutes later and turned off the alarm.

We got started again and everything was fine again.

Work was done well, JokoKidz as adults were encouraged and welcomed it. Forward fall with partner assistance was completed and that along with backward fall. Even the high side drop challenge was taken up by almost everyone.

Wind turbines were the highlight of the day. It usually is for JokoKidz, but when I went ahead with the monkey jump (practice for a windmill) with sounds and everything, everyone actually jumped on the bandwagon – I was just about to walk on the tail myself, so enthusiastic was everyone. Both on the floor, above the plinth, and on the floor again. Only when we switched to "real" weather turbines did some become serious again, the play went away, and now it was "difficult" again.

Yes for "you can do much more than you and others think", especially when you have fun, believe in yourself and use your imagination.

We finished after 3 hours with a group photo, after which everyone helped clear away the mats.

Thank you for a good effort to both students and instructors.