By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018

Denmark is a country rich in tradition, so is Shindenkan, but in Shindenkan we also challenge traditions, which is in Shindenkan's DNA – constant development. The Xmas convention - or the Christmas convention, as it is also called in good Danish, was the first convention that was to be tested based on Kimu Sensei's thoughts and principle sketches, and hopefully take the conventions to new heights.

Another "green" winter has hit Denmark and the month of December brought in the usual Christmas stress, cold weather and overdrawn credit cards - history repeats itself year after year. We can't really do without Christmas, but what is it that we can't do without - is it the presents, the roast pork and duck, the constipation or the Christmas sweets? When you ignore all the abundance and the decorated facades, Christmas is probably mostly about togetherness and community. The community is precisely the rallying point for Shindenkan, which is why the Xmas convention is also something very special and goes hand in hand with what Christmas is basically about. Over the years, Shindenkan and especially Kimu Sensei have received feedback on the activities held in Shindenkan, including courses, rallies and curriculum training. This feedback is very valuable as it provides important information about the state of the realm and what is going on with the members of the Shindenkan organization. This knowledge and information is accumulated and results in, among other things, in improvements and adaptations, such as the Xmas convention this year.

A good 200 Shindenkaners had found their way to Måløv Hallen on Saturday morning to end the year with good Yakami Shinsei-ryu training and Christmas cheer, followed by almost 200 family members and relatives who eagerly followed along on the sidelines, a total of almost 400 people gathered for the year's final event. Excited, the 200 participants stood on the floor in tight rows and waited, when Kimu Sensei could welcome from the podium to this year's Xmas convention. But it wasn't quite as usual! On the podium there was a huge cinema-sized screen and on both sides of the podium there was a whole wall of roll-ups – one for each Jokokan school in Denmark, something was brewing 🙂 . It has always been the tradition for Kimu Sensei to start with information about the year that has passed in Shindenkan, but this time it was taken to new heights. The participants were asked to sit down in rows, after which Kimu Sensei took them through an approx. 15 min long presentation. The presentation told about the processes and strategic plans that Shindenkan has been through since its inception in Denmark and what Kimu Sensei has done over the years to ensure constant development in the organization, mainly together with Jens Hanshi-dai. It is quite a journey of transformation from a small elitist organization with approx. 50 members to a significant National organization of around 1400 members. This transformation took place gradually from 1967 and really took off in 2008, when Jokokan Europe, including Scandinavia and Denmark, gained independence. The process has been characterized by several ground-breaking projects and concepts, of which the Jokokidz/jokoteens concept, the JokoCulture project, POMW and most recently the ongoing ShieldKiss project can be mentioned. Not an eye was dry when the lights went out and the video, made for the ShieldKiss website, was shown on the big screen (it can be seen at www.shieldkiss.com) …hear whoop – 1967. Next year is 2017, which means that we are entering the 50th year of Shindenkan in Denmark, it must be celebrated 🙂 so remember just when you send the big one at 24 rocketed off on New Year's Eve to mark the 50th year of our history in Denmark.

The light was switched on again and the participants were ready for the day's training after a thorough warm-up of the whole body through MMBH, led by the Renshi-dais Elisabet and Karsten, who had added a little extra Christmas fun, so that everyone came through with a smile on their face. The structure of the training had also been adjusted by Kimu Sensei, so that all needs were optimally met. There was still a division in the TG groups, but now more according to how the curriculum is structured as well as the transition to the higher TG groups and the increasing need for attitude and independence. Thus, all the "new" Shindenkaners were gathered at one end of the hall, the most experienced in the middle (for inspiration) and the 9-6 kyu group at the other end of the hall. It gave a really good dynamic and atmosphere during the 2 lessons the next hour in kihon and shiho respectively. No Christmas meeting without snacks and a Christmas party, so Shindenkan's Friends had once again organized the sale of coffee, cake and juice in the stall, which were taken with great pleasure both by the participants themselves but also by the many relatives who came forward and made the meeting even more familial. After the break, the teams were gathered again for half an hour of teaching in kata before the last part of the joint meeting - competence maintenance, which is an innovation in relation to the joint meetings. The competence part is only for the students in Shindenkan who have passed the various multi-track competences in the armed and unarmed part of the curriculum respectively, which this time were Iai-jutsu, Ken jutsu 2 and kotachi 2. In total approx. 1 hour with full hammer and without breaks with 3 different weapons, which to that extent got the attention of both spectators, but also "envious" Shindenkaners, who sometimes cast an eye on the singing weapons, during the breathing breaks in their kumite training. The concept of competence maintenance is also included in the adjusted curriculum training concept and in the local schools, so that the concept is connected all the way - uncompromisingly, as it should be in Shindenkan 🙂 . The new structure is also the message of the previously mentioned roll-ups, which are now out in all the local schools, so that everyone can review and plan their next graduation project in line with "progression after effort", which is one of the most recent strategic improvement initiatives implemented in the Shindenkan organization.

With the competence part and the kumite lesson, Kimu Sensei concluded the joint event with the traditional joint picture before the approx. 100 students set for graduation had a short break to get ready. First there were 2 armed competency graduations in ken-jutsu 1 and kotachi 2, after which the graduates were called to the floor one by one, so that they gathered in TG groups, in front of Kimu Sensei, could show if the season's efforts had borne fruit. The graduation naturally takes place within the learned syllabus, but always gets an extra dimension, so that the graduates have to show a technique or combination of techniques that does not appear in their syllabus, this is also called "out of the box" and is of course to lie a extra pressure on, but also to increase self-confidence and creativity and thus also the subsequent feeling of success, since as a general rule things go well - "You can do much more than yourself and others tell you that you can". Both the competence part and the general graduation went very well and it was an always happy Kimu Sensei who was able to close the meeting afterwards by announcing all the new graduations where all candidates had passed - CONGRATULATIONS.

A new convention concept has been tested and the positive feedback from the local schools and the students themselves will never end, so it must be said that it has been a success, which has set the standard for future conventions. This is not to say that there won't be future changes - Shindenkan is in perpetual development and if something can be improved or optimized, it will be done. All Shindenkaners, their families, friends and supporters are wished a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.