Then we are again climbing the super fantastic OBC development spiral. A development spiral that goes up towards the infinite universe, or at least as high as the individual participant wants to join the journey. And all signs point to it being a really long and very exciting journey.
Over the past 3 years, OBC has created a skills boost and a unity in Shindenkan which, without exception, can be felt in the farthest corners of the organization. The OBC participants will train and develop with high spirits and huge smiles on their faces, helped along by Kimu Sensei's always positive mood.
The level of competence has increased because the teaching at OBC has meant that the competences have been standardized and the training in the local schools follows the same structure. All based on the original Koryu systems, which is exciting, educational and highly motivating. It gives the individual participant new knowledge and new energy, which really draws common threads through everything you have learned as a student in Shindenkan.
In the first 3-year cycle, the competence level increased by 1½-2 belt degrees. This is because initially it was the low-hanging fruit that was tackled, as the level of competence has not always been maintained standardized in all local schools. The level in the next 3 year cycle will most likely increase by one belt degree, which Kimu Sensei will be very pleased with.
In Shindenkan, development of the members is the focus. This also means that the organization and the associated activities must also be developed. OBC is absolutely no exception and therefore the 2020 season in OBC was restructured in order to thus be the common thread and the development will be closer and more significant.
In the last two years, OBC 1-4 have been completed more than 4 times. In 2020, the structure was laid so that armed and unarmed OBC are connected, and OBC 1-4 are settled over 3 times as follows:
- OBC 1 consists in 2020 of JJ1-2-TF1-2 as well as Ken and Kotachi 1, so it is actually now called OBC 1 + 2.1.
- In 2020, OBC 2 consists of Ken and Kotachi 2 as well as Instructor Course 1-3, so it is now called OBC 2.2 + 3.1.
- OBC 4 which is KataFIT will, as the last OBC in this cycle, contain OBC 3.2 which is Ki and with Shiatsu, Tai Chi and KataFIT.
We already know that plans have been made for a wildly fantastic OBC 4. KataFIT NOX and Ki stretch kata will now be introduced and implemented - i.e. Ki exercises in the Koryu way just like it was original 🙂
The idea may be that OBC 1 lays the foundation, but the facts are that OBC 5 and OBC 6, which were completed in autumn 2019, actually began the red thread that now runs through OBC 1-4. One can speculate a lot about what the essence and common thread is and why it is so important. It is actually very easy, because it is about people, and in fact it is very concretely about the development of people.
There is a person behind everything, and it is the actions of the individual person that are decisive for whether there is to be change and development, or whether everything is to stand still and perhaps be completely demolished. If you as a person do not take responsibility, then development happens before and if there is no development, the mill grinds to a halt.
This is also why there are 3 safety nets under OBC auspices that function as support structures. There is the Elite level which contains OBC 1-4 as well as OBC 5 and 6, then there is the Fundamentals level which is OBC 1-4. But should you be in the situation where your life cycle means that you cannot participate in OBC, then there is NKT as the last option for maintaining your skills, for a short period until you are ready again.
OBC is a support structure that allows you to get back on level and back on the uplifting track of the development spiral. You have to remember that if you don't develop physically, mentally and spiritually, you just as easily stagnate. If you are also an instructor in that situation, it rubs off on the students around you.
It is no different as a parent or spouse, because if you as a parent or spouse do not develop, then you stand still, which can have major consequences for the family, the job, etc. That's why we say in Shindenkan that life is a dojo and what you do in a dojo you also do outside, or to put it another way, you should take the learning from the dojo into life because it's about the same thing. Namely, that it is the person behind every action that makes the difference, and if this person has the right attitude, which will be to set aside their own needs for control and ego, then this person can have a fantastic journey in a fantastic life, where the individual person creates stability and love in one's own life as in the lives of others. If man does not do this yes, then he goes the opposite way with disastrous consequences for others besides himself.
Many people thought that life can be hard, and there can be many reasons for that. But actually there are two types of choices you can make. You can allow yourself to be negatively influenced in life, and thus choose to go off the downward spiral of development, with degeneration of yourself as a human being. Conversely, you can also choose to be influenced positively, and thus choose to go off the positive development spiral, where learning and development will create trust and stability as a role model in other eyes.
Who do we most want to live with and work with? Are they the ones who stand still and want to tear everything down, or are they the ones who go ahead and see opportunities and positive things in life? It is not a difficult choice, but we simply have to remember that the way we see other people is probably the same way they see us, so when we now point fingers at others, we must remember that some of the fingers actually also points to ourselves.
So what does all this have to do with OBC? Yes, it's the person behind it that makes the difference, and if you want to change the world, you have to start by changing yourself. OBC is precisely about the fact that all change begins within oneself, and can from there spread out to others. It is the individual's attitude to life that determines whether you develop or whether you stand still and watch the train go by.
Many people see life in different silos, but in fact all of life is connected as a whole. If you see life in silos, you also see the limitations and not the possibilities and the connection. This is also the case with competencies within martial arts, you often see the individual competencies as tools that must be used to the extent necessary, but when you see the whole, you actually also see how principles and forces make everything fit together.
At OBC 1, 2020, all participants saw and felt how to exhaust each step of possibilities before moving on to the next step – this applies in all competencies and all steps. And in fact, it also turned out that the opportunities are the same regardless of which competence you work with. At the same time, it became more and more clear how the competencies fit together as a whole, and the essence was also clear. Namely that if we humans think and act in silos, then we also live in silos, and if you do it the other way around, yes, you can also think and act in wholes and thus live in wholes - i.e. be a whole and happy person.
In fact, Kimu Sensei has demonstrated time and time again how the competencies are connected, but when you as a person do not see the whole, because you are busy putting everything on the right shelves in your own silo, then you only see that, and not the whole. But then it's good that under OBC we can have it all served on a Koryu silver platter, and thus lift our skills to the next level. and here also exhaust it for possibilities 🙂
After an OBC 1 + 2.1, where plans were made for an absolutely fantastic journey, there were 2 weeks for OBC 2.1 + 3.1, where Ken jutsu and Kotachi 2 as well as Instructor course 1-3 and the KGK courses were in focus. It is always exciting to see how the essence of one OBC is taken over into another OBC, and thus leads the participants to a new level, where knowledge and learning rise again.
Even if we are in the dark time purely weather-wise, and even if the full moon was clear, OBC is a forum where thoughts can be thought, and questions can be asked based on these thoughts. As a participant, you must also be aware that the answer you may be looking for is not necessarily the answer you get to your questions.
You have to remember that Kimu Sensei is Densho graduated according to the original Koryu Bujutsu, and not according to the year 2020. That is. his martial arts education is as it was originally in the "old" Japan - but without some having their heads literally chopped off 🙂 This also means that the reality as you see it yourself, is not necessarily the reality as others see it - and why is that? Because with 100% knowledge of yourself and others, you also see life as a whole, and not as silos. It also means that Kimu Sensei sees both the limitations and the possibilities, and thus can connect it all together, thus the reality becomes different and, if you are open to it and think about it, probably more correct.
But regardless of the reality we live in, it is the individual person's actions that create the difference, and the individual person's actions are created based on the individual person's attitude. During OBC 2.2 + 3.1, the common thread and essence from OBC 1 + 2.1 was well drawn through, and resulted in a door actually being opened, which can raise the OBC participants' level to an incredibly high level - if they always will.
As martial arts and martial arts practitioners, it is important to know both Ryugi and Ryuha, i.e. philosophy/theory and practical execution. The door that was opened during the OBC 3.1 part was called the Gokenin Samurai Officers training - which means a training in what holistic thinking and multi-track can be. This is done through a story about and understanding of organizations, power structures, habits and cultures that no longer contribute to providing as they should.
Shindenkan is multi-track Koryu martial arts and martial arts as in the samurai era. Therefore, a whole has also been created with the new website, where the development and comparison between Japanese society and a few of the European ones is told, e.g. the Danish. This story and narrative is seen through the eyes of the princely family of a Japanese Daimyo. The family has been part of Japanese history for over 2,500 years and, together with another Japanese Daimyo's princely family, has had a prominent role in Japanese society until today.
Likewise, everyone gets the true history of the system and development of the Shindenkan, all the way back to the beginning of Yakami Shinsei-Ryu Taijutsu. It must then be said to be a unique new journey, which to such an extent can create very skilled practitioners of Yakami Shinsei-Ryu Karate-Do, in many more areas. And it is completely unique that we, as members of Shindenkan, get the whole of "The untold story" directly from the source. It is then entirely up to the individual whether you want to act by reading it all and make yourself more skilled, or whether you would rather create your own story. No matter what choice you make, reality cannot be changed, you can try to ignore it and hide it away, but it will always be there - so why not just recognize it as it is and move on 🙂
On OBC 1-2 and 3, the essence has been that there is a person behind who makes a difference, and it is the attitude of the individual person that is decisive for the consequences of the actions. As humans, we often only see what we want to see, and we don't see reality as it is - we look and think we see everything. And when things go the wrong way, well, we blame others.
We hide behind the reality that we often see ourselves because we don't really want to take responsibility for the real reality, and the real reality is about us being the ones behind our own lives. It is ourselves who decide which actions we will carry out in life and which we will try to blame others for. But remember that if you point fingers at others, you perform an action that also points at yourself, and you have to start by looking at yourself if you want to change something in your life 🙂
In not too long, OBC 4 will be at the door, with KataFIT-Shiatsu-Ki and meditation, as well as Tai Chi. There is no doubt that all participants look forward to seeing what Kimu Sensei has made room for in common threads and essences with these skills. It is absolutely certain that there will be a massive boost in knowledge and skills when OBC 4 is completed - because we all have to remember that it is the people behind it that make a difference, and the people who participate in OBC have an attitude that creates unity and learning on the very large scale, for the benefit of themselves and their loved ones.
A huge thank you must go to all OBC1-3 participants, and a huge thank you to Kimu Sensei, for all the knowledge and learning he shares, at all levels - without it, we as people would not have the attitude and insight that must to, to make a difference to others than ourselves.
