By Magnus Wulff Breinstrup, 20 years old, 3.kyu, Yakami Shinsei-ryu Taijutsu & Karate-do (the multi-track martial arts system), 2.kyu, Bujutsu Kodosokukai Jikitai Karate-do (Originally gl. Original Okinawa Karate-do), 2.kyu, Bujutsu Kodosokukai sports karate-do (Gensei-ryu legacy from 1965 and comparable degree to Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Taekwondo, Judo, Jujutsu, Kendo, etc.)

Shindenkan is a multi-track martial arts system, which means that we don't just train the one pizza slice karate, but we train the whole pizza. People are not just an aspect, but a whole, and that's why we get a complete "martial arts education". This means that we have a lot of different courses where we train things like Jujutsu (throws and falls), Kotachi and Kenjutsu (short and long swords), shakuasei and Tai chi (Chinese martial arts), as well as other forms of martial arts and combat arts. But we don't just learn to fight, we learn to develop as people. This means that we also have courses other than fighting, such as Ki and meditation, Shiatsu (massage), history courses and instructor courses. When there is so much different to learn, it is important that we still maintain and improve in all our skills, and that is where OBC comes into play. The OBC courses are where we have a continuous development spiral for all our many courses every year. In OBC KM1-2 we go through the courses you need to get up to 3rd Kyu, brown belt.

If you are going to build a high-rise building, it is important to have a good foundation. In martial arts, your foundation will be your body, and that is why we at Shindenkan have 2 toolboxes to build our bodies with strength and flexibility, KataFIT and SKK (Stretch Ki Kata). This time the focus was on KataFIT. Everyone who has trained in Shindenkan for some time will have tried to take a KataFIT, and it is one of the tests you have to take when you are going to graduate to the higher degrees, so it is important to train it correctly. We went through both the strength exercises and the stretching exercises in between, and were taught what is important to focus on to get the best benefit from the training. When I was supposed to demonstrate, I probably got a little more corrections than some of the other participants, but everyone had plenty of opportunity to ask questions and improve.

We also worked with Jujutsu, where we learned about the difference in intensity between training with an opponent who is just there and an opponent who is actually trying to attack you. Everyone got the opportunity to come in and throw with someone, both at low and high intensity, and you could see that everyone did better when they were forced to try hard to avoid getting hit. The common thread of attitude continued throughout the day. This was in both the unarmed and armed training.

During the day, when all the participants were starting to get very tired, Kimu Sensei did a guided meditation so that we could relax a bit and regain our focus. It helped to ground us, so that we could try to keep the right attitude for the training, even when we had been working for many hours. Since we also have an instructor course, Kimu Sensei had asked everyone who has taken that course to send him at least 3 questions before the course. It could be about anything, both within and outside of Shindenkan, as nothing is irrelevant. We first discussed these questions in small groups, after which we shared what we had come up with with the other participants and had the opportunity to get answers from Kimu Sensei if there was something we couldn't figure out.