By Søren G. Jensen, Member until 2004

Jokokan Magazine "The Owl 1995".

This is the true and unadulterated eyewitness account of how two karatekas (Jan Vismann and Søren Greve) set out on their perilous pilgrimage from civilized Slagelse across the great water to one of the Meccas of Karate – Randers, to seek guidance, enlightenment and inspiration in some of life's great mysteries (mainly walking basics, sankaku-kumite and sanbon-henka interface training).

This unforgettable journey started at Slagelse station on Friday afternoon, 5 May 1995. Here we began in the best pseudo-Zen Buddhist style by seeking spiritual fulfillment through strict ascetic exercises, such as e.g. to sit in awkward positions on the regional train as it bumbled off towards Randers, and to force ourselves to consume the inedible culinary horrors they serve on the Great Belt crossing all the while meditating on whether this food unfit for humans would lead to food poisoning or just plain bad breathe.

At long last, however, we arrived at Randers station, where we received the cordial reception befitting a sage and a count. After recounting our hardships on the long journey, Kimu Shihan Shihan and Tim took pity on us and led us straight to the nearest pizza place.

Then we went home to Kimu Shihan, where we exchanged rumors and stories in the best gossip aunt style, as well as answers to our intelligent (in our opinion) questions. Furthermore, Kimu Shihan and his wife, Anette proudly showed off their first born – Elisabet, and after seeing her in Gi and trying to hold her, I'm looking forward even more to becoming a father myself (which could happen at any moment). Now it had been a long day, and after the undersigned and Jan had tried in vain to fight/hide our increasingly intrusive yawning, Tim and I were sent home to Tim with a message to sleep so that we would be refreshed and rested next morning at 0900.00 exactly, sharp, right on the minute.

We then also tried to go to bed straight away - we really tried. But since it had been a long time since we had seen each other, combined with the fact that there was karate at Eurosport and Tim's girlfriend had just baked buns, the temptation to stay up until late at night was simply too great for us weak souls.

This naturally also meant that we got up too late and had to leave to get home to Kimu Shihan via the bakery before 900. But we made it! and after breakfast the fateful hour dawned: 1 Lesson.

The lesson where we had to explain and demonstrate what we had learned the last time we were in Randers. Kimu Shihan – who is a master at squeezing the lemon to the limit – had of course given us homework after the previous mini t-camp, and had made no secret of the fact that the level would be set according to the one who had prepared the least, right knowing that this did not exactly lessen the pressure on the individual.

Explaining the techniques also went approximately satisfactorily, at least in relation to the demonstrations. It is one thing to know how to perform a technique correctly – quite another to get the body to do it, when you have finally got a detail in place there is always another detail that can be corrected. But fortunately, Kimu Shihan already started to pour out nuggets of gold on us, and afterwards when we started the actual teaching, the exercises were also constantly interrupted by explanations and comparisons which increased the understanding and linked the exercises together so that we could see the principles involved again. The reason why we are invited to Randers is, as Kimu Shihan put it: "not to train, but to get inspiration and deepen understanding". This also made the teaching incredibly interesting and suddenly the time flew by, so that before we thought the training had started it was 12 o'clock, and we had to rush to the shower to get out and have lunch.

Just like last time, we went up to the pedestrian street and ate at the Chinese restaurant, then we shopped for dinner, and then hurried up to café Blicher (Randers' in-place no.1), where we could sit in the sun and have a coke/coffee while enjoying the view before heading back to lesson 2.

The 2nd and 3rd lessons (from 2-4pm and 5-7pm) continued in the same hectic style as lesson 1 ended, where the teaching was so interesting that you thought the time went by far too quickly, at the same time it was also very educational. e.g. a few things that are so important that I will not keep this knowledge to myself:

1. A forehead parry is not very effective, it is better to parry with the arm than with the face.
2. If you have to practice throwing, be careful of the walls, especially brick walls are highly prone to cracking if you throw people into them. This is when Kimu Shihan parries an oi-tsuki (straight punch) at full throttle with an age-uke (upward walking parry), and you (94 kg) are thrown into the wall from the same direction you attacked from - with the right help you can you actually fly!.
3. Danish water is incredibly good for drying blood stains from carpets, because the carbonation helps the blood not stain.
4. The reason for striking with the two front knuckles is to avoid breaking the hand. (Ed. If later in the night you are assaulted by a notorious rock gang during a happy night on the town)

In addition, we learned a lot of other things that we will pass on to you in a slightly more sweaty way, e.g. Mongolian folk dance which is at the same time a sure way to make oneself socially noticed on festive occasions (Ed. It was this contact-making way which unfortunately and unintentionally led to an open demonstration of Yakami's effectiveness in street fighting without physical injuries – because the Wise Man, the Count and Time 🙂 .

Then suddenly the training was over, and again we had to rush to the shower, because the sooner we got in the shower, the sooner we got food. Kimu Shihan (who, after all, works as Export and Marketing Manager at the Danish Crown corporate headquarters) had organized a roast worthy of royalty, and all the while we were preparing this festive meal, the mood rose in line with the blood alcohol level - after a whole day of training, you don't need much beer to before you can feel it - so when we had to eat we were already very silly and gluttonous. And after having cognac for the coffee and various "Gin & Tonic" (ie mostly gin) we couldn't manage, so it ended up that Kimu Shihan had to send us into town to get some peace (he had to leave for Japan & the Far East "the next day").

Here we then led our way with Mongolian steppe dance until the bright morning, after which we were driven home to bed. Originally, we had big plans to meet early Sunday morning to immortalize our newly acquired knowledge on Tim's video camera. But since it was the next day, we contented ourselves with meeting at Kimu Shihan's for breakfast together and cleaning up.

After this, Jan and I headed home towards Slagelse on a much less substantial trip, for the sole reason that we did not have enough presence of mind to experience it, while Kimu Shihan left for Japan.

All in all, a success that is definitely worth repeating.

KH (karate greetings) from Søren Greve