Shinden Fight 1

By Jan L. Vendelboe, Member until 2014

By Søren Hansen, Member until 2013

By Pia Bruun, Member until 2012

Quite something: to be encouraged (challenged?) to write an article in relation to our age!

How would we 3 fresh practitioners of Jokokan Ballerup karate take it? We quickly found out that what characterized the course for us was not age, but something else entirely, and here are our individual reflections:

Jan Lau Vendelbo, Jokokan Ballerup

Here I try to act like a teenager, and then I have to write about what it's like to be the oldest on the teamJ.

As you can understand from the above with a twinkle in your eye, I don't feel that age is pressing in - yet.

At the outset, I must mention that I think the Shindenfight course has been a really good and exciting course. Good thing you started SF1 with a lot of harsh and repulsive videos, thinking about what could await us on this course. But when we first got started with the course sequence, it soon became clear that we were in a safe and secure environment - even if it was hard and hectic at times.

It really pleased me that our many hours of weekly, monthly and annual training were converted into more hectic close contact and match-related training. Although we all have a lot of training experience, we all came to learn more, and I definitely think that we all did during the 15-hour long and intense training course.

You are to be commended for a good and informative handling of the course and I also think that our school and team consists of some really good training colleagues. Well, we got into it and a lot of bumps, bruises and red marks were handed out, plus a broken toe and some sprains, but we were in a safe and secure environment - unlike what can be experienced on the street in real life (cf. introductory videos).

I am now 52 years young and thus the oldest in the team. I have in no way felt that age has been an obstacle and I have not felt either slower or in worse shape than my training colleagues. On the contrary, I must say that when I'm on, I'm on and put full focus and concentration into training and when performing the various fighting techniques.

On SF5, however, during freestyle I was briefly so hard pressed that there was both tunnel vision and difficulty breathing and therefore just had to take a break to get some air again. So the lesson here was to save your strength, because you don't know when the fight will end or how many opponents may come. This applies here in the dojo and it applies out in real life, should we be unlucky enough to end up in a violent situation.

OK, I don't feel pressured in terms of age during our course, and yet age leaves its mark. After training and the following day, I could feel that I will not be 20-30 years old for long. Legs and knees are a bit worn and this causes a certain soreness and fatigue afterwards and that is probably what I feel most inhibited by.

But then it's good that we have training again on Monday and can soften the old legs again...

And with this I pass the floor on to another old boy J, Søren Hansen

Søren Hansen, Jokokan Ballerup

It was with excitement that I signed up for Shindenfight. Despite the wording of the registration "a familiarity and deepening of one's own strengths and weaknesses is built up through a focused practical clarification process", it was in the air that it would be a step further towards realism and thus "closer". But the desire to test the toolbox drove curiosity.

However, the thoughtfulness became greater after a very harsh opening of the course with the most unappetizing videos with raw fights and animalistic tendencies. What was waiting for us? What had I signed up for?

As in previous TaskFight courses, great emphasis was placed on whether we would be able to use the toolbox optimally and be mentally and emotionally clear about the situations we would be in. Shindenfight is practiced under semi-touch to full contact on the body, so I had to be clarified with some contact on the body, with a view to learning about my reaction patterns when I am under pressure. That is the ability to go all the way if necessary.

Despite the mentally challenging start, it turned out once again that the course was in a safe and secure environment, which characterizes all Shindenkan activities. There should be no doubt that the hardness and eagerness to challenge each other reached unprecedented heights, which also resulted in broken ribs, toes, many bruises, a single concussion - but after all in a controlled process where knowledge was translated into practical combat training.

The Shindenfight course has been a really good, exciting and educational course. A course not only for young fighting cocks who need to nurture their ego, but for everyone in Shindenkan who wants to see the result of many years of training. And not least to learn about yourself. After all, it is better to learn it in the dojo under controlled conditions than to have to learn it "the hard way" on the street.

Belonging to the age group 50+, it is always exciting how a long life experience can be translated into action in relation to the younger and more agile colleagues. But age is not an obstacle to performing optimally. Despite my age, I was just as excited as the other students. The speed and range in the fight is not necessarily determined by age. It is the individual's clarity in the given situations that determines the development of the match - the desire to decide the match as early as possible and the ability to use the toolbox (not least the taisabaki). At times I even think that with age comes a certain clarity which can have its advantages in battle - possibly. the ability to keep a cool head a little longer.

The learning points for me were diverse, but three areas in particular should be mentioned in this context:

· The importance of maintaining an overview and being resolutely decisive even in stressful situations.

· Economize with the forces at all times since "the show ain't over before the fat lady has song" and

· even if everything looks impossible because of the possibilities of putting in the last punch or kick. The joy of finding an opening and delivering a decisive kick is indescribable if it provides a short respite in the middle of the match.

So even though the body was worn out (which may be due to age), this was exactly what we have been longing for for a long time - to test ourselves. I have become wiser about myself, I know what I need to work on in the future to gain even greater clarity. This course has been a great learning process with great benefit,

A very big thank you to Søren Renshi and Martin Renshi-dai for a very competent and managed process. Even though we were in a safe environment, we had no doubt that the hardness on the street exceeds what we were tested - but we have all moved a little closer to personal boundaries and clarity, which is so essential to decide the battle before it begins. This is important as we never know how many attackers there are or where they come from. But determination can create the momentary superiority that can create the advantage in battle

And with this, I pass the word on to an old girl J, Pia Brun (so now I'm getting a beating! J )

Shinden fight
Pia Brun, Jokokan Ballerup

Task fighting 3 was over the top right from the start, but already after the first round, I had to admit that I had to get more of that, and therefore decided that I was also going to Shindenfight. Unfortunately, a groin injury occurred after another training and it was therefore with persuasion for the undersigned to take part in both the last TF 3 and Shindenfight.

In retrospect, it was a good decision, and the right one, even though I was one of those people who couldn't train at full power. After a surprising and violent introduction, we started, and it was with the nerves outside the clothes – the gi and the vest with tooth and shin shooters. Some with more equipment that was diligently rehearsed, let's just call it a bell band. Although some of us were protected by all kinds of equipment, it was still borderline-crossing, but also realistic in a different form than we had previously tried. But no more transgressive - in retrospect - than that we knew we were in safe hands with the instructors, who ran this course over 6 times.

We have been asked if age was a limitation, which it was not with my fellow colleagues, and I would partially agree with them. The biggest challenge physically was when we were 2 against 1, where the importance of having a physical surplus shows up very clearly, whether running, parrying or attacking.

It's different what we like best - I'm one of those who love kata, and otherwise hope that parrying is enough. But you know what, you can't survive on that... That was probably the biggest learning (and very important) for me And when I parry, if I'm not the one attacking, then it MUST be attacked, and it must be attacked with high intensity and several times, otherwise the blows will keep coming. Another important learning for those who love kata is that kihon and kumite come first, and it makes sense in a different way after this course.

After these courses, I subsequently felt clarified and prepared to a different degree, and so it's really only good to exceed your limits occasionally, and especially when the course and exercise are planned and carried out as professionally as here.

In my misfortune (also called my gift – the groin injury), I was also lucky enough to train more with Kjeld Renshi-dai than others, for which I am very grateful. Here I learned a lot more about how important the right distance is and the importance of a correct shot.

In addition, it is an excellent opportunity to practice via Shindenfight before graduating to the brown belt for the first time, and can therefore be highly recommended.

Yes, we are different, but the learning for all of us has had something to do with mental readiness, being aware of being clear about going all the way, and doing it. All 3 of us were affected by the violent start, and the accompanying insecurity until it actually started up. We have all been challenged to a degree like never before, and we have all come through, much wiser both about fighting and also how we can apply this learning in other contexts.

A big thank you to Søren Renshi and Martin Renshi-dai for a well-executed and completed course

A big thank you to everyone who contributed and therefore also Kimu sensei.