By Claus Hansen, Member until 2017
I originally wasn't going to participate in shindenfight for several reasons. But someone asked me if it was particularly role model-like not to participate, and I guess it wasn't. So when I learned that you didn't have to be there every time, I signed up.
I have not regretted it, although there were times during training that I felt a little sorry for myself and regretted it a little. But then it was such a cool experience afterwards to get through it.
There wasn't really anything new in Shindenfight compared to taskfighting 3, so if you had caught everything in TF3 you didn't need to take part in Shindenfight. But there are a few really good reasons to participate, not listed in any priority order.
1. You get a lot of practice by participating in shindenfight.
2. You get much better at fighting multiple opponents.
3. You learn to be clear about combat.
Let me elaborate on them. You get the routine, as the shindenfight is over 6 times with 2.5-3 hours each time. All combinations from TF3 are reviewed and practiced over and over again. After all, this is what we teach beginners, repetition over and over. Super simple, at some point it becomes almost completely natural. Which is a huge advantage when you are pushed into a "corner" that you can remember what you have to do, it almost pops into people's heads, instead of you panicking.
The other thing of fighting against multiple opponents also becomes easier. Not to say that it is in any way easy. If your opponents are at the same level as you, it can be a deadly difficult task, since you can risk fighting yourself twice. It can be difficult enough to fight someone who is equal. But being two against one is not always an advantage if the one who is alone remembers to learn the phrases from TF3. Which, among other things, was "Come and get beaten, go to the side and be the best." If your 2 opponents don't know how to coordinate their attacks, your task becomes a lot easier, since in that case you can fight them one at a time. This happens, among other things, because one will often get in the way of the other. The disadvantage is when the 2 opponents start to coordinate their attacks, here it becomes difficult and you have to think clearly. But it is still possible to settle for fighting them one at a time. This can be achieved, among other things, by constantly keeping in motion and moving so that the 2 attackers get in each other's way and by attacking one and then attacking the other, so that in this way you neutralize them one at a time. You could say that one of the possibilities that you have when fighting against several opponents is to strike first. It was here that it truly dawned on me that karate can be used for far more than many other combat systems and that it is an offensive combat system. Take, for example, jujitsu and aikido, which, as far as I know, are based on an attack that you deal with, i.e. a passive system. What do they do if there are 2 attackers? But in theory it is not only against 2 opponents that this can be used, it also applies to 3 or more.
Shindenfight has also helped to make me more clear about combat. After the course, I have started to think much more about how I can defend myself in a given situation and have started to be more clear about where and when I want to intervene. That was one of the questions we were asked at the start of the course. Would you help a family that was taken hostage by pirates when they sailed into an area with pirates when they were warned that it might happen? Would you intervene if you saw someone being assaulted in the street, if it was in an area where it was shown that something like this could happen?
It has occurred to me that questions such as these are something we need to deal with these days. What do you do, are you aware of the consequences of your actions and not least are you ready to live with the consequences of your actions.
But shindenfight I also learned to get much better at finding the "fighting spirit"/attitude. I've always been a little slow to find it. In the past, I always had to push before I found it. But when you are faced with 2 equally worthy opponents, who are running loose on one with "80%", or whatever it was, then you find out that it is no use that "you just have to be ready in a few minutes" because then you get quite the itch. Why "die" 4 times before you learn it. It is about being on from the start. Fortunately, this can be used in all karate training. But it is not only in karate training that it can be used. It can be used in all aspects of one's day-to-day life. At work, it is often important to be able to focus on what you are doing. If you constantly allow yourself to be distracted, you will never finish what you started and it will rarely be very good either. It's also important to be there and listen to others talking to you and not let your thoughts fly or just write a message to your friends about what's going to happen next weekend. You need to be present here and now in the moment where you are. How often does it happen that a person has something important to say to others and instead of listening, people are busy with other things. One thing is that it is not very polite to the person speaking. But you may also not pay attention to what the person is actually saying, and therefore you do not catch what is not being said. I think this is an important lesson to give to karate students and the achievement that they can use for the rest of their lives. And there are also brain researchers who think so, since according to them it is not a sign of health that we constantly change our focus. But of course there are divided opinions on that. Personally, I have now greatly benefited from being able to maintain focus on a task for a longer period of time. So Shindenfight meant more to me than just learning to fight. If you want to be beaten, just stay standing when the train comes, if you want to be the best, go to the side. Strike first is the best defense. Each focused and keep the overview, even when you are under pressure, don't press the dead man's button even if it is tempting. Be clear, do you want to fight or give up?
