It was Friday 26 November 2010, and with it the holding of Shindenkan Denmark's first competency course in Jojutsu for kyu degrees. The competence course in jojutsu must be passed before graduation to 1st kyu, brown belt.

It was a day that many of the participants had looked forward to with excitement - especially men aged 40+ who had been waiting for several years to live out their inner Robin Hood and since this was the first time the course was held, we were also the chief instructors with.

I have to admit that I myself am no exception when it comes to the inner Robin Hood. Because I myself have always felt a special joy in training with Jo, whether it is the Robin Hood effect or the simplicity of using a broomstick (wooden staff) for self-defense or perhaps the inherited aspect of having a walking stick that can suddenly be transformed into a effective weapon - for me it doesn't matter because it was just cool to train with the jo and now I can take the jo with me in the standardized local repetition training J.

Shindenkan – a multi-track martial art.

In Shindenkan, we have a multi-track curriculum, of which armed distance combat is a core competency. It is therefore crucial that Shindenkan's students gain competence in Ken-jutsu (sword), Kotachi-jutsu (knife), Yari-jutsu (spear) and of course Jojutsu (staff) which this course was about.

In all Shindenkan's curriculum and competence courses, Kimu Sensei's has built up the content, step by step, around the same common thread, so that the Jojutsu course builds on the knowledge and competence training that the participants have already gained in all the previous 15 courses as well as through the training in Yakami Shinsei-ryu Karate-do.

Therefore, as a participant, there was no doubt that Jojutsu course 1 collected and consolidated all knowledge from both Yakami Shinsei-ryu Karate-do training and all the previous inspiration, curriculum and competence courses and via the common thread prepares us for the upcoming courses in Hsing-i and Iai-jutsu for respectively 1. dan / 1. dan sr.

Ryugi – the theoretical part.

In the Rygi part, Kimu Sensei went through with his great thoroughness, the importance of the wooden staff in general for all the peoples of the world, how it had several purposes as both a transport tool, an aid tool for difficult-to-access passages such as e.g. mountains or rivers etc. Last but not least, the fact that it could be transformed with great ease into a self-defense weapon both against animals and people.

The Ryugi part also contained the official Japanese history of jojutsu, where the founder of Muso Shinden-ryu has two duels with the great Japanese sword legend Miyamotto Mussashi. One where he first lost and then one where he won?

Kimu Sensei asked all participants to relate to the truth of this official representation: "Is it true or false".

What do you think dear readers, can it be true that you fight a duel with one of the greatest legends of the time and lose and then come back to fight a new one!! No, because if you've lost a duel, you're basically dead, right?

The whole ryugi part had an important message built into it: It is like that we are not alone in the world, there are a number of other martial arts around. Human nature (and especially in Denmark) is such that you like to compare each other and in martial arts it is true that a black belt is equal to a black belt or is it? How is this measured?

The only real way to do this is just like in the school system: How much content should be in the curriculum and how long do you need to master it? A direct comparison with other karate systems shows that our 1st dan on average corresponds to 3rd dan in other systems!

After this, Kimu Sensei gave the following challenge to the participants: "You all train in Shindenkan - a multi-track martial arts system, so how good are you?"

This created a lively debate among the course participants, before Kimu Sensei summarized:

• Jojutsu is the unifying course for the skills you already have, and preparatory for the ones you will get
• Recognize your own limitations in the constructive way, because you are MUCH better than yourself and others tell you to be
• Stand by who you are by showing who you are. Who would you most like to follow; A leader who does not know the way, or a leader who knows the way?

Ryuha – the practical part.

The practical part was really cool and of course also difficult in that all previously learned competence came into play in the light of recognition, or if there were oversights with the possibility of relearning and that is always good J

For me, the Jojutsu course was a journey through history, old competence from before the year 2000 and new competences learned from Kenjutsu and Kotachi-Jutsu with enormous educational connection to Shindenkan's karate basis, with increased awareness on kysho points. Not least the Haké training we did in connection with training uchi-uke and soto-uke with Jo, together with the position changes we used - it was great.

On the course, we also trained 6 health techniques that originate from the samurai era. All the techniques are performed with the jo in contact with various kysho points on the body. The purpose of the health techniques is to activate the 12 organ medians through kokyu ho (correct breathing) and stretching.

And in this way we came all the way around.

But it was also an insight into the common thread that must create the bridge to Yari and Hsingi – this opened my view of the common thread.

Finally

I myself have previously (in the mid-90s) trained both Aiki-jo and Kita Matsu-ryu Jo and later also Yakami-Jo, and for me it was therefore perfect to train Jojutsu in Shindenkan's red thread, where everything is connected, where several tracks build on each other and contribute to increased mutual understanding, where several tracks develop me where I am!

The common thread of Shindenkan, 1000 years of experience served directly to you – is a matter of course that the participants have begun to take for granted – without necessarily understanding it – or appreciating it!

The Jojutsu course is a super course which has a unifying effect on all the previously acquired skills and then it has the Robin Hood effect J.