Friday 27 January straight from work to Måløv for the first module of "Project Old Modern Warrior"...
On the website, Kimu Sensei has written three articles explaining the background to introducing firearms as part of the Shindenkan skills and toolbox. The message is straightforward: history has shown that if your opponent has superior weapon technology and you don't deal with it, you will lose the fight, even though you may be the most skilled warrior!
Since Shindenkan is a multi-track martial arts system that acknowledges that the wheel and the deep plate have already been invented, it is natural to learn from history, keep up with the times and relate to the weapons a possible. opponent on the street must have!
It is logical, yet controversial. Not only among ordinary people who do not practice martial arts, but apparently also within other martial arts systems that do not believe firearms belong in martial arts! I have to admit that I also had to get used to the idea. I was a little provoked when Jens Hanshi-dai gave a presentation about POMW in connection with a brown belt training. Mostly because it hadn't occurred to me that martial arts training could include firearms, but eventually also because it became real on a different level than the other weapons training. After all, it is not often that you hear of people being killed with a sword, but death and maiming due to firearms is part of everyday life! Am I ready if my opponent has a gun?
Thus, in inner conflict, I sat with around 30 other Shindenkaners when Kimu Sensei welcomed us and invited us on a journey.
It's not the gun that kills, it's the man behind it! It is a statement we have heard many times during the other weapons training, but now the statement took on a new resonance, since it was precisely firearms that the course was about. There is always a person behind the weapon and using a weapon requires clarification and not least internal clarification!
Be clear so you can act, if you hesitate, it means giving up benefits and potentially death. Be clear about your attitude and your skills. That is your true level of competence!
DO – MICHI the path or process of self-realization as expressed in the old Densho degrees.
Kimu Sensei told about one of Soke Sensei Tonegawa's teachers: Minouchi Sensei, who claims that the normal path to martial arts is via martial arts, if that was the plan from the start. If it has not been the plan and a martial artist has achieved success, it is extremely rare for that person to move on. Simply because their ego is too big. But it doesn't have to be that way says Minouchi Sensei. The bridge between martial arts and martial arts lies roughly from the Joden to the Menkyo level. Martial artists below the Joden level can fill out their "toolboxes" by learning about modern weapons. Therefore, POMW is offered in Shindenkan TG4 (black belt) and up.
A complete "toolbox" paves the way towards empowerment ~ to be one's own leader, a whole person in thought, word and deed! …It's the martial arts toolbox!
How do I know if I am cleared? The answer is as simple as it is complex: I know when I am!
The last part of the course was a review of the development of firearms from smoothbore pea guns to modern pistols and sniper rifles. In particular, the fact that there are 750,000 registered and at least 250,000 unregistered handguns in Denmark contributed to the feeling that it is largely a reality that must be taken seriously. Kimu Sensei finished by reviewing his shooting training and POMW shooting training beta version 1 on Jens Hanshi-dai, spiced up with some video of IPSC shooting, which is practical shooting and which we trainees will try our hand at in the later modules of POMW1 .
"Are you confused or clarified?" asks Kimu Sensei. I am clear about the purpose and relevance of the course! Am I ready to pull the trigger in an extreme situation? ...I don't know, but I'm not Menkyo either.
