As human beings, we all have an opinion about everything - even if we sometimes say no, I have no opinion on that, but deep down in our hearts we have the opinion. This is how we humans are screwed up and the only ones who can do something about this are ourselves.
In Shindenkan, empowerment is important, because without empowerment there is no development and without development there is no Shindenkan. But what is development? Is it a matter of thinking carefully about something and then accepting it, or is it about setting yourself up to want to become better as a person on all fronts - physically - mentally and spiritually.
It is up to the individual person which attitude they want to have and the consequence of that attitude is reality as it is and if you don't like the consequence then you can change your attitude 🙂
In Task Fighting 3, it's about taking responsibility for the realism of reality. It can be ugly and it can be evil - but it is there and you have to deal with it. It doesn't disappear if you don't look at it and it doesn't get smaller just because you don't want to accept it - it's there and it will continue to be there. So the consequence of realism is the consequence of one's attitude.
Task Fighting 1 and Task Fighting 2 showed the way there, but the reality came in Task Fighting 3.
Regardless of which attitude you have, there are consequences. If the attitude is to do nothing, then there is also a consequence to that, which in the worst case goes beyond the innocent and still results in death. That is why it is so important to be clear so that your attitude can be on a track that looks beyond the tip of your nose - if that is what you want.
All courses in Shindenkan contain both Ryugi and Ryuha. Ryugi is not about showing a presentation and then there is practical Ryuha afterwards. It is about getting the participants to think about themselves and about what they are presented with. In Task Fighting 3, it is realism that needs to be thought about.
Is realism only something that happens to the neighbor or could it also be that I get it straight into my head one day and what should I do about it? It's always a good question what to do about something that you don't really want to acknowledge is right in front of you. But it is part of life and life goes its own way if you don't take responsibility for it. But if you take responsibility for it, it may well be that life has some bumps in the road, but if you have the attitude for it, it will only be small bumps that don't make a big difference.
TF3 contains a presentation that shows how martial arts and violence have developed over the past 50 years. It's not pretty, but it's the reality and it also made several of the participants think.
TF courses in Shindenkan show the way through the schooled approach to combat. That is participants are trained to understand what is real combat and what is illusion. Real fighting is ugly, it's without rules, it's without weight classes and it's often very different than you imagine. Real combat is about survival, regardless of whether it's one against one or one against many more - that's how the world is screwed up and you have to deal with that reality if you want to.
The schooled approach to combat is not new, it has existed for hundreds of years and was created on the basis of war. War where thousands fought against each other and when you stand there in the middle of chaos and feel that the whole world is against you, what do you do? Do you panic and become a victim or do you keep calm inside so that you get an overview and thus a unique opportunity to make a life-saving decision - look, it is not only reserved for warriors who have been through the schooled approach - it is also reserved for us people in 2021 – because it is precisely about recognizing the reality you are in the middle of, keeping calm and getting the overview so that the right decision can be made.
It is precisely this kind of teaching and training from the lives of the original samurai that can be used to such an extent in our current world, also outside the dojo - because chaos does not have to be life-threatening - it can also be everyday chaos at work or at home with the family.
In the TF courses, training is based on the THANK-MY-CT principles - i.e. principles that build up step by step so that the schooled approach to combat is made understandable and very applicable. This is not only reserved for the TF courses, but in fact it is something that repeats itself in all the courses in Shindenkan and gradually you as a participant find out that everything is connected and is actually a significant part of life and thus also reality.
The TF 3 course also includes SF 1 – i.e. ShindenFight which is Shindenkan's intro to Free kumite and something that everyone has to go through from the 2nd kyu. It's not about being Batman or Superman, it's about getting to know yourself and one of the situations that brings out the truth in people is when the pressure is greatest and often a pressure where the consequence is great. There have been many through Shindenkan's Shiai and there have been many reactions, but common to all is that you as people are often surprised by your own reactions.
Some are startled but continue undaunted, others are surprised by their own actions and others again surprised that even if the opponent has been down and lying down, he/she can get back up and fight on. This is also the reality, because even if you have taken your opponent down or perhaps you yourself have come down, it does not mean that the fight stops and that is precisely the reality we in Shindenkan deal with through the schooled approach to it because it is about attitude and attitude is what makes the big difference in life - because it is the attitude that creates the consequence in reality.
With the right attitude, the consequence can be insignificant for oneself and others, but if the attitude is not in place, the consequence can be enormous both for oneself and to a large extent also for others. And it is precisely here that ShindenFight 1 shows itself from the real world - you can keep calm and get the attitude in place so that you can carry out your technique regardless of whether you are under pressure in a strangulation hold or whether you are under pressure to perform a strangulation hold - both pages are about attitude and it is the attitude that is decisive for the consequence of this type of technique – both in the dojo, but to a large extent also in reality.
In the dojo, there is a safe and secure environment to train this kind of fight - there is no such thing on the street. Then it is not preferable to train your attitude and learn from it in the schooled approach, so that you can step by step be prepared for reality and thus be ready if one day it comes right up in your face - and it does every time day - you just don't always want to admit it. Reality doesn't have to be so ugly that you turn a blind eye, because if you relate to it and recognize it, it can actually also be beautiful - it all depends on the eye that looks and the heart that recognizes 🙂
