In Shindenkan, our value set is valued very highly as it is the foundation for us to develop as people and martial artists on the road to martial arts. Just to scratch the surface, the value set is:
- Know yourself.
- Respect others and their skills.
- Take responsibility for yourself and others.
- You are much better than yourself and others tell you.
- We believe in you, but you also have to believe in yourself.
With this set of values, it also means that camaraderie and togetherness sprouts and grows freely between members across all Shindenkan schools. This creates presence and security, which is something we value and not something we compromise on. We train our skills in a safe and secure environment with a focus on development in the real world with room for everyone who wants to.
Shindenkan is multi-tracked and with it comes personal development with insight into more than just oneself. An OBC such as OBC 2 is an OBC that draws belt degrees from different levels. OBC 2 is about the skills Ken-jutsu and Kotachi Jutsu, which are some of the core skills in Yakami Shinsei-ryu Karate-do. At OBC 2 in 2019, 80 members participated in an OBC course that really created a desire to learn and to improve.
When you, as a newcomer to OBC, take part in an OBC course for the first time, you also meet pretty much everyone from the brown and black belt team, incl. Kimu Sensei who is a teacher at OBC. It can of course be overwhelming and perhaps put the individual participant in a slightly nervous state. But in Shindenkan we are met at eye level and taken on a journey, which of course also happens on an OBC course. That is why it was also fantastic to see and feel the security that was created for the new ones at OBC 2 in 2019.
Seeing how the higher graduates made the newcomers feel welcome and safe is simply in true Shindenkan spirit and it doesn't get any better. It just shows that the motto "there is room for everyone" has really taken hold and is a motto that is valued as highly as the set of values. We are all people with different belt colors and degrees. But it is our human actions that make a difference and not colors and degrees on the belts.
OBC 2 just took it up a notch. With a focus on etiquette and the correct handling of weapons, the link and common thread to all other skills was also established. It's amazing to see how technology is integrated and geeked out with, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The intensity and atmosphere is absolutely fantastic and it is as if Shindenkan is now moving in a certain direction that everyone wants to be a part of.
OBC has created a solid and calm foundation for the future with a focus on the genuine and real martial arts and martial arts that come from Yakami Taijutsu. We move towards the hub in the wheel and can thus also see how it is completely connected to everything else - these core competencies are perhaps in reality the foundation and source of all other competencies - which came first, the chicken or the egg?
It's also fantastic that we get to learn directly from a real martial arts grandmaster that most people dream of training with. Few people miss that opportunity, but we have it right here in Shindenkan and it's an opportunity we shouldn't waste. The most amazing thing is that there is nothing to compare it to. Some might say that it will be like a children's soccer team being taught by one of the world's best soccer players, but no, because there is such a big difference that the comparison cannot be used. And at the same time, Kimu Sensei is so much human and himself that he wants to teach and get to know us all without a filter 🙂
As mentioned, OBC 2 took the participants up a level and gave greater insight into why etiquette is so important and what its purpose is – etiquette shows whether you have understood how to close the openings – i.e. can you stay focused on the essentials and make sure you keep your kamae. When you perform your label there will be, among other things, Hsingi and Aiki-jutsu as well, which again shows that everything is connected as a whole that points in the direction of true Koryu Taijutsu martial art.
The road to true martial arts is long and strewn with obstacles. Or so you yourself thought at first, but as Kimu Sensei presented during the OBC 2 Ryugi part, the obstacles and the length of the road are placed by oneself - which is also made clear by the expression "one is one's own worst enemy" to that extent is correct. The understanding of the term is simply difficult to accept as we humans are designed to blame others before we look at ourselves and think about what we can do ourselves. Yes, personal development can be difficult if one's worldview is very different from reality. This is exactly what Densho degrees are all about and Densho degrees are the way forward to real martial arts 🙂
It has previously been written that the members of Shindenkan have seen the light and are going directly against it with one sole purpose, namely to become much better than they already are. You can perhaps already say that they have found the light within themselves and are showing the way to others. A road that has been created through OBC and which leads solid byways to other Shindenkan events - this is clearly shown by the registrations for other events.
The spring meeting is approaching and with it also OBC KM certification with the possibility of getting one of the very beautiful OBC badges. Those who have the marks already now wear them with humility and pride which is in true Shindenkan spirit. It will be very exciting to see how many are allowed to wear an OBC KM mark after the spring meeting and again after the summer meeting 2019 where there is another OBC KM certification.
It could then be fantastic to start the 2019/2020 season after the summer holidays with a large amount of OBC certified members. Members who can pull others along and who help create the foundation of a Shindenkan that makes a huge difference to the world around us all. And where does it all begin? Namely, inside ourselves 🙂
