"Why not be good to yourself - and learn the right thing from the beginning? – and continue this – all the time?”
A really good question to which most people will probably say "yes, why not".
That was the theme of the X-mas camp 2012 and it was a question that we "oldies" in Shindenkan have heard before but which, for some reason, we haven't quite let grow firmly inside ourselves yet.
The X-mas camp 2012 started for all students from 2 kyu on Friday at 16.30 with a training camp that featured Koryu Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan signs. Two kata that many are familiar with, in different versions and levels. This training camp was all about filling the correct contents in the correct bottle. That is correct content from the beginning 🙂
The time leading up to the x-mas camp 2012 has been a cold and wet time with darkness and freezing temperatures. It had triggered colds and a drop in energy in several places. There is not much you can do about the cold, other than to accept that it is present. But energy decline is a completely different story. You can do something about it - just not right now, we'll wait until tomorrow, I can't take it, I have such a cold – is the typical thought that comes to mind when you feel that way.
It may well be that you feel like an old wet washcloth. But if you also say that to yourself inside your head, then it becomes a vicious circle you enter into. So even if you are an "old" Shindenkaner and know well that it is a vicious circle to enter into, then you may still have those thoughts - which is because you have not yet fully found yourself and do not yet want to recognize that only you yourself can create the changes needed to stay outside the vicious circle.
As the clock approached 16.30, almost everyone had turned up for the SBLUS camp 2012. The atmosphere was really good and the mood started to rise.
SBLUS was to begin with Ryugi, where there would be an opportunity to get answers to some of the questions Kimu Sensei had asked everyone to ask before the camp. It had to be questions related to Ryugi and Ryuha. More than 75 questions had arrived in his mailbox, so there was plenty to deal with.
When you sit during a Ryugi session, you can start to feel a struggle inside yourself. One knows very well that one's attitude must be changed from "bad by itself" to "now I'm here and now I have to make the best of it".
Now you sit there and had let yourself be controlled by self-pity, but at the same time have started to struggle to get focus the other way. This fight can go on for an entire evening which is stupid because it drains one of energy which is totally unnecessary. Why not just get the most out of the situation when you are present anyway?
As Friday drew to a close, one of the participants could sense that something was about to happen. His focus began to change from "evil by itself" to "now this whole arrangement had to work".
When he woke up again on Saturday morning, it was as if he had stepped out of a cave. His cold was still there but his head had more energy. On the way to the training camp, he sits in the car and thinks that it can't be right that he has to be controlled by something that can only give a negative view of the day. Therefore, he decides that it might be enough. Now it must be him who must control himself and it must be in a positive direction.
So when Saturday's ryugi starts it is with a more open mind. A mind that wants to learn and a mind that is prepared to fight for the day to be a positive experience for himself and for the students who will arrive later to participate in the association's X-mas camp.
We humans tend to let ourselves be influenced more by the negative than looking at the positive. Even in this time when it is dark and cold, we allow ourselves to be influenced by it instead of seeing if there isn't something that can put our minds on better paths.
We probably all know the difference between when we are happy and when we are sad. And we know that when we are happy, it is a much better feeling than sadness. But why is it that we humans always allow ourselves to be pulled and influenced in a negative direction instead of deciding to find something positive and be happy about it?
When it's winter, you're mad that it's snowing, the roads are slippery, it's cold and, on the whole, we should all go into the den with the bears and wake up again when it's summer. But you can also turn it around and make a decision that you will not be affected by the cold and wet weather.
All in all, you can actually decide for yourself which direction your life should take - if you want to.
And that was actually the decision that one of the instructors made that morning. He decided not to let self-pity rule him, but instead he let his truth be I step forward and step into character.
That Saturday morning it really dawned on him that he is his own worst enemy and the only one who can change that is himself. You can be guided on the path that he wants, but the only one who can take the steps for him and himself. And the only blockade on that path is himself. He can do like many others and let himself be influenced by all the negativity around him. Or he can take the spoon in the other hand and let the real thing I step into character.
The last solution was the one he chose at this camp and it was to great satisfaction for himself and probably also for the students who had turned up for the association's x-mas camp. In any case, he had a good experience and thought it was fantastic to get 200 students to make human rockets and to dance Gangnam elf style 🙂
"Why not be good to yourself" – a question you should ask yourself every time you feel a little dark inside.
Yes, why not be.
Everything else must be better than not being so. One of the methods you can use is to get light and air. Regardless of the weather, make sure to vent your mind outside and at the same time soak up all the sunlight you possibly can. It is of course easy when the sun is shining and the weather is warm, but in fact it is just as good in winter when the snow has fallen.
Snow is white - if you look at what is not on the roads - and the white color means that the sun reflects so that you get a good portion of sunlight when you go out on a winter's day. At the same time, it is fantastic to go for a walk in a winter landscape where everything is quiet and where you can almost hear yourself thinking. There is no doubt that the walks you decide to take help to turn those dark thoughts into bright and more positive ones. And that means being good to yourself and thus also looking after yourself. And the only one who does it for you is yourself 🙂
For many years, Kimu Sensei has encouraged all the instructors in Shindenkan to do so. And some have even done it "on and off" for periods. But they also know very well that the advice Kimu Sensei gives is advice that has been tested and works as intended. So the advice with these walking tours is advice that can be highly recommended. It is tested and it works.
Several of the instructors have felt it in their own minds and there is a noticeable difference. So to all of you who sometimes feel the darkness and who really want to see the light. Come out and get some air and some light - it's free and absolutely fantastic.
And remember that the only person standing in the way of doing that is yourself and only yourself.
When X-mas 2012 began around 13.30 was approx. 220 expectant Shindenkaners turned up. All in high spirits and all excited about what was served up for them at this camp.
The team, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, was a matter of learning the correct thing from the beginning and then sticking to it throughout. And there is no doubt that there were many pieces that fell into place in the various puzzles as the participants progressed through the lessons in Shiho endings and kata.
Even if you turn up to a camp and a graduation with a slightly dark mind, the more than 200 participants and as many spectators at the X-mas camp 2012 could see with their own eyes how you can make a difference when you decide to. No one leaves a Shindenkan camp without a smile on their face. And anyone who has attended a camp with a slightly dark mind will very quickly see it lighten up.
Watching two instructors make 220 participants dance Gangnam Shindenkan style is a good start to a camp that brings life and happy days.
So the question is therefore what lies ahead. Could it be another dance or maybe a song.
Only the future will tell.
But one thing is certain, regardless of what is on, all the participants at the rallies help to give it gas, not because they have to but because they want to – and because they want to all the time.
