By Jonas Munkesøe, Member until 2012

After a long period of ryha training with a correct basis in mind, it was decided: The common thread in the curriculum had to be shown with the help of strong teamwork – resulting in a presentation on Saturday morning and a short show during the x-mas camp.

On Saturday morning, everyone got something of a surprise, as the actual presenter was not supposed to present after all, but a completely different one, as "teamwork is not stronger than the weakest link" - therefore everyone has something to say.
Along the way, the presentations were "adjusted": the way to introduce a rewarding topic, the way to show the strong bond between the team's participants, the way to maintain people's interests, the way to appear confident - even the way in which the hand acts as a "correct pointer" was made important.

All the advice that Kimu Sensei passed on to us during the presentations was of course relevant throughout the camp: The ability to "brand yourself" and thus lead others is reflected in those you teach. After all, a leader is not trustworthy, the less he gives himself up to this.
Among important learning techniques I particularly noticed was that Martin Renshi-dai carefully made sure that everyone was involved when a common message was given (it could be a new uke/geri or just general advice to everyone). He did this by drawing people into a very tight circle - and since children have the feeling of "having to be at the front", the jokokidz's interest was thus maintained.
The last teaching lesson was for my assistant on kata Ten-i for the jokokidz who knew it well. I have never tried to teach such a large gathering of only Jokokidz. The hardest thing, I think, was finding the balance – if I'm too nice, there are too many who fall into the trap and become unkind, but at the same time I can't allow myself to be too strict and hand out arm stretches as I see fit .

I will conclude by saying what was made clear to me during the camp:

• Be accommodating; Of course with a smile!
• Remember that criticism is most effective if it follows on the heels of praise
• Jokokidz may, individually, need extra extra attention