Article By Claus Hansen, Member until 2017

It was with some excitement that I on 12 Aug. got up to pack my things right away and leave for RRcamp11.2. This was my first RR camp and I was invited to the second RR camp of the year in my capacity as newly appointed head instructor. For those who don't know what RR camp stands for, it means Ruyha and Ruygi, theory and practice.

I had already received the invitation some time before and received a clear message from Kimu sensei to read the articles that the other chief instructors had written. I remember sensei saying it would be a good idea to read them. I took that to heart and read all the articles I could find. It was an instructive read and if there was a common denominator in them, it was that you shouldn't expect anything and expect the unexpected. To put it briefly, live in the present, don't worry about the future or the past, let sensei control what will happen.

But I was on my way to my first RR camp and was already late because I hadn't thought of everything before the day and had to call the first head instructor colleague and say I was late, not a very good start. I remembered an experience from summer training with sensei and I really didn't want to be late, it would be a waste of sensei's and the others' time, but not least my own. But slightly late, I picked up my colleague and we set off towards the capital. We reached the city only 6 minutes past the agreed time, it was good that it was the middle of the day and there was no queue on the approach road. The other 2, chief instructors and fellow colleagues, were already ready and waiting for us. We quickly got their luggage loaded on board and continued our journey across the strait towards the forbidden land, or is it the forbidden land. The atmosphere was high and it went without problems and we arrived in Malmö in good time to find a parking space. However, it would prove to be difficult due to road and/or building work around the hotel. However, we found the car park and stood in the hotel lobby a few minutes before noon. 1 p.m. Shortly after, Kimu sensei landed with jen's kyoshi. The entire gang I have seen up to over the last 10 years and gained a huge respect for after my 1st dan graduation, was now gathered at a nice hotel in Malmö. And from now on and for the next 3 days my "ass" was sensei's. There was only a loose schedule for the next 3 days and there was only one who knew what was going to happen, a little butterflies in the stomach, I probably can't deny myself.

We were given 10 minutes to find our rooms and find ourselves in the study. We were allocated a roommate, My colleague and I quickly found our room and shared the beds, I was glad there were two. This is where my lack of routine came to the fore. Where my colleague quickly changed to some more comfortable clothes in the style of the Danish national dress in the eighties, read jogging clothes. I kept my "civilian" clothes on and instead tested the bed and looked around the room. We then went up to the next floor to the study, on the way we met the other two. We had just entered the room when Sensei and Jen's koyshi arrived. And we got the first tasks for the day. The room had to be rigged so that we could use it as an auditorium. After this it was time for ruygi with sensei. First he started by talking about the purpose of RR camp. This was probably partly my fault, as the others had already been there several times and knew the rules. Of course, I had my own ideas about what RR camp was about, but I never expected that it would be a test from end to end, which ended with me either failing or passing. It was worse, so this was no pleasure trip to Sweden.

Kimu Sensei had learned that we were not using the LU tool correctly and Jens Kyoshi was therefore tasked with explaining it to us. It was a good review and I had to admit that the way I had interpreted it was wrong and didn't make much sense either. The second made much more sense in light of the fact that we have to spread the knowledge about ourselves and the shindenkan instead of patting ourselves on the back and telling how good we are. Instead, we must work on improving ourselves all the time. After this review of LU, sensei reviewed the facts surrounding schools and the shindenkan situation. With a focus on the risk and challenges we face in the next 5 years. After this, we were given the task of making a plan for each school, this plan had to be concrete and presented to the others. Now the reader is sure to ask why, isn't it karate we train, what do future plans have to do with karate. Yes, what does it really have to do with the matter? Immediately nothing and then everything. Ask yourself, would you rather train in a karate school where nothing is under control or a school where everything is under control and there is a plan for everything. What happens in the school where there are no plans, if the head instructor quits, who will take over after him? In a school where backup plans have been made for such situations, the members are guaranteed education and progression. In any case, we were now working on our plans for the schools, we had received strict orders from sensei that no one went to bed before or later than 3 and that we should make sure we get 30 minutes of exercise.

I have to admit that at 3 o'clock I only thought I was half done and there were so many loose ends for which I had no known solutions. I was far from satisfied, but on the other hand I was also getting very tired. I managed to get 3 hours of sleep before breakfast, so I had better take advantage of this and follow sensei's recommendation. There was still at least approx. 33 hours left of the camp and I also wanted to get something out of the remaining hours. The advantage of going to bed so late is that as soon as your head hits the pillow you fall asleep, almost at least.

The alarm clock rang a few hours later, I could tell that I hadn't had many hours of sleep, but I wasn't overwhelmingly tired. A quick shower and some clean clothes and my colleague and I headed down to the breakfast table. Here we met sensei, who is always in a good mood. We all threw ourselves into the morning buffet to refuel the energy depots. And hygge talked over the food. I was glad that we had plenty of time to eat and digest the food. After the meal, we had 10 more minutes before we had to meet in the study room and be ready with our presentations. Less than 10 minutes later, everyone was gathered and the first task of the day was to challenge the others' plan and present your own. But first we had to work a little with our chairman, we were therefore first divided up. It was here that I learned that the other chief instructors had a lot of experience with this kind of tasks. They were far sharper than I was. The good thing was that I learned a lot from it, which I can also use in my civilian life. After being challenged at my school level, I could note a large number of points that could be improved. Unfortunately, there was no time for that now. Kimu Sensei had more information for us. It was a comparison of how SST and sensei and SST's goals were and what goals sensei had. SST is what you call 1.1, that is, he is interested in those who reach menkyo Kaiden and who are "straight liners", all others are not really interesting to him.

This may be a bit square but the essence is that SST had a goal and that was to train 3 menkyo Kaiden's. He has achieved this goal and now he has devoted himself to his own training. Sensei, on the other hand, is 7.7, or daimyo. That is, he tries to lift everyone up. It was here that it dawned on me how privileged I am, Here I sit as a 1st dan and can be taught by a grand master. In sst's eyes I would never be interesting and I would probably never reach menkyo. But in sensei's eyes, I can achieve menkyo just as well as anyone else who wants to. So I am good enough and much better than myself and others tell me to be. But I will probably have to invest some energy from Kimu sensei in order for me to get there, because my path just to 1st dan has been far from "straight". It was also here that it struck me that with SST's way, you could risk the system becoming extinct, which I think would be a huge loss for the martial arts and humanity.

After working on this comparison it was time to eat. We had booked a table at a restaurant in town, it was one of the few fixed times we knew of. The restaurant was a good walk away, but it was nice to be out in the fresh air. During dinner, sensei asked until our conclusions on the assignment. After the meal, it was a brisk trot back to the hotel. The working day was not over yet. Sensei had another task for us. Since the head instructors handle part of the teaching in the honbu dojo, sensei thought it was reasonable that we should have a practical influence on it. After his introduction and after he had laid out the main rules for the calendar, it was now up to us as a team to lay out the calendar for the next 5 years. We should have that ready by tomorrow with our school plan.

We quickly found a way to create an overview of the courses that had to be run every year and every other year. Based on this, we put forward "rules of engagement". It was not an easy task to solve, as large parts of the year were reserved for camps and training of the sensei as well as holidays. To start with, we tried to put it on Saturdays, but this quickly became impossible to get going. Using Fridays made it easier, but there was still a need to use some of the time sensei had reserved. We noted the places where there was a violation of the plan. And got all the courses written down in the calendar so that they could be presented, while this was going on we took turns in the exercise center, as we had again been required to do 30 min. Which was actually quite refreshing. We then moved on to finalizing our school plans. After all, I had quite a few notes from the day in advance which had to be implemented in the plan. Early in the morning, I could hardly keep my eyes open and had started to nod off at the computer. I therefore decided to sleep the last few hours before breakfast. It was far too early for the clock to ring.

It was somewhat more difficult than the day before to get an eye, but not impossible. A quick shower and I was ready to go down to the breakfast table. The atmosphere was good, but unfortunately I ate too much. It all looked so good. After breakfast there was a review of the course calendar for Kimu sensei in the study. Sensei challenged our solution and we defended our violations. Sensei would look over the plan and it would later be posted on the home page for the enjoyment of shindenkan students. After this it was time for an exercise called the "hot" chair. We had gone through the same exercise the day before. We had to take turns sitting in the chair and being interviewed by the others, sensei left the room and would be back within a given time. The purpose of the exercise is to get to know yourself better. After some time we had got through all the same after which sensei came back to the room. The strange thing was that sensei could tell me how I am as a person, not always nice to hear the truth... But the cool thing was that he could also tell me what I could do about it. The camp was thus over and we had to quickly check out, I really felt that I had moved on at this camp but I still have a lot to learn. I was therefore somewhat unprepared for kimu sensei graduating me 1st dan Sr. I think I came up with a thank you. It was truly the best day of my life and it really started well. I'm much better than I charge myself, F… damn the law. The trip back to old Denmark took place in sunshine for me.

Claus shishu 1st dan Sr.