By Martin Hansen, Member until 2011
It is Saturday morning at the beginning of December. As I drive to Tjørnelyskolen, I think about what the day will bring? It's been a little over a year since I was at TF1, so the details from there are a bit blurry, but if the thread from ju-jutsu 1,2 and 3 is followed up, it will be an intense and challenging day!
We start in the theory room, where Keld Renshi-Dai and Brian Renshi-Dai welcome us. After a brief presentation of their background in sports karate, a recap of TF1 is given, where the development of Shindenkan's freestyle concept from punching pads to full contact freestyle is reviewed.
TF 2 is introduced with the fact that now we will experience a consequence of our choice as the kumite gets closer! We move from THANKS to MINE.
With video of different types of (sports) combat, the realism is gradually built up. To illustrate 100% realistic Bujutsu, a clip from the movie "The 7 Samurais" is shown, where two Samurais fight with wooden sticks to decide a point of contention. I immediately get associations with my own Bokuto and Ken-jutsu training. After a short fight, one declares himself the winner, citing that if it had been a real fight, the other would be dead! The vanquished is terribly wronged and refuses to acknowledge his defeat. He insists on another battle with sharp weapons. The first shrugs and they both draw their Katanas. From the spectators: "What a waste!" The fight is short and ends predictably with the ultimate defeat, death, to him who did not recognize his own ability.
The film clip made a bigger impression on me than watching bundles of muscles beat each other half-depraved in an MMA fight, because it vividly illustrates how wrong things can go when you are not realistic about your own abilities. When self-confidence exceeds self-esteem.
Keld Renshi-Dai and Brian Renshi-Dai follow my thoughts by telling about their own experiences of ending up in a fight at a time when they were both at the top in sports fighting, but where they had to admit that sports fighting and street-fighting are two very different things.
The "rule-free" fight is brutal and merciless. Mistakes are punished… hard! You can either experience this on your own body through "learning by doing", or you can listen to the experiences others have made through "a schooled approach".
Shindenkan is based on 1000 years of history and experiences from, among others, the battlefield. Therefore, today we can benefit from these experiences and get a schooled approach to fighting through a gradual build-up of technique, physics and psyche! I felt in safe hands, even though I had seen the first aid kit discreetly in the corner.
The morning ended with a small test, which must be passed in order to pass the course.
Thus mentally fueled, we went down to the Dojo. After the familiar warm-up, we were ordered to put on our gloves and mouth guards. We lined up two by two, the Kumite could begin.
The layout was "skin-touch", contact at skin level, and we started with well-known Tsuki and Geri against stationary targets just to get Mai-ai in place. The target area was all day Chudan.
Keld Renshi-Dai and Brian Renshi-Dai then demonstrated a number of combinations of techniques and Tai-Sabaki to be performed first against stationary targets and then against moving targets. The intensity must not exceed 40% and the focus must be on TAK. We were obviously someone who had a hard time keeping up with Keld Renshi-Dai and Brian Renshi-Dai had to break in several times and collectively remind us to keep the focus on the base and the intensity down to 40 %. We were promised that we would probably have to "fire it" at 100 % later.
For the nervous parent, I might just mention that the Jokokidz were in a group by themselves and trained exclusively with each other and with a safety distance of min. 2 cm. So no contact.
After having trained all combinations both right and left with changing partners with max. 40 % the pace was set up! The same techniques and Tai-Sabaki were to be performed at 100 % intensity. It was reinforced that it was not a goal in itself to hit one's training partner, but that the intention had to be there, it was about attitude.
First against stationary targets, the mate stands still in Kamai. It's going well; control is intact… almost, a couple of jolts hit me in the ribs, but I'm prepared, tighten my abs in time and receive a quick apology from my partner.
Along the way, there are short drink breaks, where we had to discuss our experiences at the same time: the pace was high, there was very little time to perform the techniques before we moved on to the next one. It made great demands on focus and preparedness, because if you weren't 100 % on, the opportunity was gone.
Another experience was that some techniques, e.g. Ushiro-Geri, left an almost infinite amount of reaction time if you wanted to be lucky... again the conclusion is: If you are not 100 % the chance of success decreases quickly.
"Nothing in Shindenkan is accidental" says Kimu Sensei and at the time of writing it is also clear that the pressure was extremely deliberate on the part of the instructors.
The practical part of TF2, as it had been reviewed theoretically, was built up gradually and thus the biggest challenge came at the end, where all the elements of MITT were brought into play: But a Mai-ai that allowed skin contact, an Intensity/setting of 100 % and correct Tai-Sabaki all Techniques should be performed correctly.
In the presentation we had been told that while there was a margin of safety in TF1, today we would experience that there was a consequence of our choice. It turned out to be true! If you did not have the correct Tai-Sabaki you were hit, if the "attacker" changed his technique from what was agreed upon you were hit, if you were not 100 % ready you were hit.
It unfortunately resulted in a full knock-down and 3-4 technical knock-downs where you only needed 10-15 seconds to recover. Personally, I sent a kind thought to Jens Kyoshi and all the sit-ups we do in training.
In the theoretical presentation, we had spent a lot of time reviewing Shindenkan's physical training program and the background for physical testing as a stop test for the 3rd kyu. It is no joke that it is there. It is physically demanding to be mentally 100 % ready again and again, and it is physically and mentally demanding to be hit hard. After 2½ hours in the Dojo I was tired and sore, but especially filled with impressions of how I reacted under the pressure and a real threat of being hit.
Task Fighting 2 is a course that pushes mental boundaries because you move out of your comfort zone and into the combat zone, where you risk being hit. Where anything but 100 % loses!
