It was Friday 20 August 2010 and time for the first Shindenkan RR Camp – RR Camp stands for Ryugi/Ryuha Camp for chief instructors by invitation. This is something new for Shindenkan and I was excited what the content would be.

By agreement, I had to pick up Kimu Sensei at 11.00 and when RR Camp was officially supposed to start at 13.00 I was aware that there was a little extra time. Kimu Sensei was happy as always and smilingly said to me: "I'm hungry and we can have lunch"...

Baseline / Starting point.
We started in plenary and all the chief instructors were expectant. The first dilemma we were faced with was a brief, sober statistical presentation of:

• • What percentage of your free time do you give to voluntary and unpaid work compared to what percentage of your free time do you spend receiving education and training?
  • The statistical numbers for me were somewhere between giving 8 % of my free time to others and receiving 8 % of teaching and training in return

Uh.. it wasn't actually that much and it therefore created a lot of debate... but after a group discussion the main conclusion was the following:

The percentage that each Chief Instructor spends on giving and receiving is NOT nearly as high as we ourselves think - and in Shindenkan there is actually a very good balance between what we give and what we get.

I am, perhaps like others, very good at building an illusion for myself and my family that I spend a lot of time on my karate and Shindenkan, but the fact is that I spend much more "thinking time" than "acting time" time". Wow... how about our motto: "thoughts, words and actions".

Hmm... I have to admit that for myself, most of the time I spend is in fact purely interest time - which I have chosen myself - that is, myself - I repeat myself!!!.

Kimu Sensei's point was that you need to be clear and objective, partly with how much workload I actually take on and partly with what I actually receive.

This was my baseline – how much do I want to give myself and does it measure up to what I expect to get back?

Is it 8 %? - that doesn't sound like much!

Feedback.
Usually when I'm at a training camp, it's mostly alone with Kimu Sensei or completely alone. This time all the chief instructors were there and Kimu Sensei had therefore put in a feedback session in the plenum where the purpose was to be 100 % honest.

This was very rewarding for me. It was expressed differently but there was almost 100 % agreement from everyone around my weak and strong sides and it was therefore very clear what my work areas are.

It was really good and I am very grateful for this.

Physical training 1
As always at training camps, physical training is included and this one was no exception. We showed up dressed for training and Kimu Sensei spoke to us one at a time. When I spoke to him he said to me: "What do you usually do as endurance training?".

"To run!" I answered.

"Well" said Kimu Sensei."Did you know that the latest new research shows that cross training gives the best result in the shortest possible time"!

"Uh, no" I replied, knowing that now something would come up that would push me.

"Instead, you must cycle for 25 minutes and you must have an average of 236 watts"

When I finished, Kimu Sensei came up to me and said "The whole training center is a bit shaken - you sound like you're having sex with yourself. What was wrong?”!

It was really 25 hard minutes where I was really close to my limit. My cycling technique is bad to say the least and it was clear that I had better practice a bit on the bike too 🙂

Ready ready to perform
After this physical training, Kimu Sensei presented the first part of the Honbu-dojo's strategic plan 2010-2015 (2020) and carefully reviewed the contexts and goals he has set for the plan and, not least, the requirements that goal fulfillment places on the Chief Instructors.

After this, each chief instructor was given an hour to explain their local plan regarding the campaign and operations, as well as prepare a 10-minute presentation for everyone in plenary. – 1 hour, so you have to work fast!!!

When we arrived after 1 hour, it was straight and tough - What is your plan Jens? After I had presented my plan for 10 minutes, it was clear to me that there was room for improvement.

Kimu Sensei presented the second part, in which it emerged, among other things, that there must be a lot of focus on leadership development both in the honbu-dojo and in the local schools.

Kimu Sensei left us at approx. 23.00 with the task that the plan together with a 15 minute presentation must be finished and ready tomorrow at 08.00 – and there is breakfast at 7.00.

I didn't get more than 40 minutes of sleep that night and I think that was cool. It was great to work on my planning to try to get it as detailed as possible - but I was tired.

At 7.00 there was breakfast and at 8.00 we were on again – Ready to perform and we presented in approx. 3 hours.

Physical training 2
After everyone had presented, it was again time for physical training. It happened just like the first time. We showed up dressed for training and Kimu Sensei spoke to us one at a time. When I spoke to him he said to me: "What were you doing yesterday?".

Oh no, I thought, again knowing that now something would come to push me.."I cycled!" I answered. "Well" said Kimu Sensei."Did you know that the latest new research shows that cross training gives the best result in the shortest possible time"!

Uh yes... "You must now row for 25 minutes and you must have an average of 2:02 minutes per row. 500 meters”.

Fortunately, this was a little better for me as I am more used to rowing.

KPI what size is it?
Those of you who have been on the Instructor 3 course have already been introduced to Shindenkan's KPI (key success factors). What are KPI or key success factors?

Well, for Shindenkan there, it is simply our ability to retain all members, that the members think that the training and togetherness in the schools and the training meetings is so good that they always show up for both local training and the joint activities offered. Last but not least, that we are such good teachers and communicators that everyone wants to stay and is graduated to the next degree.

At this RR Camp, a new KPI was introduced for head instructors, which deals with management and leadership development in the local school.

This KPI must be used actively this season and throughout the honbu-dojo's strategic plan 2010-2015 and it will be very interesting to see if we - chief instructors - can live up to the trust that Kimu Sensei has given us.