By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018
For several years, I have read Jens Kyoshi's articles about his personal training camps with Kimu Sensei, which you probably have too. What has been common to all these articles is that you have sensed how concentrated and unpredictable the training camps have been. Therefore, it was with excitement that I looked forward to Friday 20 August, when I now had the opportunity to taste the well-prepared training camp, which was gastronomic art at a high level. I didn't quite know what to expect, because I knew that what you expect doesn't come, the only thing you can be sure of, and as it was slightly paraphrased in the invitation: The camp starts on Friday at 13.00 in the lobby of the hotel when you see me (Kimu Sensei) and ends on Saturday at 15.00 – i.e. 26 hours. Later it turned out that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was planned down to the smallest detail and only toilet visits were not part of the plan.
Friday afternoon at At 11.20 I drove from my workplace in Bagsværd so that I could be in Amager with Søren Renshi, where we had agreed a collection heat to drive in one car to Malmö and thereby reduce costs for petrol and the bridge. God forbid, there was of course a queue on the motorway, which usually doesn't happen until after 2.30pm, luckily my GPS told me about the queue so I could find another way – with another queue. A little faster than the law allows, I only managed 3 min. delayed until Tanavej in Amager and half a minute later we were driving. In all tolerability, we drove to Sweden in very good time and the chat started with a bit of the usual half-hearted Friday humor, as it is now among old boys who constantly think they are significantly younger - but not without reason because our body age has been measured to much below normal on several occasions (minus 15 years) – and it is said that we do not build illusions in Shindenkan J We talked a bit loosely and firmly about what we should train at this camp and how it should take place, however we arrived at the common conclusion that we probably shouldn't expect anything specific, we had done that before and to our great annoyance were wrong.
Around. At 12.40 we ended up in the Friday traffic in a very busy Malmö city, where yet another GPS failed us (And no, it's not an operating error) and sent us down a street that was closed due to modernization. However, we quickly found another way to the Hilton, where we were to live and train, but where were we supposed to park???? After a bit of panicked driving around, we managed to find a car park under the hotel - at At 12.55 we stood in the lobby and, upon inquiry at the reception, were handed keys that had already been prepared. We had 5 min. to reach the 17th floor, change and go down to the lobby again until 13.00…..We made it together with Jens Kyoshi, who had also come along and Kimu Sensei stood smiling and waiting for us exactly at 13.00, RRCAMP10.1 could begin.
From this point on, my memory of sense of time ceases, which in and of itself doesn't matter, since all I had to think about was getting the most out of the (boot)camp. As an introduction, we were told how the camp was structured in practical terms. I had to live in a room with Kjeld Renshi-dai, Søren Renshi together with Brian Renshi-dai, Jens Kyoshi alone but on the same floor (17th) and finally Kimu Sensei on floor 15. For those who would now speculate, I can reveal that they were double rooms with separate beds, which would later prove to be quite superfluous. The first task was to set up this room for the introduction and start-up of RRCAMP10.1 with a projector, seating for everyone and a giant block on an easel for notes. Everything clapped and ready on time, we got down to business.
RR stands for Ryugi (theory, philosophy) Ryuha (technique, practice), so the expectation was that we would have to do some theory and somehow some physical training. Kimu Sensei started with a Powerpoint introduction and setting expectations, and we could only tell, as we had also talked about it in the car, that we didn't really know what to expect other than that it would probably be a little challenging. A sly smile spread across Kimu Sensei's lips and he continued his Ryugi part. As information, we were also told along the way that there would be tests along the way, it is understood that some were tangible and others hidden, but in common they all had to be passed if we did not have to return home early from Malmö or hope to get attention in form of training in the new season - thanks for the coffee, which we hadn't had yet. But it's no different from our Friday training sessions, which in and of themselves are always a test of where we are mentally and technically, but that increases the pressure and adrenaline production a bit. This first Ryugi part was very much about Honbu's new strategic plan 2010-2015(20), which can best be described as "new buns on the soup", but following an ancient recipe to stay in the gastronomic concept. However, there is no time to taste, but simply eat it with gusto and not complain to the chef, even if it was not easy to digest. The previous adrenaline rush was now very good for the first ryuha part of the camp approached, when we suddenly got 10 minutes to change into fitness gear and stand on the top floor of the fitness center ready for testing.
A fantastic view from the 20th floor over Malmö was to form the framework for the first physical test, not that we had time to enjoy it. For physical tests I am used to cycling as I prefer this to running, mostly for the sake of my bad back. A third option is rowing on an ergometer..."Have you rowed before" asks Kimu Sensei "Yes, I have", "what is your time per 500m”, I answer “around 1:57”. Kimu Sensei turns to Søren Renshi, who gets the same question and arrives at about the same time. The times I have rowed it is preferably between 1000 and 2000 meters or the equivalent of 6-8 minutes at a time. I just had to take an extra breath when Kimu Sensei said "You must row for 25 minutes and you must be under 2:04 per hour. 500 meters, just get started right away”. I quickly think through what pace I should lie at and start out with 31 gpm which is approx. is 2:02 and can see that if I hold it I am "home safe". Søren Renshi starts off at an uncanny pace next to me – he is almost tearing the machine apart – and we have been told at the same time that we are also competing with each other, but I have to trust my own judgment and not lie to hard out. I like to refine technique no matter what activity I'm doing, so I made sure to take long strokes, bring the legs together, push off with legs and finish with arms, good breathing and just go from there. After just over 10 minutes I had a really good rhythm that I knew I could keep for a long time and I had caught up with Søren Renshi, whom I now also encouraged because it was also teamwork, we had to finish together. 6080 meters was on the display when I wiped the sweat from my eyes after 25 minutes. It had been hard, really hard, but also satisfying to finish in a good time, which converted to about 2:04/500m. Relieved but also very sore in the buttocks, we could move on sweatily to the next exercise, where we had to do strength training on machines, but according to a certain concept. As I am the lightest in my group, which consists of Søren Renshi, Kjeld Renshi-dai and myself, I am given the task of setting the weight where we can do 15 repetitions with specified time for both entering and exiting the machine. Here I learned what Ryuha is also about. You have to be able to assess yourself and your ability regardless of the exercise and the circumstances, I failed! Although I am used to strength training, I overestimated myself and how much the rowing had drained my arms and how much the new concept required of strength. I had to bite back a lot of bitterness as I struggled with the weight in the first few exercises before I got it adjusted. Although it may seem simple, you can actually learn a lot from this. You must not overestimate your abilities, you must be in the situation and assess it correctly even if there are some unknown factors, if you don't do this it will have consequences for the action. In reality, very simple and a parallel that can be drawn to other situations in reality than just strength training. But I didn't have time to be upset that I hadn't understood the exercise properly, and while we were told that we had 8 minutes to bathe (2 people) and gather in the common room, I could only look positively that I at least had not been asked to go home J
During the next few hours, which were still based on Kimu Sensei's well-prepared Powerpoints and dialogue as well as the problem solving, we came to a somewhat surprising conclusion, which we had also circled earlier in the day. Self-awareness is about seeing yourself as you are and not blurring the image. During the day we had been served facts that we could not contradict, which now came back and the taste was still not good. Personally, I don't think it's fun to recognize one's bad side includes arrogance, selfishness and other negative qualities, but nevertheless that was the conclusion for most people without us going into it further. But the positive thing is that you know what you have to work with, which requires self-awareness.
The evening approached at 7pm (as I recall) and we were asked to stand in the lobby in civilian pants and Shindenkan sweatshirts so we could go to the TGI Fridays restaurant where dinner was to be consumed and hopefully take the nasty taste in our mouths. Jens Kyoshi had a special love for the elevators in the Hotel and the long trip from 17 to the lobby, which he then had the opportunity to take again when he showed up in training pants J Malmö was very busy that evening with events in the pedestrian street. There was also time to enjoy the walking architecture and this created many a fluttering look among the instructors.... The appetite for the pleasant view and a long day was great, but panic spread when Jens Kyoshi, who had chosen a light pasta dish, told where unpleasant - bordering on the vomit-inducing, it's like rowing with a steak in your stomach...I looked at my rib-eye steak, which was eaten with great thoughtfulness.
The rest of the evening was spent in the common room with ryugi training and problem solving in our respective rooms, where we worked on some new management measures in Shindenkan, which you will hear more about in the future. Around. At 23.30 we were together again, and as I said, you should never expect anything or expect the unexpected. We were served a rather voluminous task which had a deadline the next morning at 8.00… Breakfast was at 7.00 where we had to stand in the lobby so we decided the time consumption ourselves and as Kimu Sensei said "The night is young, we'll see you tomorrow morning when we're ALL fresh". Many times during my studies I have worked late into the night, but not on a day when you have already been filled with information and pressured both physically and mentally, so I looked deep to find the resources, and a few cups of coffee were also needed. At At 01.30 we met to coordinate whether we were all involved and had understood the task, after which we went back to our rooms. Around. At 04.40 I switched off the computer and lay down under the covers to rest my eyes, as it was impossible to sleep. Kjeld Renshi-dai duly worked a little further, but he too had to spend 20 min. later give in to the brain's need to cool down a bit.
6.40 is very early when you have gone to bed around 5.00, but nevertheless it was there that I got up, when Kjeld Renshi-dai had already taken a shower. Exactly at 07.00 we stood in front of the hotel's restaurant with a voracious appetite for the hugely advertised morning buffet. A lot of coffee was drunk and washed down with espresso and then more coffee. Funnily enough, most people were a bit wary of eating too heavy a breakfast, since we didn't know when the next physical event would come. But today's program started with Ryugi training and presentation of our night work which took a few hours. Most people expect a lunch, but instead we were able to work up our appetite in the gym, when we were again suddenly asked to get dressed and ready for training for 10 minutes. later. Yesterday's concept was repeated but this time I was more at home as I had to cycle and my self-confidence was high. However, it quickly became smaller when I had to cycle with somewhat higher intensity than I was used to. Again, my expectations hit me like a hammer and I suffered during the 25 min. bike ride. I was very fast above my maximum heart rate and was around 190. I have thought that I probably made the mistake of wearing a heart rate monitor and thereby knew how stressed my body was instead of just doing it. As I had done really well the day before, I had definitely failed this test even though I cycled with a higher intensity than I had done before. But the task of coming to recognize the mistake I had made was passed and that was probably what Kimu Sensei was after. On the other hand, the strength training went very well, but now I also had the farm day's learning fresh in my mind. It's always nice to have a nice long hot bath after a workout, but after the workout we had the luxury of being allotted 8 minutes to shower and change in the room before the day's final ryugi workout, for 2 men, well and truly. Those of my colleagues who have been in the military had a sudden deja vu back to the recruit days.
The day ended with a recap of what was learned and deadlines for various tasks as a follow-up to RRCAMP10.1 and finally at At 15.00 we could enjoy lunch in the open air opposite the hotel at a small Chinese restaurant "China Box". There was a polite break-up before we headed towards Denmark again and the trip home was used to digest the last 26 hours' impressions and insight into self-knowledge.
After a few days of digesting this training camp, several post-rationalizations appear. It is evidence that these camps, despite their team orientation, are very individual and incredibly well planned, nothing is left to chance and I mean NOTHING. Only after the camp can I analyze my trading pattern and profit that I have to work with in the future. I am beginning to understand more and more what is meant by "Inner" or "Upper door to all the martial arts", which is the degree I am on the road to self-knowledge towards.
