By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018
Only one week after the first RRCAMP10.1 (d. 20/8-21/8) came an invitation to RRCAMP10.2 (d. 10/9-11/9) because Kimu Sensei thought we needed a quick follow-up at the first camp both in terms of the specific content but also our personal benefit.
My calendar was already booked when the email from Kimu Sensei containing an invitation to another RRCAMP slipped past the spam filter on my mailbox J. As you know, RR stands for Ryugi/ryuha but could also mean Reasonably Raw. What I skewed in the calendar that was the alternative to RRCAMP10.2 was the Novo Nordisk annual party. So what I was comparing was either 26 hours of hard work with an annoyingly sharp-witted Kimu Sensei, who whips up a mood in the best Drill Sergeant style, or an evening with all paid and private concert with Nephew in the Bella Center with my colleagues. The choice was simple, although it tormented my little party heart and I emailed back that I was of course interested in participating in another RRCAMP.
My fellow colleagues and I agreed this time that we should meet a little earlier than last time, so that we had a bigger buffer in case something unforeseen happened. So that's why we all met at Søren Renshi's on Friday 10/9 at 11.45, when those of us who needed to change into official Shindenkan outfit did so, after which we set off in Søren Renshi's car towards Malmö once more. Along the way, the conversation naturally fell on the coming 24 hours, when we knew that we would probably have to be pushed in one direction or another in the best Jack Bauer style. We again agreed that we shouldn't expect anything in advance, but learned from the last RRCAMP, we quickly came to the conclusion that sleep was probably the only thing we wouldn't get very much of, and later it turned out that we was quite right!
We arrived at the Hilton in Malmö in good time, actually half an hour before the meeting time. We immediately went to the reception, where we expected our rooms to be prepared as last time even though we were early for it. Kimu Sensei is always thoroughly prepared, and also this time the rooms were already booked, and also who was going to stay where, but this time the cup was shaken a bit and we got a new room mate, I therefore had to share a room with Brian Renshi-dai, the explanation we found out about this later. But our room was the only one not prepared for check in, so we had to wait until later in the day to get our key. While we were standing there in the reception, Kimu Sensei and Jens Kyoshi came down with the elevator from the 12th floor, where we were to reside for the next day. As usual, we were greeted with a big smile "Welcome to boys, you are early on it", after which firm handshakes and smiles were exchanged.
We quickly got the room plan listed and while we were riding up the elevator the first task was presented and not surprisingly we had to stand in the fitness center on top of the Hilton at 13.00, but first we had to prepare the room which was our common ryugi room. However, this was managed quite quickly, a little easier reshuffling of furniture as well as a few free chairs from our rooms and finally connecting the projector, and we had all of 7 min. to change and show up at the gym - luxury. I changed clothes and at the same time remembered my heart rate monitor because I wanted to keep an eye on my body's performance after a Shindenkan detox.
Leading up to this RRCAMP, I had chosen to run a detox. As most people may know, this detox is quite simple and here follows the recipe for 10 days. Day 1 morning: Organic long brown rice, with a topping consisting of organic sesame seeds roasted/popped in pure salt (without additives such as iodine etc.) and Japanese green sencha tea. And hold on tight now it's going to be exciting 😉 Day 1 dinner: same as morning, Day 1: evening, same as dinner, Days 2-10, same as day 1. This detox recipe is approx. 800 years old and like all other knowledge in Shindenkan that works, it should not be lost but used, which is also one of the messages in the RRCAMP vision. It can be taken for 3-5-7 or 10 days. 7 and 10 days are most effective for effective detox. If you ask your head instructor, he has the recipe and can guide you, because he has been through it himself at least 2 times :-). I had chosen a 7-day detox and was very doubtful leading up to the camp whether I would get enough energy from just rice and tea, but got advice from Kimu Sensei on the 6th day, when I would otherwise very much like to consume something more caloric , that I should just continue "You get plenty of energy, just hang in there" was the answer, so I did. So I was excited when I was asked to get on the exercise bike for the first test and cycle for 25 minutes. with an average of a minimum of 235 Watts. One of the messages at RRCAMP's is also that you have to live in the present, that's why everything is planned so intensely, so that there are no breaks to linger and think about what will happen in a few hours or more. I was just about to make a mistake and think back to what it was I had struggled home on the bike last time and briefly thought I must not have even been on the 235 Watts last time. I started the bike and it actually felt quite light and quickly I found a rhythm of about 105 rpm and the display showed 265 watts or so. "That was strange anyway" I thought and wondered if there was a difference between this bike and the other one I had ridden last time, but continued happily. After 25 min. showed an average of 255 watts so it was home. The funny thing was that I didn't work as hard as last time, when I was under quite a bit of pressure, I had what in cycling is called "good legs" all the way. Now I know I can't compare my performance with an A rider, but compared to the norm it was quite good. There is only one explanation for this significant change in my performance as I hadn't trained very much since the last RRCAMP and that was the detox. So if you are looking for a top performance in relation to your current shape curve, you just have to detox 7-10 days up to the day when you have to perform to the max 🙂 After 25 min. test, we had to start with strength training, where the principles from the last RRCAMP had to be applied again, so we incorporated this new and tested form of strength training, which thus forms part of our overall knowledge bank for the benefit of those we have to teach.
I don't remember what time it was when we finished the physical test, but just that we had about 10 min. to bathe and get ready for classes in the common room. During this time, I simultaneously went up and down the elevator a few times to try to open access on the chip card to Brian Renshi-dai's and my room, but even though the cleaning was finished it didn't work, and I instead had 4 min. to bathe in the bathroom of the common room.
We settled in front of the projector with a cup of coffee, and our mentor and teacher Kimu Sensei began the next Ryugi training session, which was actually supposed to last until 10:00. 13.00 Saturday only interrupted by dinner and breakfast. The first part was mostly a summary of the last RRCAMP and served the purpose of partly setting the stage for the next day's teaching and problem solving. As you know, RRCAMP's is an initiative to strengthen leadership development in Shindenkan, mainly for chief instructors and part of the Honbu strategic plan 2010-2015, which you will hear a lot more about, I'm sure 🙂 You got a taste of it at the summer convention 2010 before the summer holidays. During the first part, we were also told that the screw just needed to be tightened a little, so we would probably feel that this RRCAMP would be tougher than the first, purely mentally. I will not hide the fact that I was pushed very far to the edge and this time also more than the last time, which I myself was to blame for, without going any closer than this, other than simply saying that you must always meet well prepared even if you think that what you have done in preparation serves the right purpose 🙂 We received lessons until around 19.00 where we were asked to change and get ready for dinner, which was again to be eaten at TGI Friday's. By changing clothes, it is understood that we had to pose in general. pants, shoes and Shindenkan sweatshirt, as it was described in the email we had received, everything else triggers a prize 🙂 It was rainy this Friday evening in Malmö and on the way down in the elevator I wondered that a jacket would have been quite ok, and it annoyed me even more when through the glass facade of the elevator I saw Kimu Sensei standing down the hall in a jacket over the Shindenkan sweatshirt, “It's raining outside, why aren't you wearing a jacket, BIG smile”, “Shit, I thought probably all of us", except for Kjeld Renshi-dai, who looked at his folded jacket between his hands with a painted I-am-quite-smart smile and Jens Kyoshi who was late because, yes you guessed it, just had to get up with the elevator to get a jacket. The trip to the restaurant was at a brisk pace worthy of a power walker as Kimu Sensei was indescribably hungry after a long day of teaching.
After dinner, when we were back in plenary, the screw was tightened once more and the self-realizations began to appear again in the mind. We continued to work with the theme from the first RRCAMP around leadership development and the importance of Shindenkan and how the local schools must be brought into position for the new Honbu strategic plan so that handover and thus education takes place in the most optimal way. What turned out to be a challenge for me personally was that my preparation had not been optimal as previously described, this was made clear during the evening and the consequence was that together with 2 of my colleagues I was given an extra task which had to be completed next morning at 8:00 a.m. Strongly dissatisfied with my own ability, I naturally had to eat it, and it was in the back of my mind for the rest of the evening. During this session it also became clear why we had a new room mate. In the new strategic plan, it is planned that, among other things, start-up of satellite schools and closer cooperation in regions must take place. Brian Renshi-dai and I are both chief instructors in West Zealand, so it naturally made sense for us to become sparring partners. So the last task of the day concerned precisely this collaboration and it also had to be solved before 8.00 the next morning Around 23.00 we were about to reach the end of the lesson and Kimu Sensei thinks we should have a bottle of good red wine for each room, which he had brought, just so that the atmosphere was pleasant during the night's work out in the rooms.
It was a really long night and a trial and for me if I could maintain focus and work concentrated with a requirement of 2 tasks that had to be solved before the next morning - add to that a bit of irritation at my own performance and the effect of red wine on the late hours. I think the detox actually helped me here too, as I felt I actually had the energy to get through without being overtired and unfocused, even though the energy was a bit low around 10am. 5.00 🙂 So in this way I was actually pressured more than I have been before and it was an interesting and rewarding experience to share with myself and my room mate, since we had to do the one task together. This kind of task solving and leadership development in a closed "training arena" (dojo) as it is, was for me a really fruitful experience and I am happy that it happened in a "closed" environment. We managed to finish around 6.30 and could breathe a little and enjoy the view of the morning sun, stand up over Malmö and get some water in the head before we set out for breakfast at precisely 7.00.
Today's teaching after breakfast was exclusively "class room" training, which again tells you not to expect anything, as we all expected to go to the fitness center again. I was anxious to see how the night's work would be received by Kimu Sensei. We had been told that you either pass or you don't pass – black/white (life/death). But "grandfather" was happy, as Kimu Sensei himself expresses it, and relieved that there was, after all, some leadership potential in us 🙂 I was also happy and got my energy back, helped along the way by the effect of caffeine from the morning coffee, which I hadn't had for a long time due to detox, which my stomach could also feel, but it's nice that you don't have to spend a long time visiting the toilet. At the end of RRCAMP10.2, we were naturally given some short deadlines for task solving, e.g. the article you are reading now plus a lot of other things that you will see the effect of in the future strategy plan. Exactly at 13.00, ie 24 hours after we started, it all ended and we said goodbye and thank you for a good camp in the lobby of the hotel and the trip home first passed the "China Box" where a quick meal was thrown in.
If I have to somehow describe these 24 hours, it's probably like the brain is an electric kettle. It starts by becoming slightly lukewarm during physical testing. Then you gradually turn it up a little until the water starts to bubble, that's when we ate dinner. After dinner it has become a little colder, but quickly rises to temperature again and during the night it rumbles and continues like this with smoke coming out of the ears until RRCAMP is finished with only a short power cut during breakfast. I think these two experiences with RRCAMP's have been quite educational and told me a lot about myself through realizations but also the physical pressure I have been exposed to during some very intense hours. I can't help thinking that martial arts is what we have felt on our body for 26 and 24 hours respectively, but the difference is that in martial arts it is 24,7,365. So look forward to it one day being your turn, there is something to look forward to.
