It was my 54th trip to Japan, my 34th training camp in Japan with SST and combined with the 6 training camps in Denmark, this became my SST anniversary training camp number 40 in the period 1988 to 2009. That's almost two training camps with SST per year.
All training camps have been very demanding as I have always only had one chance to learn things. As SST has always said, Koryo Bujutsu teaching IS and WAS always this way throughout the last 500 years. It was very time efficient for both teacher and student; The student was in the exam all the time - one mistake and it was over. The teacher was also at the exam all the time – one learning and one result.
It sounds hard and inhuman, but that's how it is to train in the old Budo & Bujutsu way; one life, one death - there are no extra chances. It is very simple.
Many will probably disagree, but these must bear in mind that the training can lead to death and mutilation for the student - but also for the teacher - especially if this is done with razor-sharp katana (swords). It's almost too late to say sorry after an arm or a head has been lost. Therefore, there was no idea in continuing the teaching of one student who was undecided and did not want it enough - 100 % every time, where thought, word and action are always one.
We talked a lot about this modern aspect, with personal branding and thought, word and action not always being one in modern martial arts. In the old Budo & Bujutsu way, it was quite simple, since this was always decided by means of a life-or-death duel - it therefore automatically led to a natural modesty in practitioners of martial arts.
Today, 99.9 % trains the same martial arts system all his life, but maybe under different instructors. It is a very service-friendly and fully adapted solution and martial arts model - for the student.
The remaining 0.1 % seek out the best martial arts grandmasters in Japan and China themselves, paying considerable sums for this in both travel costs, hotels, food, tuition fees and holding all their own and teacher's costs during training camps. They are taught balancing on the precipice of the one life and one death martial arts method, and where they eventually learn to "enjoy the view", thus fulfilling the requirements of the essence of the teachings and wisdom of the various martial arts grandmasters, under this colossal and constant pressure to be "good enough".
SST said that he himself has done this, which in the good old samurai times is called Musha Shugyo – a martial artist's pilgrim's clarification and testing during a long walking journey.
He had sought out the best Japanese and Chinese martial arts grandmasters, had to undergo combat tests in order to be accepted as a student in the essence of this teacher's knowledge and wisdom. Then to "walk" on, when this essence was achieved, to the next one who could complete his own martial art wisdom and knowledge. It was only in the mid-50s that he stopped doing this, when he experienced the opposite situation; that it was he who was increasingly sought out by other grandmasters who sought his teachings, knowledge and essence in Budo and Bujutsu.
When we talked about this, it suddenly dawned on me that I had done exactly the same thing as him; until densho degree Kaiden (7th dan) had the same martial arts grandmaster (SST), and then Musha Shugyo with battle tests and teaching of other martial arts grandmasters.
The only difference between SST and my Musha Shugyo has been that SST has introduced me to the right martial arts masters, so that I could avoid the many "studs" that he had experienced on his way. SST had made my way more optimal and time efficient than his.
I had not seen it like this before, but this enlightening and clarifying experience brought a wonderful warmth and understanding to me. It was a really nice feeling and gratitude was passed on to SST. But as he himself said, if I had messed up just once and not been accepted as a student and sparring partner of the other martial arts grandmasters, then my Musha Shugyo would have stopped abruptly, - both with him and the others.
It has been my work and profit, but they have opened doors in step with my progress to ensure a faster and more efficient process than they themselves have experienced. As SST said "So a teacher's most important task is not to show a student the same path that the teacher himself has followed and with the same mistakes, but a faster and more efficient one".
In the dojo we trained the whole essence of Chinese and Japanese martial arts within "karate - the empty hand genre" from SST and all his teachers, - composed of just 5 Kata/mai with special emphasis on Inshún.
The Ishún can best be explained as the timeless version of an armor-piercing grenade; It penetrates the thick steel, after which it explodes. It leaves on the surface only the small entrance hole, but inside a deadly chaos. Ishun Kenjutsu (sword) was also trained and tested.
The training camp was so concentrated that a meal consisting of a starter and a main course was consumed in less than 8 minutes before we were training again. When we finished training camp number 40, it was with two big smiles on our faces. This year I have been to two training camps in Japan, which has resulted in a very intensive training course before, during and after. But it has also yielded results, as these two training camps have been the two most life-affirming, clarifying and effective training camps of the 40 I have learned from so far. I am very grateful for that.
