By Tom and Linda, Member until 2009
Our 2 girls, Josefine & Simone, have been training Jokokan Karate in Frederiksberg for almost 2 years, and therefore we have just made a small status of all the good experiences that the membership of Jokokan Karate has given our girls and us!
We came into contact with John Christensen from Jokokan Frederiksberg in the summer of 2002, where he participated in "sport for fun" for children in Frederiksberg, and the demonstration and subsequent training gave him the courage to start the new children's team per on 01.09.2002.
We have always really wanted our girls to be good at karate, as it gives good mental strength, and in a world that often moves very quickly on all fronts, in our opinion, it is not so silly that children get to develop the ability to concentrate maximally during training, but not least that they get to build up a strength and speed that also gives them good self-confidence.
When Josefine and Simone became acquainted with Jokokan Karate in the summer of 2002 and when we subsequently know "a pure coincidence!" rented "Karate Kid" on video for them, they were "sold" and wanted to get started on the new children's team in Frederiksberg, which we have never regretted, but have only been incredibly happy about!
For the very first training, only Josefine and Chief Instructor Kjeld Nyrup and John Christensen were present, but that did not change the fact that Lars and John welcomed her very well, which was the start of the membership in Jokokan Karate, and the week after little sister also came along.
Since good experiences have a tendency to be "contagious", several of our girls' friends have subsequently started in the club, and they are also happy to be part of Jokokan.
In December 2002, Josefine and Simone were selected for the first graduation at the "Christmas camp", and we were all excited about the camp itself, which took place at a school in Greve.
Initially, it was a pleasure to see so many fresh athletes on an early winter morning, and the good mood was set when the Chief Instructors wore pixie hats, and then it was otherwise just a great day with a good atmosphere, and when the camp was rounded off with graduation of the children (Jokokidz), the factors merged into a higher unity.
The system is so "child-friendly" that "Joko-kidz" typically have the opportunity to be graduated 3 times a year, and in this way they can quickly see that there is a development in the belt grades, as long as they fits the training and otherwise "goes to the steel".
At the time of writing, we have participated in 6 camps, all of which have been one-day events, and the characteristic of all camps is that they have been some incredibly good days with a fantastic atmosphere during the process.
You can't avoid anything but being "carried away" when maybe 80-100 people in the hall start stomping on the floor - to the rhythm from "We will rock You", and that's real mental power - for both children and adults. to which it should be noted that the strongest drink served at the subsequent communal meal is "May Drink", but with 2 flavours!
Josefine and Simone have now reached the 7th graduation (purple belt with 3 stripes), which they will go up to shortly, and it is beyond any doubt that it is of great value to the girls that they can see the progress in their skills for training, but also in the psychologically good way in the form of more color on the belts.
In the past year, there have been quite a few new members in Jokokan Frederiksberg, and we are sure that there will be many new members in the future, as it is an incredibly good club that has some skilled and welcoming instructors in the form of John Chris - tensen and Chief Instructor Kjeld Nyrup.
The training takes place under reassuring forms, which we parents value very much, and when the daily training is then "spiced up" with a good camp every quarter, where Kimu Sensei, Jens Kyoshi, the Renshi-dais Martin, Søren and all the other Chief Instructors provide some good experiences , there is absolutely only good to say about Jokokan Karate, and all the volunteer Leaders and Instructors who make a huge effort in the spirit of idealism.
"Children and exercise" are undeniably some much-discussed topics in Dagens Denmark, and when it is possible for children to get good exercise and at the same time have fun by training Jokokan Karate, it is clearly worth recommending, and since at the same time so that parents and children can train on the same team, there are many good reasons to start doing it, as it is a "kind of active family fun".
Our girls are proud of the results they have achieved in Karate so far, and they believe that it gives them a good "basis for negotiation" when they have to negotiate pocket money with us parents, ha,ha.
Joking aside.
We look forward to being part of the "Jokokan family" in the future.
