By Karsten Nielsen, Member until 2016

It was Saturday morning and finally it was time for Shindenkan's annual summer camp, I was happy like a little kid because today was the day I found out if I was graduated 3 kyu (brown belt).

It started with me being picked up at my address in Korsør, by Ibrahim, after which we drove to Slagelse to pick up Jesper, and then headed towards Måløv.

The camp consisted, for my part, of training with kotachi, where we reviewed the different techniques we had learned at the kotachi courses, this was very nice as there was a graduation section later in the day.

In addition, we also had pad training, it took place on small impact pads, so here it was about being precise and getting the right contact with the pad.

We also practiced the fall techniques quite a bit at the camp, which is always good to practice through.

We also got some training from the position sankaku dachi (triangle position), here you could clearly feel how important it is to always have correct balance.

It was a good training camp, where the time flew by, and I could now feel the nervousness had announced its arrival.

The graduation process, the previous week, consisted of a physical test and a syllabus test.

The physical test took place in a fitness center in Slagelse, where I had to go through 3 bronze circles, and then a 12-minute run.

The physical test went well, although I was tired of the treadmill at the end.

The syllabus test took place in the small hall, by the Måløv hall, where Kimu Sensei asked us to perform various techniques from the syllabus, and here I escaped just right through the eye of the needle.

The last part I had to go through was the camp, and here I really felt that I had something to prove, not least during the actual graduation at the end of the camp.

I felt the way I did because I had been a shadow of myself during the syllabus test and I knew I was better than what I showed that day. All that now had to be washed away, so I had to put the thoughts of the syllabus test out of my head, I had to look ahead and concentrate on the 100 % retraining.

The actual graduation at the camp consisted, for us, of "going crazy" training, where we had to hit, or kick, the slightly larger cushions until Kimu Sensei said yame (stop).

It was incredibly hard, because we didn't know how long we would have to do it, which means that you were under pressure both physically and mentally.

It was a great experience to go through the 3 graduation courses, because you learn a lot from them.

The physical test taught me that preparation is very important, it's important to get plenty of sleep and to drink and eat right before such a test or for example for an exam at school.

The syllabus test taught me to face a huge nervousness that I have never experienced before, have experienced nervousness before, but not in this way.

Nervousness is good if there is not too much of it, it helps you to put yourself in gear and stay focused on what you have to do now.

The nervousness made me think about whether I was now good enough, whether I wanted it enough, the doubts that were in my heart had to be worked on, and I had to find answers to my questions.

The camp taught me that if you give up, you won't get any further, so you have to give everything you have and fight, or in other words, you can do a lot more than you tell yourself. .

It's like the higher you go up the ranks, the more important the mental attitude becomes.

Where there's a will there's a way, I learned that through the lessons at the summer camp.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for a good camp, congratulations on the new degrees, I look forward to seeing you at the next camp and have a good summer