By Martin E. Hansen, Member until 2018
For the first and last time, Jujutsu 3 was held by Grandmaster Kimu Sensei. Despite the early time of the day, there was full support and all potential students were registered for this course, which was teaching the essence of jujutsu and how it relates to life and your attitude in general. Everyone was challenged on their limits and comfort zones.
At 7.00 Saturday morning the trailers pulled up in front of Tjørnelyskolen in Greve. Once again, the important volunteers and the activities committee had chosen to show up early and help out, so that the practical aspects of the jujutsu 3 course were a joy for all 41 participants with at least 4-5 years of training experience behind them.
As was also emphasized in course 2, we emphasize ryugi training in Shindenkan, so jujutsu 3 also began with a theoretical part and a presentation by Kimu Sensei.
The theory overlapped jujutsu 2 and deepened the essence of jujutsu and was based on how we as humans relate to reality and our own ability rather than an "illusion".
A 12-minute long video "Violence in Copenhagen" showed real Denmark and how violence is increasingly the order of the day in many big cities in Denmark. Who is responsible for this and who decides what to do about the violence, and why is it increasing? These questions were answered through the video and afterwards the participants debated in group work about the extent to which Shindenkan fits into today's Denmark and takes responsibility and taking a stand for the violence and the seeds of it.
The responsibility can only start somewhere and that is within ourselves, so we must give ourselves, our children and the world around us the values and tools needed to fight this violence and other issues.
This is very much in line with the values of Shindenkan and the principles we teach according to.
Jujutsu is a realistic "tool" that comes very close in the most literal sense - close combat in its purest and most brutal form, which was to be tested in the dojo later. But at the same time, jujutsu is the last resort and requires an end, therefore it requires inner clarification and attitude purely mentally - can you disable or kill another person or do you believe that he/she probably won't do anything to you if you just ward off a attack. Do you have to think about whether there is a punishment in a situation where your wife is raped or your child is harmed, or have you decided in advance and are clear about your limits when you eliminate the threat? Thoughts were exchanged a lot among the participants and the presentation was concluded with an explanation of the connection between personal development and ability so that in this way you can make the best decision and be prepared, which in reality is 80 % of a good result.
In the dojo, there was first a warm-up, followed by ukemi (fall technique), before Søren Renshi-dai and Kjeld Renshi-dai – who are the next instructors to take over the course – gave a quick recap of the essence of jujutsu 2 through three throw: Seio Nage, O-goshi nage and O-soto gari.
The time had come for an extension, that is, how to gain control of the opponent and what happens after the opponent is thrown and you end up in a floor fight.
Kimu Sensei demonstrated with ease how to train balance wrestling at tai chi pace. For the sake of systematicity, it was primarily trained as a three-step action (randori par exercise), i.e. two steps forward or backward and on the third step – breaking balance either backwards, forwards or to the side.
The essence was to catch the opponent at the right time and apply the right amount of force in the right place to throw him off balance. At the level that the course was aimed at, it was precisely necessary to add muscle power, which is not necessarily the case at the subsequent higher levels of jujutsu when it comes to aiki-jutsu.
The Randori was expanded with throwing and here most people got an insight into what the "missing link" is in the jujutsu that they had seen in the videos - no one lets themselves be thrown voluntarily. You have to use karate techniques to get the opponent to "relax" before you can finish any. with a throw and subsequently put in a lock and strangulation. So therefore it was trained and felt to a great extent how painful and ultimately debilitating various joint locks and pacification techniques can be. At the end of the course, the participants had the opportunity to try floor combat, where they got to see how effective and fatal it can be to be in a lock and strangulation and how difficult it can be to fight your way out of this situation. A good outcome requires preparation and flow in the movements.
All participants were tired and exhausted after the course and had gained impressions for reflection. But no one subsequently had any doubts about how effective Yakami Shinsei-ryu is in self-defense situations, since the basic system is a total martial arts system that trains the students in distance, close and floor combat, both armed and unarmed self-defense.
But many thoughts were set in motion by the participants; Dare I do what it takes? Am I good enough? Do I take responsibility? To a large extent, they had tested their comfort zones and were close to each other in the ultimate floor fight, where if you hesitate, you can go from winner to loser in a split second. So preparing for the reality and taking a stand is important – that is the reality of Shindenkan, but we were happy that the defibrillator we brought did not have to be used, but it could happen in reality. Have you decided on your reality and your responsibility?
