By Jokokan Honbu
This year's instructors' camp is always special, as Jokokan's instructors get the opportunity to challenge themselves and each other on many different levels and facets. Instructor camps always build on the past season's merits, themes and curriculum learning, so that this is experienced as crossing borders into a longer-lasting personal learning process. This was also applicable this year.
There is thus always a primary focus on the student's (instructor's) real level, which is built up and supported through an accelerated process with maximum mental and psychological pressure during the physical Yakami-ryu training course.
Training camps of such a demanding type always require a collection process afterwards, as most instructors had used the call and the opportunity to push and "look themselves" in the eyes and see how the mental and physical reaction patterns are under maximum and constant pressure.
The feedback afterwards, somewhere in Copenhagen's nightlife, was also that this had been the best instructor camp ever, as the camp both united individual development, but also embraced the "group-wise" development within the groups 4-6.dan, 1-3 .dan and 1-3.kyu. This therefore also marked the end of the anchoring phase and the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Jokokan Honbu-dojo and the Jokokan association.
The instructors' camp this year was also special on the external level, as three instructors were up for graduation. They had all passed the first two very demanding stop tests with flying colors; two hours of syllabus test and physical test. They now had to pass the mental and psychological stopping test, which is divided into three parts; First, they must go through and pass this year's instructor camp with flying colours.
When they then stand exhausted and exhausted mentally and physically, they must go through a number of full contact "street fight" matches only with the restriction that punches and kicks to the head are not allowed. This aims to test the student's "true" reaction patterns and willpower against always fresh opponents who are tasked with burning all their energy in 30 seconds. For brown belts this is 3-6 bouts of 30 seconds, and for black belts 15-25 bouts of 30 seconds.
The student will stand "naked" in front of himself and his colleagues and show the true "content and will". This is really an hour of reckoning and vulnerability so it hurts.
Finally, they must demonstrate great profits and overview to other people, when all deposits and profits are non-existent. This happened during this year's summer camp with 100 participants and 50 spectators, which lasted 5 hours. Here, the instructors are given fixed tasks that they have to solve and are assessed on.
This year's summer camp was for the first time a purely curriculum camp with a division into graduation groups, as well as separation of adult and child groups. This provides great targeting and effect in a short time. There were probably also many who were very satisfied with their own efforts, but probably also very tired and sore after a summer camp which most described as the best ever.
The nominated instructors also passed this test and thus also their graduation to a new belt, as confirmation of their skill and the Jokokan honbu-dojo's recognition. The three instructors are:
Chief instructor Martin Hansen, 2nd dan Omote, Yakami-ryu Gensei Karate-do, Jokokan Korsør Karate School
Instructor John Christensen, 1st kyu ho with commendation, Yakami-ryu Gensei Karate-do, Jokokan Frederiksberg Karate School
Instructor Brian Jessen, 2nd kyu, Yakami-ryu Karate-do, Jokokan Slagelse Karate School
Jokokan Honbu-dojo wishes the instructors congratulations on the new degrees, and at the same time all readers of Jokokan's website a very good and sunny summer holiday. We look forward to meeting you again next season.
