It is important that larger organizations follow the times and societal developments, as all organizations are an integral part of society. If they do not do this, they will no longer be needed, as at the highlights of earlier times. You can renew yourself with timely care and acknowledge reality, otherwise reality often catches up with you brutally and you feel its often merciless brutality. If the organization is relatively small for your sport, it is relatively easy, but if it is large, then it is a "super thinker" to turn, as many must be heard in a politically democratic association organization. Shindenkan has also experienced this at "Turn-around 5.0".
Most people have no experience of managing companies or associations with more than 1,000 people. Many may have an opinion like "Monday trainers", have training or have read a book about it, but only a few have experience with this in reality. Even fewer have successful experiences with "turn-around" of this size in reality, and even fewer have had long-term success with it many times.
But what is a turn-around? The Cambridge Dictionary definition is; "To change a plan, business, or system that is unsuccessful and make it successful". In short, turning a failure into a success again – preferably with timely care. What is included in a typical Turn-around? "Turn-around management is a process dedicated to corporate renewal. It uses analysis and planning to save troubled companies and return them to solvency, and to identify the reasons for failing performance in the market and rectify them. Turnaround management involves management review, root failure cause analysis, and SWOT analysis to determine why the company is failing. Once the analysis is completed, a long-term strategic plan and restructuring plan are created. These plans may or may not involve a bankruptcy filing. Once approved, turnaround professionals begin to implement the plan, continuously reviewing its progress and making changes to the plan as needed to ensure the company returns to solvency”.
The big difference between a company and an association turnaround is that it is considerably more difficult for association purposes. Why? An association consists of volunteers and unpaid zealots, and usually not necessarily with the right skills or experience. In a commercial enterprise, you have the right to hire and fire. You don't have that in an association, here you have to look for the power of example and that is much more difficult, most people would think. In a company, all paid employees have one self-interest in survival of the company. This is not the case in an association, which means that the resources to ensure survival are very few - people often talk about "Tordenskjold's soldiers".
It is therefore relevant to introduce readers to the background and situation of the four different turn-arounds that have occurred in Shindenkan's now 53-year history (2020), on average every 10-15 years. Otherwise, it can be very difficult to understand the entire development, the challenges, the process and the decisions made along the way. We have talked about that this chapter should perhaps be under the "Gokenin Samurai training", but have omitted this, as it is part of Shindenkan's history and thus in the development and creation of Shindenkan to this day. Clearly, with 53+ years of history, not all of history has been smooth sailing.
After all, Shindenkan reflects the society that we are surrounded by and a part of. We could have “hid the dirty laundry” and portrayed Shindenkan's successes and failures as a true “Marvel heroes and sunshine story”, as many other organizations have chosen to do, but that would be wrong. Wrong in relation to Shindenkan's articles of association, set of values and rule of an open communication policy, which is not destructively inhibiting or destructive within the legislation and competition applicable at any time.
Then if you want to familiarize yourself with the history and learning in Turn-arounds, then you are welcome to this, or you can skip this part. But of course we hope you want to read on. Role-playing games have been popular in recent decades, so you can imagine that you are business executives or samurai generals - but now be careful that it doesn't turn into "Dungeon and Dragons".
Welcome to "The untold" Shindenkan organizational history and development through Turn-arounds!
Shindenkan is one of Denmark's oldest martial arts organizations with more than 53 years of history in Denmark and Europe, and more than 1,000 years of history from Japan. Not many national and international martial arts organizations can boast of that today. With so many years of work as an association organization, society's changing currents, trends and focal points, Shindenkan has also had to keep up with society, as Shindenkan is an active part of national as well as local society.
Shindenkan has lived through 4 major upheavals, which most would call "Turnarounds". The first 2 were more or less involuntary and approached organizational meltdown and self-destruction, while the last 2 have tried to learn from the mistakes of the past and can therefore be called controlled "Turnarounds". The main reason for the 4 "Turnarounds" has also changed with the times. The same goes for the methods and the ferocity. In the old days, it was, squarely speaking, that "you managed things with a healthy handful of people and then you drank beer together afterwards". It is not like that today.
Association life in Denmark has become far more cynical and calculating in the last 10-20 years, disillusioning and boundlessly violent in methodology, planning and self-interests, which can almost follow novels within "Spies and controlled revolutions about power and money". Municipal leisure administrations and various scientific studies can also conclude the same.
Some blame stress, rush, Facebook, Instagram and the impersonal mobile phones and TV for the fact that social life takes place via the internet and that the important social skills and norms are therefore not trained, understood and respected. Others say that it is the continued multicultural society, the lack of role models in world leaders, that the world has become smaller through the internet, airplanes and TV, and that politicians fail in their responsibility by not updating laws and regulations that reflect the society we live in. The balance between the surveillance society and the lives of us quite ordinary people, where more and more people experience bullying and exposure online. In addition, the record increase in cybercrime and now also "Deepfake", which are images and videos that can be artificially created via freely available programs, which make it extremely realistic and increase the misinformation and confusion even more - instead of the opposite.
Former US President Barack Obama warned against this trend in the fall of 2019; "I sometimes get the feeling that especially young people think; The most effective way to change the world is to be as judgmental of others as possible. Then you can sit and tweet or hashtag about what others are doing wrong, so that you yourself can sit back smugly; You! Look how woke I was, I called you out!”. He further says that the "Cancel culture" has nothing to do with positive changes; "If all you do is throw stones, you won't get very far" because it suppresses debate and creates one-track attitudes.
Many international researchers point out that many movements start with a good message and purpose, but if "condemnation activist influencers" take over, any image, life, career or business can be smashed to smithereens in no time - right or wrong?
The giant American fitness chains; Soulcycle and Equinox experienced this when the principal owner as an individual supported Trump – result; Tweeter shitstorm and denunciations by the tens of thousands. In some countries, MeToo has developed to the point that shaming is an effective weapon – right or wrong?
The culture of violation, where one individual can make life sour and judgmental towards the many, as we have seen, for example, in the Danish higher education institutions and in the PC culture, the political correctness, which in some countries has reached fundamentalist conditions. Everyone hates them, but no one dares to say anything, as the consequences can be great and fatal, so the only option for "forgiveness" is to lie down flat and confess one's sins, which gives reminiscence to the religious inquisitions of the Middle Ages. But, this is today's reality, here and now, and we all have to deal with it - right or wrong?
There are many commercial or voluntary and unpaid organizations like Shindenkan that recognize this reality and try to contribute to creating clarity, calmness and profit in a busy everyday life. Shindenkan has understood that responsibility and the new reality in both the sensitive, as well as extremely brutal and ruthless way – a reflection of society's development. But with positive learning, unfortunately, it is often the case that you learn more from the hard, relentless learning than the more gentle one. This is especially true in a democratic organization like the Shindenkan, which also reflects society's differences in political outlook and handling of this, or lack thereof.
In Shindenkan version 5.0, we have learned that regardless of whether we are just "a grain of sand, raindrop or ray of sunshine in the world", we have a duty to do our best to create cohesion, tolerance, acceptance and respect for ourselves and all our current and future members, as it can also spread to their network of people. Thereby we can create unity instead of division, mistrust, ME-ME and other negative and destructive currents, which are often more destructive for everything and everyone than the opposite. No matter how small or large a contribution, we have a human obligation to be the best version of ourselves, both for our own and our children's sake, but also for the sake of other people, regardless of color, religion, age, height and weight , education and social level, etc.
Therefore, it is important to recognize reality as it is, not deny it and be naive. It doesn't bring anything good either, it's important to live in the present. And after all, all studies show that most people's life conclusions when life comes to an end are: Good health and quality of life, that children and grandchildren are doing well, the importance of social networks and prioritizing a deep inner happiness. It is never "Bling-Bling". It is of course nice to have money and status, as it can provide security, but it is rarely the most important thing.
The Corona Covid-19 shutdown of a large part of the world in 2020 has focused on this. Perhaps it will mean a positive change in the future, - individually as a community.
What has Shindenkan's life experience been through more than 4-5 generations of tireless overlapping work effort and democratic leadership, and 4 major Turn-arounds?
The first turn-around was in the period 1974-1978 after SST had gone home to Japan after 7 years in Denmark and the foundation of the single track Gensei-ryu Karate-do in Denmark and Europe. In 1975, there were 11 Gensei-ryu schools in Denmark, and Gensei-ryu, together with the single track Shotokan and Kyokushinkai Karate-do, were the largest karate organizations in Denmark. It was in the wake of Bruce Lee and all the Ninja movies. IN this period there was a split into 3 groups; the original SST traditional Gensei-ryu, the new and very successful sports Gensei-ryu, and the more or less independent Gensei-ryu schools "in between". However, the split was still such that all schools and directions in the organization "Shindenkan version 1.0" could still meet and train together every one to two years at training camps under the leadership of SST.
Shindenkan version 3.0 – the second turn-around was in the period 1986-1990, and was more violent, but still with moral boundaries. Here we can tell more than the first turn-around, as we ourselves were involved in the last phase from 1988-1990. The first phase led to a total split of SST's organization in Denmark and practically all SST's top people and the team below stopped. SST's organization was totally running on the pumps. There was actually only the still successful Gensei-ryu sports organization and one traditional Gensei-ryu school left, and then a few independent Gensei-ryu schools in West Zealand that had no contact with SST. Everyone fought everyone and the Gensei-ryu environment was definitely not healthy. There were many shattered illusions and hurt feelings and egos. SST's entire organization was in total ruins and SST had had to say goodbye to virtually all the Gensei-ryu people he had trained in the period 1967-1990. But who were they and what was the training environment like during that period and how could it go so wrong?
In 1988, two future leading Shindenkaners were invited to club training together with one of the period's former Gensei-ryu chief instructors and top leader along with some of his Gensei-ryu top black belts. The training took place on a lawn for 3-4 hours. It was a great training for the two young Gensei-ryu black belts, who did quite well in the company. They had not expected what happened afterwards. Right after training, still sitting in karate girs, a box of Tuborg came on the table and the first beer was opened, which obviously served as lunch. At the second beer, which was opened less than 5 minutes after the first, it was discussed who should pick up the next case of beer and which pub to spend Saturday evening at. The two young black belts asked if this happened every Saturday and got the answer that it did, but on weekdays the tradition had been a few beers, which sometimes ended up being a "Saturday night".
In the 60s and 70s, Denmark became known for a "drunk culture", which did not exist before this time. Denmark also became known for the legalization of porn and all in all it was a rather unusual time not only in Denmark, but in the rest of the world with "Woodstock, hashish, drugs, free sex, etc.". It continued into the 80s, and still today it has an influence on Denmark's health and life expectancy when the EU lists are published. It has become a Danish Viking cultural tradition, which therefore only originates from the 60s and 70s. We have been told by other Shindenkaners that that culture was also in the Gensei sports organization, but the same culture was also within organizations of other systems, so it was not particularly special with us. Such WAS the culture of alcohol and fun at all sports organisations. Strangely enough, Denmark was in the top-10 and top-4 in the world during that period, so I wonder if there was more than beer in those bottles. We have heard about this, but have not been able to verify it.
A leading Gensei-ryu black belt from the period said "That karate was not intellectual, but was as simple as digging holes in the ground". We know from SST that during the period he sporadically tried to introduce multi-track martial arts, but that this was not well received by the single-track Gensei-ryu Karate-do organization. We also know from the period that many disagreements were resolved with the fists and threats that rarely came to fruition, apart from a public challenge with the Kyokushinkai's leader by the Gensei-ryu's leader, which hit all Denmark's newspapers. Which also didn't come to anything. "It was real men with Ray-bans challenging other real men with Ray-bans, while their young beautiful trophy wives looked on admiringly and gave good advice from the sidelines," as one Gensei-ryu black belt of the era said with a big smile on his face. And yes, this was also the case in many other martial arts systems during that time period.
Turn-around 3 took place quietly. Here it was more a struggle for survival or existence for survival than it was a struggle for division or a struggle for power, honor and money. There was a significant change in the period 1988-1990, when the single-track Gensei-ryu Karate-do from the early 1950s was largely replaced by the 1,000-year-old samurai system, the multi-track Yakami Shinsei-Ryu Karate-do primary system Shindenkan in trainer day. This meant a significant increase in the level of interdisciplinary competence, which made significantly different demands on the members, and the membership quite naturally changed markedly from a 1967-1990 regional single-track generation to an international multi-track generation.
It was now normal to drink water or energy drinks after training and only party through on special annual occasions, and here a few beers were often enough, as everyone was top-trained elite athletes who trained 15-25 hours per week at absolute international top level. The international top level is emphasized by the fact that the level of competence was not known before, that new Yakami Shinsei-Ryu brown belts easily beat the newly crowned top-3 World Championship medalists from the World Championship in 1994 in Japan. 1-3. dan black belts from single track martial arts systems, also stated that in terms of degree we corresponded in terms of competence to a typical 1st dan single track when our members were 5th kyu. And a 1st dan from us typically corresponded to a 5th dan single track. Today, this ratio is under 1st dan, typically reduced from 1:5 to 1:3-4, following the new motto from the year 2000; "Space for everyone, the Elite as the exerciser, - according to effort and attitude". This was and is also why Shindenkan brown and black belts are always so sought after by single-track martial arts systems, which beckon with typically 4-8 degrees higher and often a performance pay scale. This is in direct contrast to Shindenkan, where everything is voluntary and unpaid for the benefit of the local community and members.
It is clear that when you train as hard or harder than the Team Danmark national team athletes of the time, it quickly developed to be only for the "Elite as the elite". Nothing was ever swept under the carpet regarding the effort requirements, but on average only 5 % of the new members were still training after ½-1 year and less than 1 % after 2-3 years. It was tough, but the camaraderie was close and most had most of their friends in Shindenkan. It was virtually impossible to predict in advance who would make it and who wouldn't. National team fighters and elite athletes from various sports rarely coped with the long tough move, which made both physical, psychological and mental demands - all the time. Most of the time it was quite ordinary that managed the cuts, but the difference was that they did not give up and had an attitude and will that the other 95-99 % did not have or had yet. Some returned and made it on the second try.
The approx. 45 members in the year 2000, were characterized as super unique specialists in their own right, both nationally and internationally. Some could cooperate well, but usually only for a shorter period of time or limited projects. It was the domain of the ultimate alpha males, but also a few alpha females. On further rationalization, they were perhaps not so different from the previous generations, as they were all super-specialists. The significant difference was that they did not have the same extremely unhealthy relationship with alcohol, food, drink and regional "tribal views", but were very internationally multi-tracked and well-educated in their thinking and attitude, and of course also had a HUGE ego drive.
22 multi-track black belts decided in the year 2000 for a significant change of course under the motto "Space for everyone, the Elite as the exerciser", - simply to survive. It was a huge success and laid the foundation for Shindenkan's explosive growth of more than 3,000 %s in the decades to come. The problem was simply that 80 % of the black belt leaders during the following 1-5 years all quit, and only 20 % of the original "One for all, all for one" leaders of the Shindenkan in the year 2000, had the will, the attitude and the heart to cope with the transition from super specialist to management generalist. It's a completely different ballpark, where you have to take other people into account, and not just take care of yourself all the time, which is always the easiest and easiest thing to do. A super specialist is always good at giving good advice, but is usually over all mountains when the work has to be done over a long period of time, or is only there for a short time. In addition, association life is not always as grateful for the voluntary and unpaid work, as some members can behave very badly and totally self-absorbed towards the few voluntary and unpaid association forces, as if they were only put into the world to service them and fulfill all their whims !
The period from the year 2000 was precisely a marked change in many members' attitudes, or lack thereof. The same thing also happened around the world. It went from us to me, me, me! From responsibility for one's own life to curling. Through globalisation, the world became smaller with the rise of the internet, individualisation, changed family patterns and gender roles as a result. People became less oriented towards the group and the community and more focused on their own needs, which means that people lose some of the most important resources found in supporting each other. It is called a public disease, and people talk about a stress epidemic. Modern society is a stressed society. We hear this again and again, and the national surveys in the area also tell us that around one in four Danes suffer from stress. An ailing community and a greater focus on our own needs are decisive for modern society's stress epidemic.
As a well-known writer wrote; "Speed, volatility and fluid identity characterize late modern society. The late modern individual must be ready to adapt in a world where you can no longer expect lifelong love and steady work. But we also constantly break up ourselves in search of happiness – we reconsider ourselves and our choices in search of realizing our authentic self. In other words, making choices is a condition in late modern life, where the individual's own self-realization has almost become a new religion. We spin the narrative of ourselves on blogs, with Instagram photos and Facebook updates, and shape our bodies in the gym. Communities and values are something we choose and replace, as we constantly reinvent ourselves – an instability and volatility that can seem liberating, but which for some can also seem like a painful responsibility”.
It became commonplace in all the local schools that parents expected us volunteers and unpaid association leaders to take over the education of their children, as they were unable to do this themselves or even did not prioritize this at all. In voluntary and unpaid association work, you experience both the front and the back of the coin - it can be hard, very hard. The change in culture meant that all association leaders today also function as a kind of "Reserve Father and Reserve Mother" for a great many of their members. It is especially for children and young people who experience a failure of care and love from their parents or divorced parents. This social task has been increasing strongly since the year 2000 and explosively in the 2010 decade, and all association leaders who are elected at the democratic general meetings must also accept this task, and must not expect gratitude from parents for that reason, often the opposite!
It is far from all association leaders who are dressed humanly for this task, and since it is often thankless, there are many who become disillusioned and quit. The tone and demands from parents, curling children and curling adults have also reached high peaks. Sit down and think about the worst and most unreasonable demands and then know that this is normal in Danish association life today! If you want to be an association today, you must recognize this reality.
Shindenkan has that and that is why Shindenkan also equips its instructors and association leaders through constantly updated instructor and management courses based on real and often current events and situations. There are many business leaders who say that Shindenkan's Competence & Development Center (SCDC) competence courses are significantly more directly applicable than many of the competence courses they have attended from internationally renowned institutions such as INSEAD, IMD, Harvard, etc. And then They are much cheaper! Shindenkan now experienced what it meant to be an internationally successful "First Mover and Role Model"
In the period 1995-2005, we experienced for the first time that instructors from other martial arts systems had joined the Shindenkan to acquire multi-track skills in the 1,000-year-old multi-track system Yakami Shinsei-ryu with the aim of later selling these unique skills in for commercial purposes and for personal gain. Unique competences which, moreover, they themselves had not paid for in whole or in part, as their local association had made this investment to develop the association and all its members. The template was created here for how they were to utilize the Shindenkan. That was the flip side of the coin and the big cultural shift in society;
Make sure you apply and become a local instructor, so that you can obtain as many subsidies as possible for training courses, so that you do not have to pay yourself. When you are around your 1st dan black belt, plan your exit as follows. Complain on behalf of your members that the multi-track competences in the 1,000-year-old system are far too expensive and at too high a level of competence, and make sure that as few of your own members as possible register for these. It is about optimizing your own earnings afterwards, and here you have to sell the Shindenkan skills to your own members. Those who are advanced and can tell the difference between good and bad skills, you make a deal with - you buy them!.
Since you've made your own local martial arts system and graduated yourself or got your local board to do it, you've suddenly gone from excluded 1st dan, Yakami Shinsei-Ryu to local grandmaster of 7-8. dan with his own invented solar radiation story. During the secession process, you have negotiated with the various key players who can have an impact on the construction of your new super commercial martial arts system. Often these are graded 5th kyu to 3rd kyu in Yakami Shinsei-ryu. You offer them to become 1st dan, 2nd dan or 3rd dan black belts in your new martial arts system, so that on the surface they legitimize your new martial arts system to new unsuspecting members. To further motivate them, they are paid according to an official performance pay scale and unofficial "cigar box". That way they make money and you make even more money!
In 2004, we saw this happen for the first time. One local school opted out of Shindenkan, following the above prescription. In their 8 years in Shindenkan, they had gone from less than 10 students to more than 70 students, and in terms of competence from 6th kyu to 1st dan, Yakami Shinsei-ryu, and had received a lot of help in this from Shindenkan. The Shindenkan and many of the senior members had been grossly exploited and used in their gullibility and belief in other people's best interests and intentions. The local school suddenly withdrew after a local extraordinary general meeting in the name of democracy and the association law and after a short time, the quota was raised 2-3 times higher than when they were members of Shindenkan and the association was transformed into a top-tuned commercial one. But, in fact, the resignation took place quietly and relatively undramatically, with some moral boundaries after all. That changed later.
The Shindenkan could do nothing, as it were, but only had to state that we had been grossly exploited and had to learn from this. The world had changed. But it is often the case that you learn the most from your failures, and Shindenkan did that too. We analyzed the process, methodologies, words and actions, so that we could recognize such a process with timely care. Fortunately, more than a decade passed before we experienced something similar, and only from the same region. The same region as in the 2014-2015 investigation and control found serious problems with systemic and organizational fulfillment of the curriculum manual applicable to all, and Shindenkan's statutes, guidelines and general meeting decisions
Turn-around 4 is by far the most important of its kind in 53+ years. It determined Shindenkan's future and survival in the short and long term, and whether the competence level should continue to be at the absolute highest recognized international level, or be drastically lowered to the national Danish or even lower competence level; municipal or local village. Therefore, this turn-around is most current and described more precisely with the latest knowledge for learning and understanding.
In terms of competence, it went super well in the period when Shindenkan's supreme grandmaster; Yamana-Itotani Sensei in the years 2000 and 2005 in Japan was graduated respectively. Gokui Menkyo Kaiden and INKA, – Great Grandmaster of Budo and Bujutsu. This resulted in Chinese and Japanese masters and grandmasters of grades 5-8 in particular. dan and higher, applied to come on a training stay in Denmark under Yamana-Itotani Sensei from the year 2000 onwards. It had never happened before. The international martial arts competence increase was suddenly turned on its head. Yamana-Itotani Sensei politely said no thanks as the business work also had to be taken care of. Only a few interns in Jokokan International got an acceptance with a 1-3 week training stay. Yamana-Itotani Sensei agreed to teach continuously in Japan and ad hoc China instead. However, the invitations quickly exceeded what Yamana-Itotani Sensei had time for, so it became a very hard priority and a slowdown in the international teaching.
On March 31, 2018, SST – Soke Sensei Tonegawa, the 34th Soke Great Grandmaster – Supreme Grandmaster of Yashin Mon. Yakami no Taijutsu – Retired from all top organizational positions after 30 years as head of Jokokan (1988-2018) and Bujutsu Kodosokukai (BKK 2007-2018). It was all as planned when he turned 80. Jokokan continued and the entry level was now once again the high grade, Menkyo, Master of all the Martial Arts (7-8th dan). The original three co-founders (pillars) of Jokokan and BKK, who are all graduated Bujutsu and Budo grandmasters in Japan by SST and the grandmaster council, were now again the only direct members of SST's old grandmaster student circle. There are now only two of the original "pillars" left, as the Japanese Nishiwake H. Sensei passed away on 20 April 2019. The three "pillars" were appointed in 1992 as SST's top representatives in resp. Japan/Far East, USA/South Africa and Europe/Denmark. And Yamana-Itotani Sensei (YIS) received an unlimited and irrevocable, Sodenke Sensei Worldwide license from SST on March 31, 2018.
Since 1988, Shindenkan has been based in Europe and Scandinavia, including Denmark, but via Yamana-Itotani Sensei's teachings in Japan, China and other countries, has also been ad hoc in other parts of the world. And that is how YIS expects it to continue to be. SST now enjoys his retirement and geeks out in his own "Budo and Bujutsu laboratory" and still trains every day.
In season 2011/2012 we rounded the magic number of 1,000 members for the first time, and from season 2013-2014 we were well on our way to a total of 1,400 registered members, and it only went one way and that was up! 250 for the joint events and as many outside, which meant three annual joint events with up to 500 participants each time, 15-20 instructors on the floor and as many outside, who were busy keeping track of people, so that the event could be run smoothly peace and order.
The international POMW project (Project Old Modern Warrior - see international projects) had resonated at home and had been more than noticed internationally and had resulted in the creation of SDKSkyt - a shooting association and 5 trained IPSC shooters, which is shooting's answer to Formula 1. Another spectacular international project was launched; SHIELD KISS, under here KataFit WWW (see international projects) and it had already caused a stir in "Andedammen" from the first project year, so a major communication change was forced.
On the surface, Shindenkan was a huge role model for other associations and organisations, and a resounding success in Danish and international association life. Shindenkan was contacted by other association organizations about the "recipe" and not an eye was dry. But the reality was not like that at all. Yes, on the surface, but not internally in the Shindenkan.
System-wise, an investigation in the 2014-2015 season showed that 30 % of the members, including instructors, chief instructors and members of the Executive Committee and the federal board, did not maintain their multi-track course subject competencies at all. 40% maintained roughly and only 30 % maintained to the General Assembly decided minimum competency level according to the Shindenkan curriculum manual which was and is applicable to all. This meant that only 30 % of the members above 6th kyu definitely met all graduation conditions in the curriculum handbook and this number probably maximum in the entire Shindenkan organization was about 50 %.
Another angle was that 30 % of the local boards and instructor teams had constantly and deliberately lied and misled their members and general assembly decisions, but this also applied at the national standardization and management level. Their "Faith & Love and date progression" was fabricated and a big lie, it was fraud and undermining of the system and the entire Shindenkan. However, this was only limited to one region, but it is estimated that in another region half of the members would not be able to pass a graduation to the 5th kyu, the multi-track Yakami Shinsei-ryu.
Organizationally, an investigation in the 2014-2015 season showed that 30 % of the member schools did not live up to the new laws and Shindenkan's statutes regarding transparency and traceability in the financial transactions and accounts. However, this was only limited to one region.
Shindenkan's national statutes and guidelines are significantly tougher than all municipal guidelines and regulations in the area. There must be order in the documentation. It was decided by the national general assembly and the locals that the old "cigar boxes" with cash should be minimized or completely removed using Mobilepay, Swift. It went well and without any problems in all regions with the exception of one. The same region that was also problematic in the systemic investigation. But in the spirit of Shindenkan's community, this region got help after they requested it.
They received both systemic and organizational assistance and help. One local association received management assistance decided by the general meeting, for separation between two different associations, thus each association had their own separate finances and right of self-determination according to the Associations Act. For 23 years the local leaders had said that this was an impossible task, but the task was completed after 3-4 months to the great surprise of all other member associations of Shindenkan. It could have been completed sooner, but some in the local leadership opposed the process, despite the decision of the general assembly.
To everyone's surprise, it turned out that the now independent local Shindenkan association had for many years been responsible for 80 % of members and 80 % of the economy, but only got financial leeway over the 20 %. Such continued disclosure upon disclosure, but also growing opposition from some of the local management members, often contrary to bylaws, guidelines and general meeting decisions. The negative impact on the region's members with misleading information without any basis in reality grew and grew.
At the same time as these negative leadership forces collected large or full local subsidies for all their own multi-track educational activities, they spread false rumors and advice that their students or the local association should not invest in their multi-track educational activities according to the official curriculum manual applicable to everyone in Shindenkan, and the basis for all of Shindenkan's purpose existence, statutes and guidelines. There was a very good reason for that, as you have probably guessed.
The local and national general assemblies from 2015-2018 discussed the solutions that could solve the challenges of an organization of more than 1,400 members, which was not fully geared and structured for such a violent continuous growth period of more than 3,000 %, since the Turn-around 3 in 2000-2004. According to the statutes, Shindenkan was still based on "Declarations of Faith and Love" and a perhaps somewhat naive and idealistic trust in each other, which did not really reflect Shindenkan's size and the development of society.
The democratic sports organization Shindenkan had changed significantly from the main focus on systemic competences at international super-elite level, towards a political organization, local special interests including "prima donna and the local heroes and heroines" and lots of dirty politics! Outwardly, Shindenkan was an associational role model and superstar, but inwardly, Shindenkan could quickly develop into a "Colossus on clay feet", with at least two main factions, which were opposite in both attitudes, objectives and the basic statutes and guidelines of Shindenkan.
30 % of the faction came from one region. They wanted a commercialization with paid instructors, the establishment of their own local commercial martial arts systems with local city kids as heroes and heroines, as self-graded grandmasters, champions and black belts in fanciful suits and belts. They still wanted legitimization and membership of the Shindenkan and Yamana-Itotani Sensei, but on the other hand, would not respect national general assembly decisions, statutes, guidelines, etc. They wanted to please themselves and gladly at the expense of others.
70 % of the faction came from all the other regions. They wanted to live by the statutes, guidelines and purposes Shindenkan was established on in 1967 and everyone is equal before the law, rules are the same for everyone. They wanted the community and we were all in the same boat. It was the opposite of the 30 % fraction.
The national and local general assemblies adopted the following proposed solutions to the systemic and organizational problems that the 2014-2015 investigations had shown;
NKF, OBC and NKT all exposed the bluff and showed the reality as it was in the period 2015-2018. Since knowledge is power, NKF, OBC and NKT also transferred standardized knowledge within both system competences such as organizational relations and development from the national level to the local level, which made it more difficult for the 30 % of the local instructor team leaders to control the information and communication flow. Something they, to our great surprise, fought with constant misinformation the other way and over time they called for a boycott of the measures supported by their own local general assembly and democratically elected boards.
In the 2017-2018 season, the "revolution" culminated, which, unlike other Turn-arounds, was now morally unlimited in methods. The whole process was totally unreal and can best be described as an undemocratic spy and revolution novel, without moral and democratic boundaries. It was still only limited to one region. All other regions shook their heads and had to pinch themselves as to whether this was real! "When you point to learning, more fingers are pointed at yourself", so of course we searched ourselves to find out if this "Bloody revolution without moral boundaries" could have been avoided.
In Denmark and the EU there is democracy. In Denmark, all associations are governed by the Associations Act. Everyone is equal before the law and this also means that statutes and rules apply to everyone in a democratic association, where the general meeting is the highest decision-making body. In Denmark, there is a tradition that you take your good clothes and leave if you do not agree with the democratic decisions a general meeting takes. These are the rules of democracy. The problem then arises if there is someone who suffers defeat in a vote and does not want to recognize the result, but on the contrary first secretly and then openly undermines the association's statutes and the resolutions of the general meeting with the aim of taking over the association with all means and power, including premises, cash register and municipal association seniority. Instead of doing all the hard work yourself.
Fortunately, it failed and democracy prevailed, and what should have been a peaceful democratic turn-around instead became a forced separation and clean-up process, which is never very pretty and confidence-building. However, this was only limited to one region, as historically it always has been.
However, there is a very positive development taking place in line with larger cities and business enterprises, the greater international outlook and understanding, the better understanding and information about the difference in competence levels from international level to local ”1. dan grandmaster systems”. It therefore becomes more difficult to mislead people, but also easier to make decisions on an informed, fact-based basis. It is a free world we live in and people in a democracy have a free choice.
Since 2004, the region has accounted for approx. 90 % of all issues AND derived consumption of national leadership resources in Shindenkan, and ranging from 10-30 % of members in Shindenkan. The status today after Turn-around 4 is that the region largely functions and behaves like all the other regions in Shindenkan. In 2019, the number of members in the region doubled, with a completely different positive, uncomplicated and constructive atmosphere, and many old members have come back precisely because of this. It has all the signs of developing into a true sunshine story, and if it does this, we must state that the whole process was necessary and was "good luck in bad luck" - even if it didn't feel that way during the process.
Most people reading this will have the question, who were these people, what was their motive and agenda, etc.? It is quite easy to answer as we have performed this analysis to learn from it. The template largely follows what was described in 2004. It was just very violent, without moral scruples and normal limits.
What was the common mass of these people? It is also easy to answer, as we have known them very well for many years, from 3-5 years up to 20+ years. The common crowd has most often been an untreated problematic childhood. Most of them have failed graduation tests and have tried to keep this hidden. Most people have always had or have had problems with physical stopping tests, even the simplest ones that just require fairly regular practice. Most people give up when it gets too hard or suffer defeat and feel like a victim. They have problems keeping to agreements, have many excuses when they "jump over where the fence is lowest" and have no problems speaking blatantly untruths.
Many are very "bling, bling, money and status" fixated, and dream of being the local "Karate king with court", but do not want to go through all the hard work and acquire the skills to do so. Many create a universe where they are king or queen and always the hero and heroine of their own movie, where they manage the competence bar with them at the top. But perhaps it also belongs to the time?
And then the most surprising; approx. 1/3 have been in RKI for many years, we subsequently found out, when they ran from their unpaid bills, which the members subsequently had to pay. Some are characterized by the RKI as professional fraudsters, others have been financially disabled for a long time due to several bad dispositions, and others are just totally indifferent. It is very difficult to guard against 100 % when you are an association based on trust, voluntary and unpaid work for the benefit of the members and the local community. But we can set up support and control structures that reduce the risk. We have done that in Turn-around 4 for Shindenkan version 5.0.
You can never become immune or guard against behavior without stopping blocks. Even the best bodyguards cannot always prevent suicide bombers in their attempts, but they can, through information and continuous training, minimize this risk, and we do this through management seminars, instructor courses, board work and an open communication policy.
What had we never experienced before during Turn-around 4? It is very strange that the police had to be called so that the annual democratic general assembly in a member school in the region could be held, and that the police, after questioning, chose to stand guard for 45 minutes so that the local general assembly could be carried out.
It was also the first time in the 53 year history that a chief instructor and former chief instructor, who was now a local team of instructors from the region, were dumped by their course colleagues during a full day course.
And it was also the first time that one new participant on the black belt team, neither in terms of attitude nor competence, could meet the absolute minimum requirements of the national black belt team, despite massive help from the entire team, and therefore dropped out and had to resign from the team after half a year. There is a big difference between being the best local performer and being the absolute worst on a national level, but this is the first ever who has not been able to manage this ego-wise.
It is also the first time ever that a normal municipal audit via an audit firm of the region's member schools gave a plausible explanation as to why it became so violent and why so much was tried to be hidden by the local instructor teams, also from the democratically elected board. All associations are based on trust, but it can also be an Achilles heel for those who do not think it is particularly relevant.
All member schools' current accounts under the new instructor and board management were also declared exemplary, transparent, electronically traceable and right by the book, like all other Shindenkan member schools.
The two support and control structures introduced out of necessity gave the local management teams 1-2 years to get things in order. The 70 % of the member associations chose it, but 30 % from one region were problematic. Especially when their directorial teams chose to mislead their own board, a board of which they themselves were often a part. It wasn't pretty, a turn-around is rare, but democracy prevailed in the end.
SamuraiViking officers – As the general and military strategist Sun Tsu said; "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight, and Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
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