Christmas, Sunday Mass, nothing wrong with that!

Today I read Jerry's message that the limit of 100 people has been reached regarding the New Year's dive. Personally, I did not expect this turnout and am a bit skeptical whether everyone will actually show up on New Year's Day for a dip in the cold water. In any case, all the ingredients for a real happening are there. Mark van de Toorn, our temporary cleaner, posted a message on Facebook that he is arranging the smoked sausages. Now arranging smoked sausages is not that difficult, but paying for those 100 sausages is another matter. Curious about his reaction! In my mind's eye I see it all, more than 100 people lined up in one row and then running past my camera into the cold water. That day I was assisted by René Taling, who used a second camera to get a good picture.

Ruth Krooshof
This week there is a piece in the Gooi and Eemlander about Ruth Krooshof. A woman I got to know in our Dojo and especially in the gym. In a candid interview this 32-year-old topper, in daily life a sign language interpreter, tells about her battle against obesity, her great running achievements and the nasty remarks she regularly gets thrown at her head while running. Over 3 years ago she began her battle against the many pounds that were getting in Ruth's way. Ruth has been a passionate follower of my blog from the very beginning and when the Fisherman Friends Run at Hellendoorn was coming up and she was one of the first to sign up she told me that she had a Facebook page herself called FitFatFine. Included in that is a blog of hers that contains all kinds of stories about her fight against obesity, among other things. The reason why I mention this in my blog is that I have great admiration for her and her perseverance and the fact that it is just a girl who makes no bones about her heart given the article in the newspaper. Ruth continue on this path and I know, it is sometimes to those comments, but try to ignore them.

Rise of an Empire
Next year, which is almost here, I will start a column on the origins and existence of Dojo Burning Heart in my weekly blog. The intention is to write a piece each time from the very beginning to the present. I have recently started to give a glimpse into the ins and outs of Burning Heart in a hopefully interesting way. At the moment I have finished taking stock of all kinds of events such as, among others, the growth from a single room to what it is now, celebrities who have given seminars at our Dojo, departures and arrivals of trainers, which by the way is not that bad, and other peculiar occurrences in my eyes. It is my intention to integrate this section into my existing blog which, by the way, is approaching its 50th edition. And if I may believe our webmaster, the blog still has a good number of readers, which fills me with great joy.
Here is a piece with which I start this section.

CHAPTER 1 ( THE GENESIS )

It was around noon in the month of September in the year 2008 and was sitting with the Crew of Otopoets at lunch. From the spot at our dining table I had a view of the outside door which I saw open at some point. Standing in the doorway were 2 men who looked unfamiliar to me, now at Otopoets it was like the sweet spot so Jerry, who was sitting across from me signaled and called out, visitors for you. Jerry got up and looked down where the 2 men were still standing in the doorway. Boys come upstairs he called, here is my office where we can talk quietly. The men came up the stairs and, taking his lunch with them, Jerry led the boys, still unknown to me, to his office. A moment later the door opened and Jerry asked me to get 2 coffees for his visit. I mumbled something like, "boy do you have polio, you can do that yourself," but either he didn't hear me or he was pretending.
Didn't want to put him on the spot so a little later I put the coffee on the table.
The conversation lasted about an hour and a little later Jerry came down the stairs with the 2 guys and escorted them to the door. When the boys had gone out the door he asked if I would go with him to the office because he had something important to tell me. I thought to myself why doesn't he ask Marco to come with him but it turned out that he already knew about his plan.
Upstairs we sat down opposite each other and got curious I said, fire away with your important news.
Dad, I have conceived the plan to start a real gym and I would like those two boys to be my teachers.
So far, the rest can be read in the new year.