Richard Veerman

November 25, 2016
Noa de Jong
Gym|Kickboxing|News, News

Next Sunday the kickboxing gala "A Night 2 Remember" will take place at the Dudok Arena in Hilversum. Several fighters from our gym will compete there, both youth and veteran. Samantha van Doorn and Fred Sikking, who regularly gives private lessons at Burning Heart, will also be present. Besides these individuals, Benaissa Haddaouie, who is a member of our Dojo, will also fight a match. From this side I wish our athletes a brilliant match and the visitors of this spectacular gala indeed a day not soon to forget.

Richard Veerman
This week Richard Veerman, the man who ended up in a wheelchair due to a fatal accident, picked up his passion again and started kickboxing together with Noëll Twight. Before his accident, kickboxing was already the sport he could indulge in, and being the go-getter he is, he picked it up again to train his still-functioning limbs on a regular basis. It takes some getting used to seeing someone in a wheelchair at work on the mat or practicing against a bag. Some time ago Richard and Roel Westdorp came to the Dojo to talk to Jerry about the idea of doing something for people with disabilities at our location. Jerry was immediately positive about it and the result is visible from now on. I made a video with my Iphone and within 1 day this video has been viewed over 2000 times. The reactions to it were all nice and admiring towards Richard. It is our intention to get more people with disabilities to sport at our Dojo, the trainer Noëll Twight will not lie because he is the perfect person to lead these lessons.

New pads
A note in between, this week the budoshop delivered 38 new kick cushions to the Dojo, some of the old ones went to Ladies Only and the rest are in the Crossfight area. They are beautiful cushions with our own logo on it.

New section
Had mentioned in my previous blog that sometimes little uplifting happens at our Dojo. A week flies by and not every week something happens to mention in my blog despite the fact that on average about 270 people a day, not counting the non-scanners, visit our Dojo. Therefore, don't want to keep repeating myself because then the interest in my blog decreases. For some time now I have had the idea in my head to add a regular column. This column, or whatever you want to call it, seems like an enrichment of my weekly writing. I have been around since the inception of Burning Heart and have experienced all the ins and outs from the beginning. For example, in my mind's eye I see Noëll Twight and Sascha Mezieris walking into Otopoets at the end of a morning to talk about a new gym. Thought then what kind of characters are they.
Jerry sometimes trained in Maartensdijk and wanted to start his own gym in Hilversum he told me when those two guys had left. My mouth dropped open with surprise when I heard that and I actually had to gasp for breath. I remember my reaction well, man...man where do you start in this time of crisis. How wrong I was is clear from what he has achieved today.
So many remarkable things have happened from the founding of Burning Heart to today that I could write a book about it. Anyway, I'm going to do that through my weekly blog so I won't run out of stories etc. for the first time. So look forward to the year 2008 when everything began in my new column.

Until the next blog.
Dick

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