Within the blink of an eye we are into March already having had an incredible start to 2022. The New Year has seen new additions to our club’s equipment, staff and students.
Firstly one of the most fun and exciting additions to the club has been our 20/20 Armour vests. These allow our students to use 10 different game settings to play a series of one and two player games to improve their striking power, speed, stamina and overall sparring ability! We currently have 3 vests in the club with some headguards arriving soon to use in conjunction with the vests for some real life ‘Street Fighter’ style battles between students.
We have also had the pleasure of welcoming a brand new member of staff onto our growing team! Sensei Carole Strachan is a 2nd Dan Blackbelt and has already become a firm favourite across all the classes she teaches. Here at Nemesis we have a policy of promoting from within to give our students the opportunity to have a career doing what they love and get paid for doing it. However, when we find someone from outside the club who matches our ethos then we are always happy to have them if they can compliment our team and help the club grow. Luckily for us Carole shares our passion for martial arts and our desire to give as many people the opportunity to experience kickboxing whilst passing on our knowledge to the next generation of martial artists.
The last big welcome goes to all the new students who have joined Nemesis over the past couple of months. This first few months is an exciting time for new starts as they learn new techniques and have to opportunity to start doing belt gradings.
Our first grading of the year is coming up soon on the weekend of the 19th of March! For our existing students, they will be aware that belt gradings are a fantastic motivation to track your progress towards the ultimate goal of Black Belt. However, the belts themselves are not a true measure of a martial artist (not all white belts are created equal), and after the first few belts have been attained it is the responsibility of the individual to make sure they are training consistently, even if progress is not visible nobody is getting better if they skip class!
With that in mind it will be with great pleasure that we host our first ever Black Belt Test here at Nemesis Inverurie. Our two candidates, Marley and Aiden, have shown exceptional dedication, consistency, resilience and fortitude to get to this stage. With every student that quits kickboxing it makes their achievements even more special as these guys prove that most people are not willing to put in the time and sacrifices required to achieve something as special as a Black Belt. This will be something that they will be able to enjoy for the rest of their lives, not just getting a black belt, but BECOMING a Black Belt. I am incredibly proud of them both and can’t wait for Test day!
-Sensei Eric.