‘For me, sport has always been about more than just getting some exercise’

The sport-wide campaign Onze Club Is Voor Iedereen (Our Club Is For Everyone) draws attention to diversity and inclusion. These may be somewhat fashionable terms, but the point is simply that everyone is welcome. Martial arts have traditionally been very colourful, including in terms of the backgrounds of the participants. Even so, there are still opportunities to help new groups over the threshold. In this series we highlight a number of gyms that may inspire others to appeal to a broader public as well.

When Hanieh Kamran started the gym Tabonon , she had a clear idea of what kind of gym it had to be. Naturally she wanted to deliver quality with professionals, but for her success would also stand or fall with the culture. “At Tabonon, everyone must be able to be themselves and be treated as an equal,” Hanieh explains. “It has to do with my personal values and with my character. Only when everyone can feel at home here do I feel at home myself.”

Core values
“If you want to develop an inclusive culture, everything starts with the people you work with. We aim for everyone to convey the same core values. In our internal training we explain what we stand for and how we do things here. It starts with always greeting new customers with a handshake, putting a cup of coffee or tea into their hands, and standing in front of the counter rather than behind it. Close to people, no barrier between us. You are not simply walking into a business, you are being welcomed into our community. That is also where building a relationship of trust begins. That is particularly important for people who may still be wondering whether a martial arts gym is a pleasant place for them.”

Psychomotor therapy
Tabonon now has five locations, 1,800 members and 80 staff. A hundred group classes are given every week, including kickboxing, MMA, BJJ, strength training and yoga. Alongside these regular classes, the gym in Zwolle also offers kickboxing combined with psychomotor therapy (psychomotorische therapie, PMT) . This involves consciously working on self-control, on recognising and respecting the boundaries of others and your own, and on many other social and emotional aspects. PMT gives you more insight into patterns of behaviour and thought, into listening to yourself and to others, and into adjusting your own behaviour. “For me, sport has always been about more than just getting some exercise,” says Hanieh. “There is also the aspect of personal growth. With PMT, people can work on themselves even more consciously, for example if their behaviour has been getting in the way of themselves or others.”

In Zwolle, the PMT is provided by therapists who have graduated in psychomotor therapy at the CALO (an academy for physical education) or at another PMT programme. “You can want your gym to be inclusive, but you do have to make an effort to make that a reality. Saying it is not enough. With this specific offering we bring in people who, for whatever reason, need a more personal approach, with guidance that goes beyond the purely athletic side.”

“If, as a gym owner, you only want to be involved with sport, then by all means keep doing that. That is of course already of great value to the individual customer and to society. But if you find it interesting to look at how you can use sport for other purposes, then I would warmly recommend looking further into PMT. The participants experience that it helps them, and it gives us satisfaction to see that our work really makes a difference in the lives of people who would otherwise probably have walked straight past the gym.”

Earlier in this series:

‘It has made me the richest trainer in the world’
‘Girls Only is not a hype but a necessity’
Our martial arts gym is for everyone
No Limits Gym: ‘Inclusion should be self-evident’
Jorina Baars: ‘Working with this group challenges me too’