Students in the ring: more than just a scrap

There are plenty of preconceptions about students and about kickboxers, and sometimes they hold them about each other too. Yet they are coming together more and more often, and when they do, something rather special can emerge, according to Duco Vermeulen of THENEXTGEN – Student Boxing.

Before you can fight a real bout as an athlete, you have a serious road ahead of you. You train with discipline at the gym, even when it rains, even when you are not having a good day. You spend months working on your conditioning and strength. You learn the techniques of the sport and you learn to read your opponent. And at least as important as all of the above: you have to be prepared mentally. Overcoming your fear, pushing your limits, jumping in at the deep end. That awareness is why people sometimes react with a smirk when students step into the ring. Do they think they can just tick off a bucket list item? No doubt that happens occasionally, but not with the students who complete the THENEXTGEN programme. A months-long training programme set up in cooperation with well-established gyms. Only if you are genuinely ready for it can you shine as a boxer or kickboxer at a gala. But then you also get the experience of a lifetime.

Duco Vermeulen, 29, stood in the ring himself in 2018. He had completed the programme and experienced first-hand what a good training camp and a real bout can bring you as a person. ‘It was a unique experience in which I developed enormously. If you want to reach that ring, you have to give up everything else for a while, turn 180 degrees and rearrange your life. It is a mental and physical challenge that stays with you for life, and I thought: every student should go through this for their own development.’

Thrown in at the deep end
Vermeulen is a born entrepreneur. He set up a travel agency specialising in serving students and the business community, founded a platform for international students and an insurance label, but that does not necessarily make the step into the world of boxing and kickboxing an obvious one. ‘True, but from the outset this was a much broader story for me than organising a nice scrap. Together with the student associations, we really want to build something here. A programme in which students can develop mentally and physically, break out of the daily grind and push themselves to the next level. Too many students today struggle with mental health problems, and this group is only growing. Through our programmes we offer them the chance to throw themselves in at the deep end and do something completely different from what they are used to. They do not do this alone, but together with fellow members of their association, which creates an enormous sense of togetherness. They challenge themselves and each other, and in doing so they do not just tick a bout in the ring off their bucket list, they grow mentally and physically as individuals.’

‘When a student association contacts us, we make clear in the first conversation that we are not selling a ready-made product. Yes, we facilitate everything from A to Z, but we work shoulder to shoulder with the students, both in front of and behind the scenes. From recruiting participants to the marketing and sponsoring of the events, we do everything together. The fighters who will eventually stand in the ring have to grow during the programme, but so does everyone around them.’

Different cultures
‘Part of facilitating is that we select well-established gyms that hold the Keurmerk Vechtsportautoriteit (the quality mark of the Netherlands Martial Arts Authority). Together with us, they draw up a training schedule specifically for the group. This also includes training sessions with the regular members, and a select group of students trains alongside the competitive fighters. That is when two completely different worlds come together. It is wonderful to see. You see enormous cohesion develop between the students and the regular members of the gym. At first the members hold back, after all a group of students walks into the dojo who they do not usually see coming in. But after a short while they see people who go all out in training, which creates respect and an unexpected bond. The competitive fighters help the students, unprompted, in their preparation on the way to the ring. There are exceptions, of course, but broadly speaking people from very different backgrounds and cultures come together. The connection that develops between the different people in the gym is amazing to see.’

Events
‘After months of preparation comes the event, the highlight of the whole programme. It is not just a tournament on a Sunday afternoon in a sports hall, it really is a gala. Very festive. And because we put togetherness first, there is no polarisation of city X against city Y or one gym against another, it is something the students organise together with us, purely and solely for their association. As a result, we never see friction or scuffles, despite the adrenaline. And the whole journey is celebrated afterwards, with the athletes and their supporters, their training partners and the people who made everything possible behind the scenes. We put artists on stage, we have had Hef, Sef, Bokoesam, and celebrate the success all together. Sometimes with five hundred people in the venue, and sometimes with as many as four thousand spectators. This year we have sixteen events in around ten cities, so that is sixteen big celebrations.’

‘Until now the programme essentially ended with the event, but we are currently working on extending it, to see whether we can help people further after such a bout. To see whether we can keep them on a healthy path, find work that matches new ambitions, so that they can keep developing. Some participants can also progress in sporting terms. At Rico Verhoeven’s Hit It event in October, two young men from our programmes will enter the ring for the second time. Being allowed to stage a bout there is a great opportunity to show the development of martial arts, the broadening that we also stand for.’

‘It is great to see how highly these martial arts programmes are valued by the student associations. We are almost always in their top 3 of best events of the year. But what is also inspiring are the personal stories we hear along the way. When you hear how kickboxing has helped someone out of a low point. How valuable it has been for someone dealing with a loss. Or someone whose life was going off the rails, who was only drinking and eating, but who managed to motivate himself through the sport to change course. That is where you see the real strength of martial arts and of working together. That is why that combination will always be central to what we do.’