We’re already in the second half of 2021, which makes this another great time to bring our members up to date with the Taus Gym newsletter! As well as being able to enjoy summery temperatures once again, we’re also absolutely delighted that we’re almost back to exercising as normal.
And that’s not all… Taus Gym is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! In this newsletter, we’ll bring you up to date on the festivities, upcoming courses and events, extra sessions, new (prospective) instructors, the holiday timetable and new Taus Gym merchandise.
10 years of Taus Gym!
Ten years ago, in September, Taus Gym opened its doors for the first time. We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to celebrate this with you. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be announcing a number of events and we’d love to look back with you on all the milestones we’ve achieved together over the past few years. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram Keep a close eye on these pages for updates on member promotions, giveaways and events!
We’ll also be holding our annual members’ BBQ again, of course, but this year it will be themed around our tenth anniversary. Click here For more information about the members’ BBQ.
Events
As well as the celebrations to mark our tenth anniversary, we’ll also be reviving some of our past events.
One of the courses we are relaunching is the Women Only Krav Maga course. During this course, women learn, in a safe environment, how to protect themselves in dangerous situations they may frequently encounter. Think, for example, of sexual harassment on the street or whilst out on a night out. During the Women Only Krav Maga course, they learn to recognise danger at an early stage and how to use the necessary techniques to get to safety as quickly as possible. The course also helps to build greater self-confidence and a more self-assured demeanour. The course lasts 9 weeks and you can try it out during the taster sessions. Interested? Then take a look at this page.
We’ll also be organising the Ground Fight course again. During the Ground Fight course, you’ll broaden and deepen your ground fighting skills. You’ll learn the finer points of moving in a ground fight, as well as various techniques and tricks that will give you the edge both on the street and during a grappling competition. Are you interested in the Ground Fight course? Then take a look at this page.
Below you will find the schedule of all events confirmed so far.
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EVENTS |
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| Sunday 12 September | Children’s training programme |
| Thursday 16 September | Women-Only Krav Maga Taster Class |
| Saturday 18 September | Members’ BBQ |
| Sunday 19 September | Groundfight Workshop |
| Thursday 23 September | Women-Only Krav Maga Taster Session |
| Sunday 26 September | Adult training curriculum |
| Thursday 30 September | Start of the Women-Only Krav Maga course |
| Saturday 2 October | Child–Parent training |
| Sunday 3 October | Start the Ground Fighting Course |
| Sunday 3 October | Youth training programme |
| Sunday 10 October | Krav Maga pre-test for adults |
| Sunday 17 October | Krav Maga pre-test for children |
New classes from 1 September
After all the waiting, they’re finally here; the new lessons will start on 30 August! See the overview below.
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TILBURG |
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| Monday 7.30 pm – 8.00 pm | (Temporary) punching bag training |
| Monday 8.00 pm – 8.45 pm | Krav Maga for young people |
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BREDA |
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| Thursday 6.30 pm – 7.15 pm | Kids’ Krav Maga |
| Thursday 7.30 pm – 8.30 pm | Krav Maga for adults |
More than just a gym…
The safety and wellbeing of the Taus Gym community is our top priority. We therefore want to offer you more than just training sessions. Would you like to share something with us, do you need advice on your physical and mental health, or do you just fancy a chat? We’re here to listen and are happy to help. Please feel free to speak to our instructors. We also have Louise, our well-known instructor, has been appointed as a support contact. If you need someone to talk to about a sensitive issue, Louise will be happy to lend a listening ear.
As a socially responsible gym, we also recognise the importance of a holistic approach. That is why we work alongside other coaches and therapists, and can help you find someone who is best placed to support you, if needed.
Partnership with Vivendi
Just like sufficient exercise, nutrition is one of the essential building blocks of good overall wellbeing. That is why Taus Gym and Vivendi Dietetics are joining forces. Thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, we can provide you with effective support in adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. From now on, you can come to us for personalised nutritional advice. For more information, visit our page on nutrition.
Taus Gym as an accredited training provider
Taus Gym is now an accredited training organisation. This means that we can officially offer work placements to students at MBO Level 4. We are incredibly proud of this and look forward to making a contribution to society in this way too.
Let me introduce myself…
We’ve been able to welcome two (not-so-) new faces to the Taus Gym team! A new trainee and a trainee instructor will be joining our team to help you achieve your goals. Maurijn Musters will be our first trainee since we became an accredited training organisation, and Marcel de Groot is currently on a training programme to become an instructor. Read Maurijn and Marcel’s stories at the bottom of this newsletter and get to know them!
Holidays
Due to the summer holidays, we will be closed between 5 August and 22 August. During the two weeks before and after this closure, we will be operating on a revised timetable. During the weeks when the revised timetable is in force, you may attend extra classes outside your membership. For the revised timetable, please see our calendar.
Training materials in stock
From next week, we’ll have loads of training gear back in stock! Do you need new gloves, or is your T-shirt due for a replacement? Pop in before your class so we can help you out. Need something, but do you train in Breda? Send us an email and we’ll bring it along for you.
We’ve also finally got the long-awaited Taus Gym jacket in stock! We’re absolutely delighted with the end result and can’t wait to see you all wearing this cool jacket. They’ll be available soon for €55 each, in sizes XXXS to XXL.
And finally…
Finally, we would like to thank you once again for all your support, understanding and loyalty regarding COVID-19 and the measures that need to be maintained. We remain vigilant and will continue to be committed to providing a safe sporting environment. In the coming period, we’ll once again be there to support you first and foremost, with all our passion and professionalism, and we’ll be working hard to rebuild that sense of community through all the upcoming events and festivities. Don’t forget that we’re here for you and that you can always come to us with any queries you may have!
Introducing: Maurijn Musters
My name is Maurijn Musters, I’m 17 years old and I’m from Tilburg. I’ve been training at Taus for almost 5 years now.
I’m into fitness and I’m really looking forward to doing my work placement here. I’m currently studying the ROC Sport and Exercise Level 4 course. My passions are Krav Maga and MMA. I also enjoy playing video games from time to time. As well as that, I like reading classic non-fiction books, such as *The Art of War*.
I haven’t quite decided yet what I want to do in the future. What I do know for sure is that it will be something active, because I don’t like sitting still. I hope to learn a great deal during my work placement about teaching methods and how best to convey information. I also hope to gain a much better insight into what goes on behind the scenes at the gym. I want to motivate people and help them achieve their goals.
I hope to see you all soon!
Introducing: Marcel de Groot
Most members from Tilburg will know me from the Krav Maga sessions which I’ve been enjoying for some time now. Soon, as well as taking my Krav Maga skills to the next level, I’ll also be starting to lead FIT sessions. So a slightly more formal introduction seems in order:
I began my ‘working’ life at the age of 17 in my green uniform and carried on like that for about seven years. After our 58-year-old adjutant, panting, panting, wet and numb, plonked himself down next to me in the mud, I decided to take a critical look at my future prospects, ended my career as a non-commissioned officer and went on to study Computer Science. After graduating, I managed to keep myself in work for a long time by developing and fixing buggy software.
For the most part, these are the sort of activities you’d imagine: lazy desk-bound work… Fortunately for my body, I’ve always had an interest in ‘martial arts’: I started with judo as a child, moved on to (Japanese) jiu-jitsu and, much later, discovered and embraced Brazilian jiu-jitsu with a touch of MMA (I managed to avoid the Kung Fu craze).
From the moment I joined the Army, I had to swap the vibrant heart of party-loving Brabant for Schaarsbergen, so I set out to find evening activities other than visiting the company bar – and found them with Edgar Kruyning. It was through him that I was introduced to the Japanese martial arts of Aikido, Ken-jutsu and Yoseikan (incidentally, Edgar later went on to become the organiser of the Dutch Grappling Championships, though that was nowhere on his radar at the time).
Over the years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all that pyjama dancing, and although I was familiar with ‘no-holds-barred’ tournaments and free-fighting (I still remember the first UFC very well, which I watched on a much-copied VHS tape), Remco Pardoel would also pop round now and then to share some good stories (he was completely focused on Japanese jiu-jitsu until he was defeated by Royce Gracie at UFC 2), but I didn’t pay it much attention.
It wasn’t until years later that I came across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ’by chance’ (as in: I was completely dominated by someone who’d only been training for two years), and from that moment on, this ‘ground fighting’ had my full attention.
I wasn’t much to speak of in BJJ/grappling competitions, but there was always a good atmosphere (what else would you expect when the events ran over time, so chilling out was interspersed with fighting, as ‘Brazilian’ is part of the sport’s name) and I felt I was doing a decent job coaching our team, so I took part in the various tournaments whenever possible. After doing this for a while, I also started practising a bit of MMA. Just to ‘give it a go’, I stepped into the cage a few times at amateur level (and managed to walk out again. MMA is less spectacular than its reputation sometimes suggests), and learnt above all that all that hugging isn’t exactly a blessing when the other person hits back…
Around that time, in 2010, I also had the chance to teach my first BJJ/grappling classes. I found it really enjoyable and, more importantly, the team members seemed to keep coming back (and were giving it their all)!
Getting back to my day job, somewhere halfway through my IT career I’d had enough of the corporate world and joined the police as a detective in the role of ‘digital forensics specialist’ with the East Brabant Regional Criminal Investigation Department. There, I frequently witnessed the aftermath of ‘real’ violence (my deployments with the Army were mainly exercises in boredom…).
The hectic nature of this job did mean that I didn’t set foot on a mat for a few years. Looking back, I did miss it: the sport has given me a lot (two new anterior cruciate ligaments, for example, and some very charming ears ;)). But my view of combat ‘sport’ had, by then, changed fundamentally.
So, after leaving the police force in 2019, I started to feel the itch again, but I was looking for something ‘different’ or more realistic. Once that itch became unbearable, I found Taus Gym, where I can channel my energy in a fantastic setting under expert instructors (I’ve seen enough of the other sort to recognise them).
I’ve recently left the business world once again and have started teaching software development. Partly, of course, because I find the subject very interesting and have now learnt quite a bit about it, but mainly because I really enjoy coaching people, young and old, and teaching them ‘things’.
I hope to experience the same here at Taus Gym, starting with the FIT! classes (I solemnly promise to use fewer words there than I do here, and above all to get you all moving more)!