Marcel de Groot

About me

At Taus Gym, I lead the grappling sessions and aim to get participants in the FIT classes to the point where, after 45 minutes, they’re tired but satisfied (and not completely knackered) – and ideally able to push themselves just that bit harder and go a bit further next time. At FIT, the ‘tools of choice’ are kettlebells, and I follow the hardstyle method (as opposed to kettlebell sport, also known as girevoy) as promoted by the StrongFirst group led by Pavel Tsatsouline: ‘Consistent, technically correct training at high (but appropriate) intensity with sufficient recovery guarantees
’result'.

I hadn’t given any of the above a second thought when I (what feels like only a short while ago) started training at Taus Gym; it all went something like this:

Like many people, I started doing judo at a very young age, more because my parents took me along than because I sought it out myself. Still, I eventually got so into it that later, as a teenager, I wanted more and also started practising (Japanese) Jiu-Jitsu (*ahem* obviously nothing to do with the Ninja/karate films from the 1980s like *American Ninja*…).

Straight after secondary school, I wanted to join the Army, and ended up with the 11th Airmobile Brigade – the Red Berets. Eventually, however, I got a bit fed up with the sand, and because I had a reasonable affinity with the electronics and computers used by the Army (something to do with one eye and blind people), I decided after seven years to end this career and study Technical
To study computer science.

After finishing my studies, I was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. As BJJ was still very much a niche sport at that time (in the Netherlands, at least) and was essentially part of the same scene as MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), I became involved in that too.

In the meantime, I had to do some work as well, but after a few years of working as a software developer, office life started to bore me a bit, so I looked for something more dynamic and found it with the police, in the role of digital forensics specialist with the Regional Criminal Investigation Department.

After a few years, I also left that little world behind to take up a teaching post in Software Engineering at a university of applied sciences, which I continue to enjoy very much to this day.

During my years with the police, I spent very little time on the ‘mat’, but once my daily routine had settled down a bit, I wanted to take up ‘something in martial arts or self-defence’ again: Krav Maga came to mind, though my impression wasn’t particularly positive: from a distance, it looked very similar to traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (not BJJ!), which ultimately proved of little use to me as soon as someone started resisting.

But as there was a school called Taus Gym just round the corner from me, I decided to go and have a look/give it a go. My opinion of Krav Maga (at least, as it’s taught at Taus Gym) did a complete U-turn.

Meanwhile, Riaz noticed there was interest in the sport of grappling at Taus Gym, and as I’d occasionally demonstrate a few moves, he asked if I’d be interested in setting it up. I seized this opportunity and, ever since, we’ve been training hard with a (growing) group and attending national grappling competitions from time to time as Team Taus Gym.