Want to train in Holland? taking questions

[TeodorEricsson]

my post is for those planning on visit Amsterdam to train in the future, they might look up this thread. (i wish there was a thread like this before i went there )

I was in Holland this summer for the kickboxing training. I went to Mejiro gym for 2 weeks and FFC pancration (Lucien Carbin) for 1 week

I had just turned 18 at the time and it was my first travel alone, so they ALL helped me alot and guided me outside of training. I am very thankfull for this. NOTE: Everyone speaks good english in Holland.
I got nothing but good memories from my time at the gyms.



I spent the most time in Mejiro and Sensei Andre is soooooo experienced, a really great mentor and absolute worldclass teacher. The oldschool atmosphere in the gym is so cool, and the training is very modern and effective. Sensei Andre got the best out of me every session without burning me out.
His son Roel is also a very talented kickboxer and a great teacher. I trained a lot with him during my time at Mejiro.




And the same goes with Lucien, i got the oppertunity to stay in his house during my week there, a very humble master of the sport. Lucien is a really inspiring man.



ABOUT THE TRAINING: Make sure you have good cardio and be prepared for a hard type of sparring. Be well conditioned before you get there, to get the most out of training, i just cant stress this enough!!



ACCOMODATION: There is a lot of hostels in Amsterdam. I really recommend bobs youth hostel because they are very professional and the shared dorms are quiet! I went to a different hostel aswell and it was a nightmare, they were partying hard all night INSIDE the dorm.

FOOD: There is a place called HEMA where you can get a 1 Euro breakfast. I RECOMEND!!
For lunch and dinner Albert Hein shops is everywhere, they got sallads for around 3-5 euro.

TRAVEL: You can travel by trams and pay with cash inside.
I also recomend to take one day of and rent a bike. But make sure you lock it into something or else it will be gone!!! In amsterdam your bike is everyones bike


Im not gonna write more for now but if you have any questions about the training or the city i will try to answer them.

 

[serr]

How long was each training session? What is "well conditioned"? How good should I already be before going there? I wanted to go there for my Masters and train there at the same time. What's the cost of living there like? I'm from Canada, and spend about $800 a month on housing, food, training, etc, how much would I need over there?

 

[roventu]

yeah can you tell us more about the training session? how the classes went step-by-step and what you guys did?

 

[sourdiesel209]

Did you actually spar? If so, how hard was it?

 

[TeodorEricsson]

How long was each training session? What is "well conditioned"? How good should I already be before going there? I wanted to go there for my Masters and train there at the same time. What's the cost of living there like? I'm from Canada, and spend about $800 a month on housing, food, training, etc, how much would I need over there?

Sessions last for between 1 hour- 1.5 hour
Go visit kamer.org/en , its a good site to look for housing in Holland
About food i noticed that everything is very expensive in the city centre, but a 5 minute drive outside and everything is cheap again.
The training fee is nothing crazy. You get way better training than you pay for. 75€ per month for unlimited classes

yeah can you tell us more about the training session? how the classes went step-by-step and what you guys did?

At pancration there is a lot of partner drills (also for warmup), many cool unorthodox techniques. and the sessions finished of with bagwork or sparring.
At Mejiro there was more bagwork, where you drill the combinations they show in a high tempo with one partner holding the bag then rotate, and sparring classes were twice a week. (maybe more now, since i was there during the summer times)
And also, every class starts and ends with meditation, after this you are already geared up and ready to go
they will translate all the instructions for you

Did you actually spar? If so, how hard was it?

Some people went really hard (110%) but some people worked more on technique (50-60%). At pancration i did a sharktank once with 8 people rotating on me. To this day my left leg is fucked up ;P joke
Sometimes we did 90 % to the body and 10 % to the head

 

[350 lbs fist]

I've always wanted to take some privates there but nobody on their online sites answer my email.

Do you have any contact info that would work?

 

[Vinzr]

Know any respectable gyms in Utrecht?

 

[king of theRing]

You should ask carbin to put you through black hell before you leave

 

[Rifboy]

Know any respectable gyms in Utrecht?

superpro gym and also the coloseum

 

[freaky]

Is it true that they purposely break their own nose, so they don't get broken when competing? I heard some pretty crazy stories about Dutch training. Are they true?