In this episode, Carl is with Jess who is in Year 10 and completing her work experience at his gym.
Jess came to the gym following participation at one of the trial sessions that Carl does at schools. She is now part of the gym family and they talk about how kickboxing has changed her life.
Kickboxing has brought her confidence, new focus and better ways of dealing with her emotions all of which have impacted positively across her life but especially at school.
Kickboxing will grow your confidence and life skills and can change your life, listen in and be inspired.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
There are lots of things that you can get from kickboxing – I lost weight, gained confidence and made friends.
Kickboxing teaches you about discipline and how to learn, and this can be used in every area of your life.
You can contain your emotions in different situations in life because you know that when you are kickboxing you can let it all out.
Being part of a kickboxing gym is about being part of a community – it’s like a family.
When you are at the gym you are away from the outside world – its shut off from you.
Kickboxing teaches you how to get focused and this helped me to change and be more focused at school. My grades are better and I’m focused in class.
Kickboxing changed my life because the things I learnt at the gym changed how I was at school – everything in my life has got better.
BEST MOMENTS
‘When you’re at the gym the outside world is shut off’
‘It’s all about being part of a big family’
‘It’s all about engaging and being positive’
VALUABLE RESOURCES
HKA Main landing page www.hastingskickboxing.co.uk/kickstartnow
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/Hastingskickboxing
HKA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Hastingskickboxing
Adult community link https://m.facebook.com/groups/274624209886110?ref=share
carldenne@hotmail.com - Join Leigha every weekday for a workout for a fiver per month
ABOUT THE HOST
Hi, my name is Carl Denne.
I was born in Hastings in 1980. Married, father of two beautiful daughters, Bethany and Leigha.
My daughters, the wife, and gym ARE MY LIFE.
IF I’M HONEST, I pretty much failed at school. Heavily dyslexic, I was dismissed for being a “naughty kid” that didn’t want to learn. I was heavily bullied for having shit clothes and ginger afro hair. I didn’t have many friends.
When I say bullied I don’t mean called a “poo-poo head” and being looked at in a nasty way. I mean thrown downstairs, and hit with chairs and tables. Clothes were stolen whilst in the shower. That kind of bullying…
Oh, how things have changed…
Martial arts, and specifically Kickboxing, have changed my life, and now I am much happier and change other people’s lives for the better on a daily basis.
I am a complete adrenaline freak, so In my spare time, track days, jumping out of planes, sitting on top of them, rage buggies in the desert… The higher, the faster the better for me. I’m always looking for the next thing to get my blood pumping, so if anyone has a challenge I’ve not found yet, please feel free to share.
I do like a Saturday night movie night, Chinese, Netflix, lots of chocolate with my three little ladies. I love being around my friends and family. This is why I love the crazy HKA family so much, as this is my extended family.
I left school with pretty much nothing! A few sad GCSE’s C - D grade, BUT I did have a shit-ton of energy and passion to achieve, and to prove all the teachers and people that looked down on me for all those years, wrong. So, after a few jobs here and there, I settled on working for Openreach (BT) as a cabler/jointer copper and fibre optic multi-skilled engineer with HGV.
I left this in 2015 to chase my dream of running my own Kickboxing Academy and working with the future of today, rather than a job that just paid the bills.
I’ve trained pretty much my whole life: Karate, boxing, Judo, from the age of 9, and of course, I’ve now done over 29 years of Kickboxing. I’ve passed many Instructors and coaches courses, attended many training courses and seminars, grading up through the syllabus. I passed my 4-hour hell-on-earth 3rd Dan black belt in July 2018 with the ICO.
If I’m honest my real passion and skills have come from learning the hard way; through being in the trenches. I know how it feels to be on your arse. I know how it feels to have to pull yourself out of the pit. I’ve been through a divorce. I’ve lived through the pain and have worked with thousands of members, students, children, teachers and adults over the years, and the one thing I get told every time is how well I/we keep it very real, and that I have a complete understanding on most eventualities.
Thank you for reading and listening. I hope you connect with myself and the team, take away some ideas, understand you’re not alone, and that it’s good to talk, listen and help others as and when you can.
