In Poland, HMB Soft is taken seriously as a sports discipline. The HMBIA News editors wanted to find out about the seriousness of the approach to training a new generation of athletes using the example of the Niepokorni Orzesze club from the city of Orzesze. As we discovered, it is a small group that is not divided into many sections. There is an open group where all levels meet in age groups. This division allows the athletes to integrate and learn something from the more experienced fighters. The only division that occurs is on the advanced level.
Currently the Niepokorni Orzesze group has about 15 people, where both boys and girls train together. The youngest athletes are 7 years old.
We asked Wiktoria Oles, the Niepokorni Orzesze HMB Soft club section trainer to tell us about the training process that is held in their club:
“Our training sessions last for 2 hours. We usually start the workout with a warm-up. It takes us about 30-40 minutes and we end it with some game. Later, we move on to exercises that improve physical fitness. And so the first hour passes. Another point of our classes are exercises improving fighting technique. Depending on which category we train in a given week the last part of the training is devoted to duels or small group fights. As time permits we end the training with a game for relaxation”.
As we can see, playing with children plays an important role in the training process. However, Wiktoria noted that this was not always the case. Everything changed after Ali Askerov’s seminar. He drew the attention of trainers to the importance of games in the training of children and adults. Since then we have tried to play different games regularly during training.”
Such training has become much more interesting for children and more fun for their mentors. Also, the club pays great attention to the motivation of young athletes and the formation of friendly relations in the team between coaches and students and, of course, within the group of students.
“Personally as a coach I am happy when I see good relations during training and trips abroad. This is when our relationships go through their greatest test. At training we see each other only for a moment and on trips we are with each other 24 hours a day. I don’t recall a single bad situation during our travels and in my opinion this is because we have a good relationship with each other”, said Wiktoria
However, the joy did not last long. Along with the Covid-19 pandemic came lockdowns. And they, in turn, entailed other problems for the audience. According to Wiktoria, they even considered the prospect of closing the hall due to financial problems. But, they managed to find a solution and the gym survived.
The first training session in a long time lockdown took place here yesterday. Wiktoria Oles said that due to long breaks in classes, she had to adjust the training program:
“As for the training itself after the lockdowns, we changed the training formula a bit. We put emphasis on rebuilding physical fitness. It is this element that suffered the most during the pandemic and the e-learning which unfortunately still takes place in our country today. We try not to complain, training is currently our only escape from the problems we have been facing for a year now”.
However, we are sure that all athletes will quickly gain their desired shape and classes will continue in their usual intensive mode. In addition, plans are already being made here for the coming summer, because the club at this time participates in a lot of events.
“During summer time we very often appear at various events as an attraction for children. Very often we are accompanied then by shows of fights in steel armor by our adult friends from the HMB Poland team. People are interested in fighting and even join us”, said Wiktoria.
Unfortunately, the club’s athletes are not yet able to participate in away tournaments due to quarantine. But, nevertheless, Wiktoria hopes that her club will be able to take part in the next HMB Soft World Championship among schools and clubs. After all, this is not only an important sporting event, but also an opportunity for its pupils to meet friends from different countries and, of course, to meet new young athletes who share a passion for HMB Soft.
