There is a loud thunder every now and then in the gymnasium in the Emmer district of Emmerhout. The cause? 82-year-old Jacob Vos from Klazienaveen who easily throws his pupils onto the judo mat.
“I would like to play a match against him, but I think he wins,” says Joost. Just as big, just as wide and decades younger. “His technique is really fantastic.”
But that party isn’t going to happen. “I have to keep my body fit,” said judo teacher Vos. “If I’m injured, I have to find someone to fill in for me. Otherwise there is no training.”
You would think that at the age of 82 he would take things a bit easier, but that is not the case for Vos. He runs his own judo school and teaches several days a week.
“Sometimes I still feel like a young dog,” he says, laughing. “But the wear and tear is starting to show. If I teach judo at school during the day and still teach for two hours in the evening, you don’t want to know how I get out of bed in the morning.”
But he still participates in everything and demonstrates all the exercises. “The best thing about youth is, and that is the greatest burden on yourself, you have to teach them judo.”
But they are not allowed to throw their teacher on the ground. “Only if I want it,” says Vos. “Some do try and sometimes they succeed. Some of the older boys succeed.”
Vos started with judo at an early age. “My father came home from work and saw a young boy fighting with a big man and saw him throw him to the ground. That turned out to be judo. So he came home and told me to learn that too.”
Vos went to a training session and hung around all afternoon. He was sold. He started with judo himself, later became a trainer, got his papers and has since been officially allowed to teach. He then started his own judo school.
“As long as my body can hold out, I will continue,” says Vos. “But at some point it will stop.”
Although he shouldn’t think about that yet, because on the judo mat he is like a fish in water. “This is my shop. This is where I am in my element. Great man to teach children.”
You can see it in this episode of Expeditie Nederland.
