Inverurie kickboxing club ready for lockdown easing with new High Street gym
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A building on Inverurie High Street is set for a new lease of life as final preparations are made to turn it into a permanent venue for a kickboxing club.
The former fitness studio and gym at number eight will now be the home of Nemesis Kickboxing Academy.
The upcoming easing of lockdown on April 26 will see it operate from the property after previously holding sessions at the Skyline Trampoline Park.
It is an exciting move for husband and wife team Eric and Fiona Birkett, who now run their martial arts school full-time.
Eric, who is a world champion and second dan black belt, said: "I started teaching classes in Inverurie five years ago in September.
"It was a hobby in the evenings and I ran a couple of classes a week.
"It then turned from a hobby to taking over my life and in September 2019 I went full-time as an instructor.
"We had just moved venue at that time as well and had started teaching out of Skyline Trampoline Park.
"But then in March Covid-19 meant we had to stop and we had to change everything we were doing."
The past year has seen Nemesis have to adapt to the circumstances with sessions being held over Zoom and there was a short return to physical classes during the last easing of lockdown.
It saw Eric and his students have to adapt to technology quickly to ensure activities could continue.
He added: The first lockdown was pretty tough for us.
"Martial arts is so far behind when it comes to using technology, so having to take the entire business from teaching physical classes to teaching Zoom classes, that was a real shock to the system for a lot of instructors and we struggled at first.
"But over the past year we have been getting our students into the habit of using the technology a lot more.
"When the second lockdown came after Christmas people were a lot more used to using things like Zoom and were a lot more comfortable with it. We found our retention rates were a lot better."
The academy was able to reopen last September for physical classes with coronavirus safety measures in place and saw a good bounce back in members.
Over the past few weeks with lockdown easing again, Eric has been holding outdoor classes at Kellands Park for younger students.
In a normal year the members would compete in competitions across the country.
Eric said: "Everybody pulled together and embraced it, and I am proud of the fact that the business has actually grown during this past year which is amazing.
"That has given us the opportunity to move into our new premises at 8 High Street, so when we reopen on April 26 for physical classes that's where we are going to be."
A chance drive for the couple in the town centre led to them seeing that the former fitness studio and gym was up for lease.
They were successful in securing it and are now in final preparations to get it ready for opening.
Fiona said: "It is exciting and it has really lit a fire with all the students again, as it is something to look forward to.
"Having the new premises and something we are all going to be part of is great.
"This is what we've been working towards for the past five years.
"It is a fantastic space and we know the students are going to love it. It was something we really wanted for them as well as ourselves.
"It's a big moment and we are so happy we have managed to do it and that we can provide this for our students to give them the best experience."
The popularity of mixed martial arts and the UFC has seen interest in kickboxing grow and the academy wants to provide opportunities to people who are interested in becoming instructors.
Eric said: "We are geared towards helping our students achieve whatever their sporting goals are but also running a programme for young people who want to become instructors. We will be looking to start employing our own students and giving them a career pathway."
For more information on the club visit nemesiskickboxinginverurie.co.uk or on Facebook www.facebook.com/inveruriekbxing
