Sports
MTB (Mountain biking)
Whenever I can I hit some nearby trails every weekend. I love being in outdoors, but hiking not always brings
me the speed, thrills and physical challange I seek. Mountain biking is a perfect combination of a few of
these things.
Windsurfing
When weather allows (yes you need wind and... ok also not too cold water), I try to spend quite some
time on the water (but clearly not enough as I like).Windsurfing is about elements, getting wild and getting wet. It is actually quite addicting and sometimes also frustrating when you hit the water for the 5th time in a row. It is a bit like How-to-train-your-dragon in the real world. But the feeling of taming the power of your sail and a board that is really talking back to you is incredible!
2 years ago I started windsurfing and I really like it. And yes, planing rules! (better than sex?!)
Karate
I'm practicing karate for quite a few years now and I love it. Karate is NOT about hitting/hurting the other party
as much as you can. A karateka IS expected to seek for balance between his/her physical state as well as his/her
mental state. Karate is very challanging (both physically as mentally), but also very rewarding (when you succeed)
and fun (ok, not always... thats the perseverance part). Besides those points it is an incredibly rich feeling to work,
improve and grow together with your fellow karateka's.Karate is the ideal sports (actually art) for people that are light and not that strongly built (like me!), as it is more about technique and mental discipline than about muscles. It brings me (and many others who practice it) lots physical and mental stability. I also really like the dojo principles, discipline and serenity.
Karate has many styles. The style I'm practicing is Wado-Ryu
Scuba diving
Scuba diving allows you to visit a completely new world, where most things are different but some things are
strikingly similiar to our world. Scuba diving allows you to become part of that world 'on the other side of
the water surface' (only for a brief moment... until your air runs out).I am PADI Open Water Diver certified since october 2004 and PADI Advanced Open Water Diver since october 2005.
See my diving pages for more information...
Sailing
There is a lot of water in the Netherlands. And there is also most of the time much wind. This makes an
ideal combination for sailing. Only a few years ago I came in contact with this sport. But I loved it
right from the beginning. Although I've only been sailing in reasonable weather during the sailing season
and I have only sailed on 'PolyValkjes', I am certainly willing to extend this to other boats and other
weather conditions.