Page 8 - Thrapston Life January 2022

MARTIAL
ARTS
Come join the Academy
After giving up his full time job as an engineer, Dean Hardwick was determined to follow
his dream of running his own Martial Arts Academy after training himself in Martial Arts since a young age.
It began by renting a small room at the local sports club in Thrapston to get started and then soon after, finding a small unit to rent in the centre of the town. But, unfortunately only a few weeks later we went into our first Lockdown. Dean and his partner, Elaine, kept a positive mindset and used the time to decorate and make the unit just how they wanted it hoping that time would quickly pass for them to open up again. Like many small businesses, it was
a struggle at times. At that point we had 88 members who used our Academy, but that soon reduced down to 40 as the lockdown took its toll on everyone financially. The members who did stay with us and supported us would join us for online classes and it was their support that helped us to get through trying times.
Fast forward to the point where we were allowed to open again and we are now 120 members strong and about to embark on a new journey as we are set to open up our much bigger Academy just down the road in Islip
which will allow us to take on so many more members. Our children’s classes have been hugely successful so far and having a bigger premises will mean this will only grow further with the children learning many different techniques, skills, building confidence, whilst making new friends and most of all having fun whilst improving their fitness. Our classes for adults are expanding all of the time, offering Self Defence, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and Ladies only boxing.
Elaine has now also giving up her other job in childcare and works alongside Dean in the business running the classes for children aged 3-5 years and generally taking on much more to help share the load.
After some worrying moments it’s now time to look to the future with confidence as we grow Atlas Martial Arts Academy with pride.
To begin your martial arts journey with us, no matter your age or ability, visit www.atlasmartialarts.co.uk
Facebook: Atlas Martial Arts Academy Email: Dean.hardwick@hotmail.co.uk eab54@hotmail.co.uk
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