I have nothing with Halloween, I think horror films are terrible, but I was watching a horror scenario on Saturday. Running 3 kilometers with a heavy pack on your back, while you’ve been exhausted all day, and then immediately have to do maths? Anyone who has even an ounce of empathy, combined with little muscle mass, will get stressed from just looking at ‘Kamp Van Koningsbrugge’.
But how educational is this knockout race; it’s about holding on through a trial that you don’t know when it will be over. Feel free to feel a parallel with the current era.
Kamp Van Koningsbrugge is the Dutch version of the Belgian television ratings hit ‘Kamp Waes’, which was shown on one last winter. The concept: fifteen fit citizens want to know how far they can get during a training such as those undergoing commands that want to join the special forces.
A successful formula, on all fronts: the students discover whether their fitness is also worth something outside the gym, Defense issues a business card that may attract new recruits and as a viewer you see a competition that is much more exciting than the next talent show with wannabe stars .
No, we see knuckles here. And bikkelinnen: among the tattooed and muscular participants are four women, who have to work just as hard as the guys. At least, I didn’t see them getting lighter backpacks or having to crawl fewer meters.
Now mental strength is at least as important to reach the finish line as physical strength, presenter Jeroen van Koningsbrugge and trainer Ray Klaassens stated last week at ‘Jinek’. “Especially because at a certain point hopelessness starts to play a role, when there is no food at night, while you expect it, and you don’t know the end point,” Klaassens explained. The former officer of the Korps Commandotroepen had good news for everyone with a roll of fat. Because you can dream about a toned body with only 6 percent fat, but “if such a person does not sleep and does not eat during the night, then he immediately has a problem”, according to the professional. Eva Jinek self-mockingly reported that she would be fine, if necessary for weeks.
A few candidates stand out. Like Marjolein, according to the description “a Christian, prudish girl who changes into a beast while exercising, can be feminine and bad ass at the same time”. She had to cry once on Saturday. Jonathan came into the picture so little that it stood out. He is a restaurant manager and student of philosophy who according to the AvroTros site – without further explanation – lives in the spirit of Plato and wants to become real commando.
Lotfi is also intriguing, a boy who defies himself for his mother. She raised three children on her own and through his participation her dear son wants to show that she has done well. Lotfi probably does not belong to what Klaassen calls ‘eye servants’: people who are very helpful when a trainer or camera is nearby, but immediately drop their team members when the surveillance is gone. The old command is clear: “Character, that’s what’s left when no one is looking”.
Something many of us can test these days, alone at home.
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