Alexander Jost: “Fighters who join our club are joining a family”
“Iron Lions”, the HMB club from Germany, is one of the biggest clubs in this country. This club occupies high positions in Germany and has a corresponding reputation. Their captain was even honored to lead the National Team of Germany at the World Championship in HMB “Battle of the Nations”-2018.
Its history started in 2015 when two smaller clubs merged, and grew further in 2016 when another club was absorbed as well. Becoming a larger club gave them an advantage of being able to bring more fighters to more events throughout the season, helping to gather experience and grow. Alexander Jost, the captain of the club, told about “Iron Lions”: “Our club name translates as “Iron Lions” in English, a name we take seriously, as it describes the fighting spirit expected of members once they step into the arena. Since we formed as a conglomeration of smaller clubs, we actually have training spots in multiple locations in Germany, such as Munster, Dresden, and Stuttgart; training is normally de-centralized, with members meeting with other members in their local area, but we also get together for consolidated training events on occasion”.
Yes, it is not easy to handle such situation, but “Lions” do their best to show results and win medals. Now there are over 20 active “Lions”, with a wide age range from 25 to 52, two of whom are from the USA and one from Spain. According to the captain, they are very open to help people get interested in the HMB sport, and they are trying to help any fighter to reveal his potential personal abilities as much. Also at the moment this club consists only of the male athletes, but they know how to solve this problem at the tournaments: “When there are female fighters at events that don’t have a team, we have welcomed them into our lineup”. Not bad solvation!
“Lions” work hard on the field of development the HMB sport in their country. They have a plan of a close cooperation with the German full-contact federation “Eisenliga” to push our sport further in Europe and beyond. Also they encourage children of their members to begin training in soft armor and participate in youth competition and events at small festivals, boxing matches and fairs in order to build a visibility of the sport and good will.
These guys are together during the years and even have some traditions: “We have small chants and cheers we use to get motivated for a fight, but the most important tradition we have is our attitude within the club. Fighters who join our club are joining a family, nobody ever stands alone. At every tournament we walk out and retire as a full team, to include our supporters, and we talk about how each fight went and how we can improve. Each member is expected to try their best, learn from more experienced fighters, and grow with each event. While the action on the list may not seem friendly, we are always happy to share drinks with our opponents after the fights are complete, we have sincere respect for all other fighters in this community. We look forward to another great season of fights and new friendships! See you in the lists!!”
That`s a great tradition! We thank Alexander Jost for the interview, wish “Iron Lions” new victories and can`t wait to see them in the lists.
HMBIA News
