PHILIPSBURG--Henderik Ekema had been out of the ring for more than five years. He had moved to St. Maarten and was raising a family.
But in the back of his mind was the belief he could be a World Tae Kwon Do Champion. In Europe representing the Netherlands he had won many titles. Now he wanted one for his new home.
He met retired bodybuilder and now personal trainer Emanuel Richardson. They talked.
Richardson told him, “This is a house of champions,” referring to his Body Action SXM gym in Philipsburg. “We build champions.” 
A plan was hatched.
Ekema would train very hard and go to the World Championships in England. Richardson would be his coach and accompany him on the trip.
The pair travelled to the Tae Kwon Do International World Championships at the Barclay Card Arena, Birmingham, England earlier this month.
Ekema would return to the Friendly Island with two gold medals in side kick and back kick breaking tests. He placed third from a field of 60 in point stop sparring.
The prize Ekema wanted was gold in the continuous sparring. Ekema was working his way toward gold when he launched a kick at his opponent. It was blocked. Ekema’s foot connected to an elbow.
“The foot swelled up. It looked like I had an egg on it,” he said.
Ekema finished the fight and won. He tried one more bout but could not continue.
“I had told myself this was going to be my last shot in the ring,” said Ekema.
As he watched the competition progress he thought to himself: “I could win that fight. And that fight!”
Before it was over he believed if he had not been injured he would have been crowned World Champion.
Both Ekema and Richardson were well received in England and both were invited to other tournaments.
“I am going to fight again,” said Ekema. He was hot and sweaty. He had been teaching youngsters ages 6 to 12 Martial arts at Body Action. He trains the children every Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00am. The class is open to all pre-teens. The class is an introduction to Martial arts. The children are exposed to boxing, judo, karate, kick-boxing and of course Tae Kwon Do. Cost is US $8.
Ekema also teaches all levels of kickboxing on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:45pm.
Traditionally build up to a competition starts with conditioning. As the competition date approaches, conditioning is placed with skill and technique drills.
Not so with Ekema. He worked on his cardio and strength almost to the day he got on the plane.
“I would have liked to spend more time on sparring, but there are not that many sparring partners on the island at this level.
A problem Richardson wants to address. “Next time we go to a world Championship representing St. Maarten I want to go with a Team!”
This time around, Ekema hopes to travel to Puerto Rico a couple of times before the next big competition to spar.
The next international competition will be held early next year in Canada. Ekema has not purchased his ticket yet but has already resumed training.
He is starting slow. Instead of the daily early morning 5k runs before work, he has cut back to 2.5k.
