INDEX business canterburybusiness@indexmagazine.co.uk


Happy New Year to you all. As it’s 2012 we’re kicking off with an Olympic theme, with Thai kickboxer James Jones showing how to make it in the business of Health and Fitness. (Note to self: Must do more press-ups... now where are those mince pies?). Jules Serkin (Tweet me @julesserkin)


Getting Ready for the 2012 Olympics? Try CrossFit CANTERBURY


Twenty-three year old James Jones isn’t your average gym owner Growing up in Thailand


from the age of 14, James trained in Muay Thai, a version of kickboxing that includes punches, kicks, knees and elbows.


He says: “When I turned 19 I started going to the gym in the hope that it would help my kickboxing but I didn’t feel as though I was pushing myself. I was in Thailand training for a fight when I saw the film 300 at the cinema. The physiques of the guys on screen were really impressive and I wondered how they got in such good shape. “I found a YouTube video


of them training and they had refined exactly what I was starting to formulate. “The workouts were fast and furious and I discovered they were doing CrossFit.” After graduating from the University of Kent with a degree in psychology, James started Canterbury’s first CrossFit training facility in June. His gym in a warehouse on the Barton Business Park is very stripped-back – there are no machines, no mirrors and no one is plugged into their iPod. Health and fitness has become a booming industry, even in the current economic climate. CrossFit has grown in the


past few years from an internet grassroots movement with a handful of Californians training in the garage, to more than 3,000 affiliates worldwide. There are now about 30 CrossFit gyms in Britain The approach is a


combination of disciplines. Crossfitters use a mixture of Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting as well as strongman movements and 10km runs. The goal is to be an all rounder – more an SAS soldier than a marathon runner or a bodybuilder.


James says: “Unlike the health club, which has high start-up costs – CrossFit micro- gyms are cheap to establish. Most gyms, like mine, started in a garage with a few bits of equipment and expanded when the space became too small. “The other difference is


that we are not franchised and there are no guidelines we have to follow. CrossFit gyms are affiliates and we are free to choose how to run our businesses. This leads to a natural variation in the methods we use, with successful tactics rising to the top and the less successful fading out.” When he exercises at his


gym, surrounded by fields and within sight of Canterbury Cathedral, James’s mind often wanders back to Thailand. He says: “I learned that when you are training for a fight, it is great motivation to get fitter than your opponent.” See eastkentcrossfit.co.uk.


Feed Your Business in Belgium


CANTERBURY


Canterbury City Council’s TEN Project is inviting businesses to join it at the Tavola 2012 Trade Fair for Fresh Food Products on March 12 in Kortrijk, Belgium.


The fair brings


together over 18,000 food professionals from market leaders to artisan makers. Participants have the chance to display their profile and the kind of co-operation they are looking for in an online catalogue and then choose which companies they would like to meet. Contact: paul.spree@


canterbury.gov.uk or Natalia. Sukhram@canterbury.gov.uk


Networking Tip


It's good to know how your social media efforts are paying off. Canterbury-based social networking


specialists Utargeting.co.uk recommends a free tool: http://goo.gl/2w7yk "It will help you identify how influential you are on Twitter and better understand your reach on this social network," said Piperis Filippaios of Utargeting.


TheBUSINESS If you have some news to share, email


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