Quick Facts
Biography
Cornelius "Cor" Hemmers (born August 24, 1956 in Breda) is a Dutch kickboxing trainer associated with the Golden Glory gym in Breda, Netherlands.
History
Hemmers began his martial arts training in judo at the age of 6, which he studied until the age of 15 when he switched to Kyokushin Karate. In 1976, Hemmers began competing in full contact karate. During the 1980s, however, kickboxing became more popular in the Netherlands and Hemmers took this up. His professional kickboxing record was 25 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw.
In 1984, he opened his own gym called Maeng Ho and he later became the head trainer at the Golden Glory gym. He has trained numerous world champions and contenders in both kickboxing and mixed martial arts including Ramon Dekkers, Heath Herring, Stefan Leko, Alistair Overeem, Bas Rutten, Gökhan Saki and Semmy Schilt. In April 2012 he retired as a professional trainer and decided to continue his sports career as Head of Talent Operations with international kickboxing promotion Glory. Currently active as Managing Director Sports by GLORY Sports International.
Cor Hemmers was born in Breda, the Netherlands, on 24 August 1956. After finishing high school, he went to university, where he graduated in mathematics. After military service he studied law as part of his employment with insurance company Meeus Holding where he later became a boardmember.
In 1976, Hemmers started competing in full-contact karate. He was introduced to Pa (Paatje) Flohr, a 'Pençak Silat' fighter from Indonesia, which influenced Cor Hemmers' fighting.
In the mid-80s, Muay Thai was introduced in the Netherlands and alongside his training in traditional English boxing, Cor became an active Muay Thai fighter in the Dutch A-class. He ended his active fighting career as the ruling number 1 of the Netherlands. In all, Cor fought 29 matches of which he won 25, lost three, and drew one.
In 1984 he set up his own gym called 'Maeng Ho/Hemmers'. Over the years, Cor trained many world champions in all categories like Ramon Dekkers, Noel van den Heuvel, Maikel Lieuwfat, Farit El Moussaoui, Said Mbarki, Andre Masseurs, Tony Luciano, Luc Verheijen, Dennis Krauweel, Bas Rutten, Spyridon, Yilmaz, Gökhan Saki and Alistair Overeem. A few women also became world champions under his guidance, such as Danielle Somers, Songul Oruc and Zelda Tekin.