In his childhood years, he was an avid soccer player. But he was late in puberty and the others outgrew him. One day he got to see “Karate Kid” – and he got an immediate fascination. The idea of being able to defend himself attracted him, and he took up martial arts. – It was a new and exciting sport, and I liked the etiquette and the strict discipline in the training, says Andreas Lødrup. Ten years after he hung up his gloves, he looks back on an adventurous career as both European champion and world champion in kickboxing. When he was asked to join the “Champion of Champions”, he felt the old competition nerves “kick in”. – I went into hard training, and felt that I jumped back into my old “mindset”. It was fun to be involved, but also very tiring. – I’ve gotten older and it’s been a long time since I trained as a top athlete, so my body couldn’t withstand the strain as well, he tells news. Andreas Lødrup in the heat of the match with Olaf Tufte in “Master’s Master”. Photo: HEIDI MARIE GOPEROD – Was very structured After three to four years of martial arts training, Lødrup ended up in the boxing ring when he was 16. He focused on training and technique – and it paid off. – My motivation at the start was that I thought it was cool to be able to defend myself. I thought: “Now no one can fuck with me,” he snarls. The keen boxer combined school work with hard training at the martial arts club. Sparring round with Kian Golpira, who is active on the national kickboxing team. National team coach Daimi Akin follows along. Photo: Sara Marie Broen / news – In high school I trained before school, in the afternoon and all evening. When I got into that system, I almost found myself getting good time. I was very structured. But even with a lot of training, he was not able to assert himself as a top athlete until after a few tournaments. – I had several years where I had many late hours at the training center, and a few rounds on the bench during the tournaments before I was good enough to compete internationally. Andreas Lødrup gets the professional WC title 2011. Photo: Privat The fierce “drive” But the kickboxer gradually gained a new fascination that should point him towards a new career. He became interested in the body and how it works. On the same day that he got a place on the national kickboxing team, he started medical studies in Oslo. Andreas Lødrup won the WC belt (WAKO PRO) in 2010. Victory roar from the boxing ring. Lødrup terps with 1000 basic straight punches. In 2009 he won his first World Championship gold, and in the following two years he won the professional World Championship belt twice in a row. In 2012, he made his last full-contact match in the EC in Bucharest, Romania, and it was his 100th match in the ring. He himself believes that it is one thing that was decisive in reaching the world championship title. – I’ve always had a fierce “drive”, and to be the best you have to enjoy doing enough repetitions, and polish technique so that the body goes on reflex. That’s what separates first place from second place. – I have also always liked to struggle, he adds. From boxing gloves to scalpel Lødrup has now replaced the boxing gloves, susp and head protector with a doctor’s coat, magnifying glasses and surgical instruments. For almost ten years he has worked as a doctor and this winter will complete specialist in orthopedic surgery, for the past year and a half he has worked with hand and microsurgery at the orthopedic department at Rikshospitalet. For the past year and a half, Lødrup has been working with hand and microsurgery at Rikshospitalet. Photo: Sara Marie Broen / news – I work with the musculoskeletal system, and now I specialize in hand and microsurgery. I repair fractures and injuries and work quite geekily with nerves and tendons. It is exciting to understand how the body works, he says. Outside of his shift work at the hospital, he is a busy family man. Together with his wife Nora, they have two children and an everyday life filled with logistics and activities. Uses the same coping strategy Ten years after he put his boxing gloves on the shelf, he has experience that has come in handy. – I have had time to reflect and to get to know myself better. In my job as a surgeon, I also have to perform, and I can feel nerves before an operation. I have gotten to know many sides of myself. Concentration and precision are required to become a good orthopedic surgeon. Photo: Sara Marie Broen / news Lødrup learned the art of being able to reset and get back into the right mode. – I got a good coping strategy which I have taken with me in the training to become good at operating. Things that at first feel impossible can become possible with practice. I gained a basic confidence from my boxing career that has helped me a lot in the life I have now. Lødrup has a punching bag in the garage, so every now and then he clears a small radius around him and lets loose. Photo: Sara Marie Broen / news In a busy everyday life, there is little time to spar in the boxing ring. – The hours that are left after work are used to follow up activities with the children and be with the family, but it is also what I think is the most meaningful thing I can use my time for now. But he does not say no thanks to a training round with former sparring partners. – It’s always fun to have a sparring round, then I get back the old feeling of mastery. It’s a good feeling to take a beating, he says. See Andreas Lødrup in “Master of Masters” on NRK1 Fridays at 8.05pm and on news TV.
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