The film tells the story of young kickboxers from Amsterdam West. In a splintered narration, without fixing on one single central character, sport is portrayed as both an educator and a means to escape from a neighbourhood flooded with bad temptations.
Central to the story is a kick-box gym, located in an old school building centred in the area of Amsterdam West, and surrounded by a neighbourhood that is best known for its aggressive growth of criminality. The gym has become a refuge for loitering boys. In the gym these boys undergo a rigorous, and sometimes almost a Spartan-like, training. Through narration from the perspective of the boys, an intimate image is created of the group’s process and the trainers’ role as mentors.
Uninhibited, the separate scenes tell of group culture, violence, and a way for the boys to be acknowledged for who they are. The harsh lessons from the trainers inside the gym compete with the temptations outside. The world of the streets and the world of the gym are face to face with each other, and it is the world of the kick-box gym to win in order for the boys not to fall into the pitfalls of streets.
