Thom Harinck

Thom Harinck
Born	(1943-12-22) 22 December 1943 The Hague, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Style	Judo, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kyokushin Karate, Savate, Kempo, Wrestling, Boxing, Dutch kickboxing,
Team	Chakuriki Gym
Rank	brown belt in Judo brown belt in Jujutsu 6th degree black belt in Kyokushin 7th degree black belt in kenpo
Notable students	Peter Aerts, Branko Cikatić, Lloyd van Dams, Hesdy Gerges, Badr Hari, Jérôme Le Banner, Melvin Manhoef, Anderson Silva, Sergei Lascenko

Thom Harinck (born 22 December 1943 in The Hague) is a Dutch kickboxing trainer and founder of the Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam. He is married to Marjan Olfers, former member of the board of Ajax and from 1 May 2012 professor in sports law.

Biography

Harinck began learning martial arts at the age of eight in Judo and Wrestling. He was a brown belt for a long period of time because at the time it wasn't allowed to receive a black belt under the age of twelve so he soon gave up to the sport. He also did soccer, motorcross and Shooting when he was young. While working on a cruise ship he met a French sailor who was also national champion of Savate and he began teaching Thom and other Dutch sailors aboard. He continued his Savate practice after arriving in South Africa. He later started boxing when he returned to the Netherlands and also started teaching Savate in Holland. While serving in the military as a teenager he continued his practicing in boxing and became competitive. At age of seventeen he worked as a bouncer at local Club and as his partner was Jan Stapper who was Kyokushin teacher.

His global journeys continued after he moved to Japan where he received the Uchi-deshi instruction under numerous masters in Tokyo, Nagano and Yokohama. He also received Judo and traditional Jujutsu instruction from Tokyo police department. He also spent plenty of time in Taiwan, where he entered to train Chinese Kenpo in addition to Karate. Eventually he traveled to Thailand where he received the rank of the grand master in Muay Thai as one of the first foreigners ever.

In 1972, he founded the Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam, originally teaching his own style named "Chakuriki", a mixture of techniques from Kyokushin karate (in which he holds a 6th degree black belt), boxing, judo, jujutsu and wrestling which would later be known as modern contact karate or kickboxing in Holland.

Chakuriki later became a kickboxing gym as Harinck added Japanese kickboxing and Savate to his repertoire. Harinck founded the NKBB (Dutch Kickboxing Association) in 1976, the MTBN (Dutch Muay Thai Association) in 1983, the WMTA (World Muay Thai Association) and the EMTA (European Muay Thai Association) in 1984.

Harinck is one of the most famous trainers in the sport and has trained numerous world champions including Peter Aerts, Branko Cikatić and Jérôme Le Banner, Badr Hari and Hesdy Gerges.

He announced his retirement in April 2013 at the age of sixty-nine. In January 2016 Thom Harinck began coaching again. He trains a group of fighters daily, that includes Hesdy Gerges. In May 2016 Harinck published his memoirs in the English language. The book is called "Thom Harinck: Godfather of Muay Thai in The West" and is co-written with Julio Punch.

External links

• Site of the authors of Thom Harinck's English biography