Thom Harinck
| Thom Harinck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
December 22, 1943 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Nationality |
 Dutch |
| Style | Judo, Kickboxing, Kyokushin Karate, Muay Thai, Savate |
| Team | Chakuriki Gym |
| Rank |
brown belt in Judo 6th degree black belt in Kyokushin |
| Notable students | Peter Aerts, Branko Cikatić, Lloyd van Dams, Hesdy Gerges, Badr Hari, Jérôme Le Banner, Melvin Manhoef, Anderson Silva, Raul Cătinaș |
Thom Harinck (born December 22, 1943 in The Hague) is a Dutch former 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.
Harinck began learning martial arts at the age of seventeen while working on a cruise ship, and also started boxing while serving in the military. 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.[1]
Chakuriki later became a kickboxing gym as Harinck added Japanese kickboxing, Muay Thai 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.[2]
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.[3]
He announced his retirement in April 2013 at the age of sixty-nine.[4][5]