Fifty Years of Chakuriki Style Kickboxing

Fifty years ago, Thom Harinck created his own style of fighting entitled Chakuriki.

For many years fighters would hone their skills at Van Hallstraat 52 in Amsterdam mixing Kyokushin karate with boxing, Judo, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. This was the Chakuriki way.

Harinck has later moved his gym, but during his golden years he was responsible for some of the biggest shows in Holland AND some of the biggest names in Kickboxing, especially in the Japanese organisation K-1.

Most people know Peter ‘The Dutch Lumberjack’ Aerts, who won the K-1 World Grand Prix (Heavyweights) Final in Tokyo Dome, Japan three times when K-1 had the BEST fighters in the world.

The first ever K-1 World Grand Prix was won by the late (RIP) Branko Cikatić from Croatia who was trained by Thom Harinck at Chakuriki Dojo in Amsterdam.

Other notable names from Chakuriki are Perry ‘Dynamite’ Ubeda (son of the infamous Kickboxing Referee Joop Ubeda), Gilbert ‘The Bullterrier’ Ballentine who regularly fought at the Mecca of Muay Thai, Lumpini Stadium, and was ranked in top ten for many years.

Badr Hari also started his Kickboxing career at Chakuriki. Like the Swede Patrick ‘The Viking’ Ericsson and too many other big names to mention.

These days The Godfather of Dutch Kickboxing is celebrating 50 years of active coaching Chakuriki style with his usual hefty travelling agenda visiting old friends and affiliated gyms around the world.

Chakuriki has gyms in Russia, Germany, Croatia, Spain, Brazil, Japan and Holland and Harinck is often visiting these gyms to teach and stay in contact and he is always welcomed like a true legend and the down to earth friendly guy he is.