Meet… Samart Prins

The Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit (Dutch Martial Arts Authority) consists of a board, a supervisory board and an office. They draw on the knowledge of a large number of advisers who sit on five committees. But who are the people on those committees?

Each of the VA committees focuses on a specific theme:

– Events and galas
– Medical and health
– Quality and licences
– Technical matters
– Communication

In this series we introduce a number of committee members, to give you a better idea of the people who are involved in the substantive work of the VA.

The committee member we present this time is Samart Prins.

“I was born 43 years ago in Bangkok, Thailand, but grew up in Lisse. I still live there today, with my wife and two sons. In daily life I work as a personal trainer and fitness coach, and I teach kickboxing and punchbag training.”

“At the end of 2019, out of my love for martial arts and kickboxing in particular, I got in touch with Peter Kwint. I heard this member of the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) and VA board member in an episode of the programme Vechtersbazen. I could see his commitment to martial arts. I wanted to share my ideas with him on how to improve the sport and take it to a higher level. Before long I received a response from Farid Gamei, the director of the VA, saying they would like to discuss my ideas with me. I came in for a talk and was then asked whether I would like to contribute on a structural basis. That is how I became a member of the Events & Galas and Quality & Licences committees. I also became part of the VA audit team, which focuses on the quality of events.”

“I find the Quality & Licences committee very interesting because this is where you raise the level of martial arts from the ground up. If we improve the quality of trainers and gyms across the board, practising this fine sport becomes safer in a number of respects.”

“I have been practising various martial arts and self-defence disciplines since I was seventeen. For me it is an excellent physical and mental outlet. It also keeps me fit and enables me to defend myself, should that ever unfortunately be necessary. At the moment I mainly practise Hapkido, kickboxing and boxing, and I enjoy punchbag training sessions. As far as all of that is possible, of course, given the coronavirus restrictions. Besides practising various martial arts myself, I also give training sessions through my company Fit & Defense, which makes martial arts important to me in that respect too. It is a large part of my life.”

Also in this series:

Meet… Fabrice Deters
Meet… Richard van Asdonck
Meet… Raimond Honig
Meet… Soeresh Bhatoe