National Martial Arts Centre: a stimulating idea takes shape

What began as an interesting idea from the municipality of Rotterdam (gemeente Rotterdam) is now taking concrete shape: a National Martial Arts Centre (Nationaal Vechtsportcentrum) will be established in the port city. Various federations will share their services and knowledge there, save costs and jointly build the martial arts culture in the Netherlands. The Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit (Dutch Martial Arts Authority) is in talks with the organisation to determine how kickboxing, Thai boxing and mixed martial arts will join in.

The Aikido Bond Nederland, the Nederlandse Boksbond (Dutch Boxing Federation), the Judobond Nederland (Dutch Judo Federation), the Karate-do Bond Nederland, the KNKF, the Dutch Sambo Federation, Taekwondo Bond Nederland, the Nederlandse Vechtsportautoriteit and NOC*NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation) met in Rotterdam on 11 February at the invitation of the municipality. Over the past year Rotterdam had already made contact and exchanged ideas. Could these organisations strengthen one another and themselves by working together more closely and, for example, sharing their facilities at a single location in the port city? The answer appears to be 'yes'.

Medals
During the first in-person meeting, Rotterdam presented the plans and the state of affairs so far. The National Martial Arts Centre will become the location for the TeamNL elite sport programme for boxing. National training sessions for karate, taekwondo, aikido and sambo will also take place here, as well as the regional judo training sessions. The various martial arts federations want to professionalise and innovate further together. One of the aims is to increase the number of medals won at international tournaments.

Grassroots sport
The National Martial Arts Centre can also be used by the education sector and for grassroots sport. With the arrival of the centre, Rotterdam also wants to give a boost to grassroots sport and to the martial arts clubs in the city. To this end, Rotterdam Topsport, Rotterdam Sportsupport, Sportbedrijf Rotterdam and the municipality will work out a plan together with the federations, sports providers and educational institutions to ensure that martial arts in Rotterdam benefit across the board from the arrival of the National Martial Arts Centre in the city.

The National Martial Arts Centre will be a unique location in the Netherlands. At the centre, elite athletes can train daily with the best possible support and facilities in areas including nutrition, medical care, lifestyle and education.

Opening in April
As early as 1 April 2022, the National Martial Arts Centre will be temporarily housed in the sports halls of Albeda on Sportlaan in Rotterdam. These are currently being converted for this purpose. One sports hall will be fully equipped for the elite boxing programme. In the other hall, martial arts such as judo, karate, taekwondo, aikido and sambo can be practised. The aim is to move in 2026 to a newly built martial arts centre next to the Topsportcentrum Rotterdam.

Rotterdam presents itself emphatically as a city where martial arts have traditionally been popular and are practised at a high level. Everyone knows Bep van Klaveren, the Olympic boxing champion of 1928. In judo, Rotterdam has also produced many champions, including Mark Huizinga and Marhinde Verkerk. In addition, Rotterdam has various martial arts clubs and is often the host city for national and international martial arts events, including for karate and taekwondo. Glory and the UFC have also staged major events in the city.

After the presentation, the federations were able to exchange views on their expectations and on what each organisation could contribute to realising the National Martial Arts Centre.

Vechtsportautoriteit
Managing director Farid Gamei attended on behalf of the VA. "The VA is always in favour of cooperation and joining forces. That is why we approach this idea with a positive attitude. The VA itself is not a sports federation, but because kickboxing means we represent one of the largest martial arts, and because the prospect of a single federation for our sports is becoming increasingly concrete, we are being closely involved in the plans. We consider a National Martial Arts Centre a stimulating idea and are very curious to see how this process will develop further."