QUINTY VAN GOGH
What is your name and what do you do?
Hi! My name is Quinty van Gogh and I’m a third year medical student.
Since when have you been a member of Kinran?
I have been a member of the Kinran-family since September 2017.
As a long-term member of Kinran what motivated you to join/and stay?
Well, I’ve been in to martial arts ever since I ended up at a Taekwondo-association because my sister needed to be more assertive (I was about 7 or 8 I think?). Since I got my black-belt a little before moving to Maastricht, I wanted to keep participating in some form of martial arts and I wanted to combine this with a student association, because I didn’t know anyone in the city yet. The most important reason for me to stay however, was the fact that Kinran didn’t just prove to be a place to perform martial arts, but also a place to meet amazing people and make great friends. At this point I’ve been to festivals with (former) Kinran members, I met my boyfriend via one and I convinced one of my best friends to move in with one. Those are just a few examples of how Kinran became, not just a sports association, but a part of my life as a student.
How do you feel Kinran has developed over the years and do you agree with this development?
I find this a hard question to answer, since we are currently in the middle of a pandemic, so everything is a bit different. For me however, I feel like it didn’t get better or less good, but it did get different. For example, when I started, I felt like the board was a little group of people who knew everything and we were the members under them (a gap between those two), but now it feels a lot more like everyone has a say and everyone contributes to help the board out and the board is more like an overseeing organ, organizing the whole thing. With regard to the trainings, the change I have seen mostly is the fact that sensei Arnold took over both trainings instead of just the Thursday trainings. I like his trainings a lot, because they are physically more challenging, so for me this is not a bad thing, however I also liked the way sensei Ramon explained some things, so this again, is not a good thing nor a bad thing. In conclusion: Kinran changes like a living thing, because of the different people that are part of it, but that isn’t a bad thing.
What is Karate to you?
Karate is big part of your life. It gives you a chance to train power, but control at the same time, while also teaching you things about life. It makes me confident and it makes me feel like I’m part of some big family of al the martial arts performers in the world (since we all get the awesomeness without words). It is a way to physically challenge yourself and prove you can always do and learn more. It teaches you awareness about your own body, but also respect for anyone else’s. As a woman, I like that I walk down the street with the feeling I could defend myself if needed, however, the way karate also teaches you respect and self-control, it’s something I hope I’m never going to need.
What is Kinran to you?
As I said before, a little family on the side. Everyone is very different and in one way or another we’re all outsiders, but for some reason everyone fits together. In the pile of 18086 students (at least in 2018 according to google), it is pretty special to find a group like that.
Any other remarks?
Just that, if anyone who is reading this, who is still in doubt about joining Kinran, I would say: DO IT, even if it is just for one lesson. You can learn a lot from the martial art, the variety of people in Kinran and of course the amazing sensei.