Cuijk

Maas city with a jiu-jitsu tradition

Cuijk has almost nineteen thousand inhabitants and is located directly on the Meuse. The best-known martial arts school is Budoschool Kihon, which has been teaching jiu-jitsu in Cuijk for almost thirty years. According to a regional news report from 2023, Joost Verbruggen of the Dutch Judo Federation said that nowhere in the Netherlands can you find a school with six qualified instructors like Kihon.

Karate at the Laco sports center

In addition to jiu-jitsu and boxing, there is karate. Karatevereniging Kanshu-do trains at the Laco Sports Center on St. Annastraat and practices the Shotokan style. The association focuses on the Cuijk, Grave, Boxmeer, and Gennep region.

On the Meuse

Cuijk is located directly on the Meuse and has experienced severe flooding in the past, including in 1820, 1861, 1880 and 1926. The most striking building is the neo-Gothic St Martin's Church built in 1911–1913, whose tower, dating from 1480, now houses Museum Ceuclum. Of the town's 955 hectares, 55 hectares are water.

From Ceuclum to Land van Cuijk

Cuijk followed a Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, which the Romans called Ceuclum At the end of the fourth century, a bridge was built over the Meuse near Cuijk; its remains were discovered in 1992. The Lords of Cuijk can be traced back to the eleventh century.

Fire, railway and liberation

In 1712, much of Cuijk burned down. In 1883, the Nijmegen–Venlo railway line opened, and on September 17, 1944, Cuijk was liberated. On January 1, 2022 the municipality of Cuijk ceased to exist and was incorporated into the new municipality of Land van Cuijk.

Budoschool Kihon

Budoschool Kihon offers jiu-jitsu, old-school jiu-jitsu, boxing, and punching-bag training and trains at the Laco sports center. According to the club's website, René Lange founded his own association in 1995; Lange holds an eighth dan in jiu-jitsu. In 2023, Iwan van der Lee obtained the jiu-jitsu instructor B diploma, which the news report says is the highest instructor qualification awarded by the Judo Federation of the Netherlands.

Karate Association Kanshu-do

Karate Association Kanshu-do practices Shotokan karate and trains at the Laco Sports Center at St. Annastraat 1 in Cuijk. The head instructor is sensei Theo Bergmans.