Muay Thai fighter teaches refugees self-defence

A woman from Kent who trains and competes in Muay Thai boxing has taken her skills to Greece where she has been volunteering to empower women living in refugee camps.

Kat Samuelson, who lives near Maidstone, was persuaded by a friend to take up this form of boxing two years ago and immersed herself in a training camp in Phuket in Thailand.

Samuelson, 31, who is also a fitness trainer and performer, says she went on a steep learning curve when she began practising the martial art.

She said: "I was absolutely terrible at it at first. I had come from a fitness background and circus arts and I thought, 'Oh I am quite strong.' I was absolutely humbled. I had no co-ordination, no fitness, nothing."

The combat sport, which originated in Thailand, is also known as The Art of Eight Limbs because it uses all the different parts of the body.

Samuelson's potential soon became obvious.

Six months after returning from Thailand, her trainer Joe Chaikam had her competing in the ring.

Chaikam, who runs the Rittijak Gym in Swanscombe and is a four-time World Champion, is full of praise for Samuelson.

He said: "Kat is good. She started not long ago but we've had three fights, two wins and one loss. She beats me up sometimes!"

The fitness trainer is using her skills to help some of the most vulnerable women.

Samuelson has recently returned from Athens, where she volunteered with EmpowerVan, a charity which teaches weekly self-defence classes to women and girls currently housed in refugee camps outside the city.

Founder and director, Claude Jonkmans, said: "In our camp classes, we usually focus on physical techniques so we do anything from learning how to block, learning how to strike."

Its activities are designed to help female refugees, many of whom come from countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan, to better protect themselves in new environments.

Jonkmans said: "We also do empowerment practices where we just learn how to say no, where we find our boundaries."

Samuelson has been volunteering to pass on her Muay Thai skills as a means of self-defence.

She says the priority is not so much to teach the technical elements of the combat sport, but it is more about offering women a "sense of empowerment" which is "incredible".

According to Samuelson, the sport is "growing" among women in the UK but she would like to see more get involved, even at a non-competitive level.

"There are some fantastic women at the top who are professional and there are a huge number coming through who are practising for fitness or amateur competition and potentially climbing up the ranks," she said.

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