Dutch kickboxing, or Dutch Muay Thai, is a style of kickboxing

Kickboxing

Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....

 originating from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 which has its foundations in Japanese kickboxing

Japanese kickboxing

Japanese kickboxing is combat sport created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi and Karate practitioner Tatsuo Yamada. It was the first combat sport that adopted the name of "kickboxing" in 1966...

 and Muay Thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

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History

Kickboxing was first introduced to the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 in the 1970s when Dutch martial artists Thom Harinck

Thom Harinck

Thom Harinck is a Dutch kickboxing trainer and founder of the Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam.Harinck began learning martial arts at the age of seventeen while working on a cruise ship, and also started boxing while serving in the military...

 and Jan Plas

Jan Plas

Jan Plas was a Dutch kickboxing trainer and founder of the Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam. He is considered to be one of the fathers of kickboxing in the Netherlands.Plas began his career in martial arts in karate, learning Kyokushin from Jon Bluming...

 opened gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

s such as the Chakuriki Gym

Chakuriki Gym

Chakuriki Gym is a kickboxing gym, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1972, it is one of the oldest kickboxing gyms in the Netherlands.-History:...

 and Mejiro Gym

Mejiro Gym

Mejiro Gym is a kickboxing gym headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The gym is considered the "birthplace" of Dutch kickboxing.-History:...

, teaching Japanese kickboxing

Japanese kickboxing

Japanese kickboxing is combat sport created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi and Karate practitioner Tatsuo Yamada. It was the first combat sport that adopted the name of "kickboxing" in 1966...

 and Muay Thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

 which they had learned in Asia, while also using techniques from their Kyokushin

Kyokushin

is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese karate master, who was born under the name Choi Young-Eui . Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth". Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training...

 karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 backgrounds. Harinck and Plas also founded the NKBB (Dutch Kickboxing Association) in 1976.

In contrast to traditional Muay Thai, Dutch-style has more focus on boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 and low kick

Kick

In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...

s, and less use of the thip. Dutch kickboxing is also known for its aggressive punch/kick combinations.

Ever since its inception in 1993, Dutch kickboxers have dominated the K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 scene, causing "Wimbledon effects

Wimbledon Effect

The Wimbledon Effect is a chiefly British and Japanese analogy which compares the tennis fame of the Wimbledon Championships, held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, with the economic success of the United Kingdom's financial services industries — especially...

", with two record holding title champions Ernesto Hoost

Ernesto Hoost

Ernesto Fritz "Mr. Perfect" Hoost is a Dutch former kickboxer and four-time K-1 World Champion. He made his debut in 1993 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 1993, where he came just one win short of the world title...

 and Semmy Schilt

Semmy Schilt

Semmy Schilt , also known as Sem Schilt, is a Dutch Ashihara karateka, kickboxer, mixed martial artist and four time K-1 World GP champion. He is the first and only fighter in K-1 history to win the championship three times in a row, and also shares the record with Ernesto Hoost for most GPs won,...

, other world champions and contenders include Peter Aerts

Peter Aerts

Peter "The Dutch Lumberjack" Aerts is a Dutch super heavyweight kickboxer. He is a three-time K-1 World Grand Prix and Muay Thai World Champion. Aerts is best known for his powerful strikes and high kicks.- Biography :...

, Remy Bonjasky

Remy Bonjasky

Remy "The Flying Gentleman" Bonjasky is a Dutch super heavyweight kickboxer of Surinamese descent. He is a three-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion, who has won the title in 2003, 2004, and 2008...

, Andy Souwer

Andy Souwer

Andreas "Andy" Souwer is a Dutch welterweight shoot boxer. He is two time K-1 World MAX champion as well as a three time Shootboxing World tournament champion, fighting out of Mejiro Gym, Amsterdam, Netherlands....

, Badr Hari

Badr Hari

Badr "The Golden Boy" Hari is a Moroccan-Dutch super heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight champion and K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 finalist. As of May 2011, Hari is ranked the #2 heavyweight in the world by LiverKick.com...

, Albert Kraus

Albert Kraus

Albert “The Hurricane” Kraus is a Dutch welterweight kickboxer. He was the first K-1 World MAX 2002 champion and has also held four separate world titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai...

, Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem

Alistair Cees Overeem is a British born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat...

 and Melvin Manhoef

Melvin Manhoef

Melvin Manhoef is a Dutch-Surinamese Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist, trained by Mike Passenier and fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In kickboxing, he is the current It's Showtime 85MAX World Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight World champion...

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