Dutch Kickboxing is the most dominant striking style.

“if it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much!”

What is Dutch Kickboxing?

Dutch Kickboxing is an extremely powerful style that combines Karate, Boxing, and Muay Thai techniques. 

It is a combination of multiple striking based martial arts, that has culminated in a style of kickboxing that is very aggressive and very pressure heavy, it relies on mid range strikes that can be thrown in long combinations. Its strengths are its explosiveness superior boxing skill and powerful shots.

What Makes Dutch Kickboxing the most dominant stand-up striking style?

Think of kickboxing first. Then add lethal low kicks and heavy hands. Drop in spinning back fists, explosive power and fighting spirit. What you get is Dutch kickboxing, one of the most dominant striking arts from one of the smallest regions in the world. 

The martial art was made popular in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Great Champions like Rob Kaman, Lucia Rijker, Ivan Hippolyte, Ramon Dekkers, Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts fought all over the world and they won most of their fights in different stand-up martial arts. 

But what separates Dutch kickboxing from other stand-up martial arts? Is it the style?  Is it the training? Is it the philosophy? Or is it a mix of all three? 

A Brief History Of Dutch Kickboxing

The story starts where many MMA stories start: Japan. Kenji Kurosaki was a co-creator of the full-contact Karate variant that goes by the name Kyokushin. Kurosaki then added to his skill by moving to Thailand to learn Muay Thai. He thoughtfully incorporated Muay Thai techniques into Kyokushin Karate, moving to Tokyo to teach this Muay Thai and Karate fusion. 

Enter the Dutch. In the ’70s, Dutch fighters like the world-famous Jan Plas traveled to Tokyo to train at Kurosaki’s gym. They used the techniques from Kurosaki’s Mejiro gym as a basis and inspiration for the Dutch style of kickboxing. This is a good place to start listing the top Dutch kickboxers. The list sheds light on the Dutch kickboxing scene, from its inception to the present day.

Top 7 Dutch Kickboxers Of All Time:

• Jan Plas: ‘The father of Dutch kickboxing,’ 
• Rob Kaman
• Peter Aerts
• Semmy Schilt 
• Ramon Dekkers
• Ernesto Hoost
• Rico Verhoeven