Dutch Style Kickboxing: As effective as it is exciting.

Kickboxing is becoming more and more popular thanks to the new and highly regarded GLORY World Series of Fighting promotion. Now many people get confused about kickboxing and use the sport interchangeably with Muiy Thai. They are completely separate sports, and although they have similarities in that both involve the use of feet and hands, they are trained for very differently. For example, Kickboxing has a much deeper focus on boxing techniques and prohibits the use of elbow strikes and thai clinching with only single knee strikes allowed. Where as Muiy Thai is known as the art of 8 limbs due to the use of pairings of the hands, elbows, knees and shins. Elbows, multiple knee strikes and clinching and even certain throws and sweeps are permitted in Muiy Thai events depending on the rules of the promotion.

Now when it comes to sport often there is one country that truly excels and sometimes just flat out dominate the rest in. In Rugby Union its New Zealand, in Basketball its the USA and in Kickboxing, it's the Netherlands that reign supreme. The question is, what makes them so dominant? The answer lies in the style that they adopt their fighters with. Without too much of a history lesson in the origins of the dutch kickboxing it was influenced originally from Japanese kickboxing  and integrated with Muiy Thai. The four famous dutch gyms are Mikes Gym, Mejiro gym, chakuriki gym and Golden glory.

Whats so special about the Dutch Style? The Dutch style emphasises the use of rapid firing boxing combinations in order to get the opponent to 'shell up' and while the opponent is covering up from the boxing barrage, kicks are then utilised to compliment the hands with a massive focus on the low kick, although all types of kicks as well as single knee strikes are used. Essentially the dutch style uses traditional boxing combinations to set up singular kicks A great example of an excellent dutch style fighter is multiple time world champion Andy Souwer. Andy's hands are so impressive that many believed he could have been a boxing world champ as well. Below you can watch the way he uses his incredibly quick hands to set up vicious low licks high kicks and knees.

Note the combinations at 0:30 and 2:24, A rapid hand combo to get the opponent to shell as I mentioned earlier and a chopping low kick to follow up, this my dear friends is Dutch kickboxing 101.

Another equally important point to note is the movement aspect to the Dutch style. Unlike traditional Muiy Thai where fighters often stand very upright, flat footed  and back foot dominant , the Dutch style tends to adopt a hybrid style of linear foot work ith a tad lower center of gravity with a closer similarity to what is seen in amateur boxing.  This is made possible by the more equal weight distribution on each leg, placing less of the back heel on the ground and more pressure on the ball of each of the feet to maximise mobility. This is often characterised by the more open linear stance (as opposed to the feet closer together as seen in traditional muiy thai).

Don't get me wrong, there are Muiy Thai fighters who utilise a more boxing style of linear  footwork, its just more uncommon. The other simple reason is that Dutch approach is heavily showcased by getting on the inside/midrange with quick hand combinations to step up what is stereotypically a single hard low kick, then popping back out(often to to the very outskirts of their opponents range as to make it easier to pop back in if required). The reason they pop back out so frequently is because the lack of inside game involved. No use of elbows are permitted with throws being negated too and only a singe arm clinch is used to deliver a single knee strike. Think about it, with so little inside game to utilise it makes more sense to stay in a range where you can utilise more weapons. In Muiy Thai however it makes perfect sense to transition mid range kicks into a close distance battle of brutal knees, slicing elbows, and disabling throws from the infamous Thai Clinch.

It would be hard for me not to mention the fact that the application of Dutch style kickboxing in MMA makes for a highly effective transition when in conjunction with a focus takedown defence. This is credit to its merits as a highly mobile striking style which leaves the athlete less susceptible to take downs. As discussed above, with weight distribution more equal on each leg, one finds it easier to use backward linear footwork to avoid the takedowns (and potential counter strikes) whilst maintaining balance as opposed to Muiy Thai's traditional back foot heavy front foot light stance which makes it harder to sprawl and defend takedowns. A fighter who has Fantastically transitioned to hybrid a more dutch style of Muiy Thai is Jose Aldo, the UFC's Featherweights Champion. Check his highlight out below, devastating striker!

For other examples of excellent dutch styled fighters check out these guys on youtube:

Ramon Dekkers
Ernesto Hoost
Tyrone Spong
Gohkan Saki
Albert Kraus
Melvin Manhoef.

By Andrew Sheridan

Art of combat specialists. The science of destruction: Mike Tyson

This series will cover some of my favourite fighters of all time and what it is/was that was so special about them.

Everyone knows Mike Tyson. Thats an impressive statement. What makes it more impressive is that, even those who don't follow any combat sport STILL know the name Mike Tyson. Tyson was not just a fan favourite, he was a name that brought in fans and kept them there which more often that not, was only after watching one of his fights.

 Tyson was a crowd pleasing entertainer that brought an intensity to the ring that in my opinion, hasn't been seen since. But what made him so good? I sought out to seek the opinions of 20 or so casual fight fans to see what I came up with. Not to my surprise, the common response was: 'his power'. Power is an interesting word in the context of boxing. Many refer to the term power in boxing to describe an individuals ability to produce a knock out punch or combo. I would tend to agree with that definition albeit rather simplified. While true that Tyson possessed impressive punching power, it was how he manufactured that power which made him so special. This leads me to the two aspects of Tyson that in my view inducted him into boxing royalty; Speed and head movement.

Tyson's hand speed was ridiculous and definitely one of his best assets as a fighter. One must remember this when it comes to heavyweight boxing. Everyone can hit hard, but not everyone can hit fast. Tyson did both, and in devastating fashion. Check out the 4 punch combo at 0:20 below.

Now when you have a heavyweight that can punch this fast, it makes for some scary combinations. Two of mikes favourite and trademark combos were his right hook to the body, left hook to the head used both on the inside and from the outside.And arguably his most famous combo, a double right hand combo, right hook to the body , then right uppercut to the head. Check it out in the video below.

I have saved the best till last so to speak: Tysons head movement. Specifically his slips on the outside and bobbing and weaving on the inside. Now theres a classic saying in combat: the best defence is a good offence. Tyson had a defence that incredibly set up his offence, the two were synchronised which lead to a scientific approach to boxing, the art of hitting whist not being hit. Tyson was certainly not the only heavyweight to move his head, but he was one of the few who based his whole style off of it. Tyson was trained by legendary trainer Cus D'amato. Cus invented a system of boxing and coined it peekaboo style (named after the game played with young children). It was characterised by the hands of the boxer being held in front of the face with the forearms together. It is a deadly style of inside fighting in which the focus is on constant head movement and maximising the strengths of a pressure fighter: close range punches, cutting off the ring and minimising the counters that a longer reached , outside fighter (usually tall and long limbs) would use to keep an inside fighter away. Essentially albeit overly simplified,  a peekaboo fighter attempts to nullify all attacks of the opponent by moving their head while pressuring forward until they are close enough to unleash combinations of hooks overhands and uppercuts. Tyson was a master of this. Check out the video, the title gives it away:

Watch the whole piece if you can, if not, the first 90 seconds serve as a perfect example to illustrate my points in action. Watch from 1:04-1:12 and you will be amazed.

I mentioned earlier that it wasn't just Tyson's power that made him so devastating, it was how he manufactured it. Tyson maximised his punching power by shifting his weight in synch with his head.By using his head movement he would kill two birds with one stone, he would not only  slip the punch, but also set himself in a position to deliver a shot with maximal leverage. He did so by utilising rapid weight transfer. Every time he slipped or weaved to one side, the shift in weight from the slip would then be explosively transferred towards the opposite side thus turning his whole body into the punch.

A great example of this is at 2:37-2:40 of the above video. Watch as he easily slips the jab of his opponent and delivers his own jab while simultaneously slipping to his right, he has transferred his weight onto his right side (specifically the rear right foot) ready to load up his next shot, he follows up with a right body shot that naturally transfers his weight to the left side. Now that his weight is on the left side he delivers a left hook to the head which stuns his opponent (and if you watch carefully youll notice that after he throws the left hook his weight is loaded up to throw a right hand shot if needed). Can you notice how his head is never still, he uses his head to move out of the way of punches, and transfer his weight to set up his next shot. All of a sudden he's not just an exciting brawler but a genius technician of inside fighting.

I could go on for days about the technical prowess of what I consider to be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. But this article is long enough as is. I hope you guys now have a little more insight and understanding as to what made tyson so damn effective in his prime.

By Andrew Sheridan.

Welcome to The Art of Combat

 Combat sport is a booming industry with modern day MMA, popularised by the UFC, establishing itself as the fastest growing sport in the world. The UFC are not alone in regards to innovating the fighting world, with the new and highly regarded  Glory World Series  rapidly resurrecting the dying sport of kickboxing. But this blog isn't just for MMA and modified rule kickboxing, its about the art of all striking styles that fall under the combat category. Boxing, dutch kickboxing, Muiy Thai, and mma specific striking will be covered, analysed and explained for your reading pleasure.