Hey so iv been training muay thai, and iv been training boxing. I was wondering how different it was to a western boxing stance? Do the dutch just use a boxing stance and throw kicks from it. Or is it a hybrid between boxing and thai stance?
Bump: This is an interesting question. Is the stance development down to specific competition format in holland, or something culturally more idiosyncratic? I started with Boxing and then ventured into kickboxing, but the few times I got spar with someone from a Muay Thai background in Boxing the difference in stance and rhythm was noticeable (He had already been boxing years by then). Kickboxing is certainly not simply a boxing stance with kicking bolted on, what little i have learnt has taught me its more upright in nature and the rhythm more staccato (for want of a better word) and less fluid than boxing. And yet when I read about Dutch Kickboxing I get the image that Its Muay Thai Minus Knees/Elbows/High Guard with Boxing head movement and Guard, as opposed to American Kickboxing which has a Karateka Flavour. Am I wrong? Something more subtle?
Dutch kickboxing is basically a "neutral" stance in my mind. Closer to muay thai but with less emphasis on on such a light forward foot. Their boxing combinations are much better than thais on average and indeed many of them can box to a good level. So imagine thai footwork, slightly heavier on the front leg (but still light) and from the hips up it looks like a boxer. Thai fighters often put one or both arms out for a variety of reasons but in Dutch KB the hands are more glued to the head. Interestingly a lot of Dutch style doesn't come from Muay Thai, it has its roots in karate! It's also one of my favourite combat sports to watch!
To my knowledge Dutch kickboxing has its roots in kyokushin karate and Muay Thai. Jan plas trained at Kenji Kurosakis gym in the Mejiro area of Tokyo in the 70s and went back to Holland and opened his own gym, Mejiro gym, incorporating the style he picked up their off great fighters like Toshio Fujiwara, who was the first non Thai to win a Muay tha title. Fujiwara had more of a footwork and moving style,so to speak, than the thais who generally were more walking and angling, so to speak. (The problem is it's not true to say all Thais do this or all the dutch do that it's often the fighter that counts. Some Thais fighters have been world class boxers too and won titles or had more footwork and movement than others) Kurosaki was one of Mas Oyama's top fighters and amongst those Japanese fighters who fought the Thais in the early 60s. The Thais won comfortably so kurosaki went to Thailand and trained and also brought Thai trainers to Japan. He incorporated these experiences back onto kyokushin karate and the next time the Japanese fought the Thais. They did a lot better.
