MOST POPULAR BOXING GYMS IN THE NETHERLANDS

MOST POPULAR BOXING GYMS IN THE NETHERLANDS

 

Did you knew that Holland is the most successful country in Kickboxing? Believe me, it is!

Kickboxing has become popular in The Netherlands in 1980 when the K-1 was launched. The K-1 World Grand Prix has at least 8 tournaments each year with the biggest and greatest fighter fighting each other. Most of the fights has been held in Japan and other countries in Asia.

 

The most popular champions are fighters from the small country in Europe. The Netherlands. The Kickbox schools in this country are recognizable from their simple fight style. Also called the 1 – 2 – 3 style. The fighting combination always begins with 2 punches and ends with a kick. Very simple but very effective.

Popular fighters

The most popular K-1 fighters from The Netherlands are Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Remy Bonjasky Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari and Ramon Dekkers. The last name was a legend born and raised in Breda, a village in the south of The Netherlands. Ramon Dekkers was fighting for the gym named ‘Golden Glory’. Golden Glory is still one of the best gyms from the world with many great fighters. If you are planning to visit Noord – Brabant i would really advice you to visit this gym. To watch the professionals train with each other or to taste the experience and do a trail training with them.

 

Golden Glory stands for discipline and respect. When you have enough discipline and respect for your team and opponent, you are welcome to train at this gym. This gym prefers fight techniques over power. This is why they train 3 hours a day on technique. 1,5 hours in the mourning and 1,5 in the evening, so do the fighters have enough time to rest and let their muscles recover. Their workouts consist of conditioning workouts, technique workouts and some power workouts. For the conditioning workout the fighters usually jump rope and run in rounds. After that do the popular shadow boxing. Most of the people know shadow boxing from the Famous boxing star Mohammed Ali. Shadow Boxing is not only good for your conditioning but also for your reflect. For the technique workouts the fighters usually do some 1v1 combinations, this means that the fighters try do a combination on the hands of the other fighter. So can they give each other some advice and tips. And at least for the power workouts the fighters throw heavy punches and kicks on a punching bag. The fighters can release all their power on the bag without injuring somebody. So this is a nice opportunity to gain power in combination with condition.

Gyms in Amsterdam

The other name that I named above, Badr Hari, fights for Mike Gyms located in our beautiful capital city Amsterdam. Badr Hari is one of the most popular fighters in the Netherlands known for his last two fights against Rico Verhoeven that were watched everywhere in the country. These last fights took care of more popularity for the gym and more people in the boxing sport have visited this famous gym in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam there are many more old fashioned gyms. The gyms are normally not very nice and don’t have a lot of modern training gears. These gyms stands for old school training and fighting. Typical Amsterdam. They have an other side of Kickboxing they focus more on punching and less on kicking, so in one word like ‘Boxing’. With their vision on this side of Kickboxing and boxing they are very different to other gyms in different countries. This makes gyms from Amsterdam special and also one of a kind. They are prepared from the old school way and ready to throw punches and kicks in any circumstances.

Badr Hari is also known from his dangerous knees. When knees are allowed in kickboxing it’s called Muay Thai. Muay Thai is originally from Thailand and is the popularist sport in the country. Muay Thai is being done in more than 40 different countries. Countries like The Netherlands, Thailand, Morocco, Turkey, Belgium, Japan, Korea, USA, Brazil and many more. But the 3 most popular countries are The Netherland, Japan and Thailand. Thailand is popular for there specialism in throwing knees. The Netherlands is popular from their 1 – 2- 3 combinations. And Japan had the most kickboxing and Muay Thai fans in the world. They love watching 2 gladiators fighting each other with respect in a ring or cage. The last man standing is in their eyes a God! With the many tourneys K-1 host each year scattered in Japan. The most popular tourney is definitely the 16 man Heavyweight tourney held in Japan. In this tourney the 16 best heavyweights fights each other on 1 night. To become the champion you need to win 3 matches in a row. When you have done this you can call yourself the best Heavyweight Kickboxer in the entire world!

Weight divisions

The tourneys are not alone for Heavyweights but there are also tourneys for other weight classes. The weight classes you can be in are (from low to high) Featherweight with a limit of 65 kilograms, Lightweight with a limit of 70 kilograms, Welterweight with a limit of 77 kilograms, Middleweight with a limit of 85 kilograms, Light heavyweight with a limit of 95 kilograms and the famous weight class the Heavyweight class with no limit. This makes it possible for every fighter to fight against another fighter of his own division, so the fights that are being fought are more fair for both fighters.

 

The most of the fighters from The Netherlands fights in the Heavyweight division in contrast with Thailand and Japan where a lot of their fighters are in the Lightweight and welterweight division. That’s what I like about this sport, every country has their own training style their own popular weight division and their favourite fighter. Even though they all do the same sport every gym and fighter does it on there own way and cannot be compared with each other.

Mixed martial arts

In MMA (also known as Mixed martial arts) is Muay Thai and kickboxing also an important part. Most of the fights in MMA are being held on their feet’s. So the fighters have to know the basic of Kickboxing to deliver as best as possible. Kickboxing do not only stand for punching and kicking but also for clinching. You are probably think what in the name of earth is Clinching? No problem I will explain it to you. Clinching is holding the back of the head of your opponent with a lot of force to drain his conditioning and use your knees to hit is body. This sounds a lot easier than it is believe me.. In different kickboxing bonds there a different rules about this. Like in Glory number 1 bond in kickboxing they have as rule that you only can clinch for 5 seconds, so can they keep up the pace in the match and prevent that the fighters keep ‘hugging’ each other. That’s not what the fans wants to see, right? I would not anyway. But in Japan they like Clinching there is no time limit on it and the fighter can keep going to whole 3 minutes kneeing each other in the stomach and head. It’s a part of the game but not spectacular for the audience.

Also in kickboxing it’s allowed to do backfist. Backfist is spinning around 360 degrees and hit your opponent with your back of the hand. This is one of the most spectacular moves in Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing and Mixed Martial arts. When u have done a backfist right and hit your opponent on the right spot it can result in a Knock out. Just Like Badr Hari did in 2009. When you can do this for the audience you will be loved and gain many many fans. The fans just want to get something for their ticket. So a spectacular knock out is the best thing a fighter can give the audience and their fans. Because at the and of the day fans are one of the most important thing in this sport. They finance the bond’s who pays the fighters. After the fights many fighters give the fans and the audience the opportunity to meet and greet them. So can they make a connection with their fans, because at the and of the day the fighter with the most fans is the fighter who get’s payed the most.

 

Have I been motivating you to visit the gym and learn some new tricks and keep your body healthy? Don’t hesitate to visit our website and keep up-to-date with the best information from real professionals and the best coaches. Our website also shows the most popular hot – spots for Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing and Mixed Martial arts in different countries. To get this up-to-date information you can download some of our premium content for more in-dept information about boxing, kickboxing and many more content that is available! Go and check if you want some free premium content.