Dutch Striking Tactics By The Dutch Lumberjack
Imagine your standing in the ring for a heavyweight kickboxing match, you look to the ramp and out walks a guy dressed in flannel and a trucker cap. As he approaches he is average Heavyweight size at 6 foot 4 inches, Then he steps over the top rope.
They call him “The Dutch Lumberjack” Peter Aerts. Now depending on what year you took this fight you could be fighting a man with a few wins or fighting a legend with over one hundred wins.
The great Peter Aerts is such an anomaly in kickboxing. Few heavyweight kickboxers have truly technical kickboxing and foot work. Unlike heavyweight boxing, footwork and angles seems to be an afterthought in kickboxing. When Peter was fighting he held the holy trinity in kickboxing.
Power, Movement and Flexibility. Peter would cut angles and just throw hammers at his opponents. He was exactly what they called him, A Dutch Lumberjack. He would go in and swing his arms and legs like they were axes into trees.
With Seventy nine knockouts on his record, there are few men who could move like he could at that weight but also technically out maneuver opponents. He is legendary for throwing both punches and kicks. As tall as he was Peter's kicks would come lighting fast over the hands of his opponent.
Being grounded in true dutch kickboxing Peter fought that hard style that is always moving forward. It is that constant pressure that allows him to topple legends in the sport of kickboxing. Peter had notable wins over fellow legends like Pat Smith, Ernesto Hoost (Twice), Jerome Le Banner and Maurice Smith just to name a few.
When Peter was in his prime he had an incredibly hard fight. He would just move forward, consistently pressure his opponents and force them to make poor decisions. Once that happened the lumberjack would chop them down.
It was that hard Dutch Style that crowned him the K-1 Grand Prix Champion on three different occasions. He has also made the finals on four other occasions. His K-1 career had spanned 16 years. 16 years as a top fighter in the worlds most hardcore kickboxing orginization is something both to admire and respect.
Head Hunters and Gunslingers take too much damage in the heavyweight division to have a career that spans that long. The technical work that Peter had put in allowed him to avoid heavy shots and create angle for attacks.
Check out how he sets up a hook off while slipping a jab.
That is both a classic Dutch Style set up and classically Peter Aerts Style.
Pay close attention to what Peter says about the slip and look at how he can generate that murderous hook by driving off the front leg.Now that Peter has retired again he has shifted his focus to coaching and teaching. Peter has lots to share and has the record to prove his Juice is worth the squeeze.
Peter’s instructional is not the typical hodge podge of moves thrown together with a bunch of flashy moves a fighter will never use. Rather Peter approached the instructional in a building blocks style. The first move builds into the second, the second goes into the third and so on.
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