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dirk stal
Posted: 2005-04-29 01:05:21

Interview with Rob Kaman on Super pro :
http://www.superpro.se/eng/eng_index.html
Not many fighters are known throughout the world like Rob "The Dutchman" Kaman. For more than 20 years he won nearly everything in kick- and thai boxing. He was known for his punches and his lethal low kicks.

He started thai boxing when he was 18 at the well known Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam under the legendary Jan Plas. Before that he trained the indonesian martial art pencak silat. He fought his first fight only 4 months after he started training, and fought none other than the french kickboxing champion on Paris. He lost that fight but got a taste for fighting and continued to train even harder. Then he fought several fights in a quick paste and won them all, most on KO, before he went on to become a professional kick- thai boxer.

In his international break through he fought Blinky Rodriques, related to Benny Urquides. After knocking him out in the second round he was ready for Thailand.

His first fight in Thailand was against a local champion, Dennoi, whom he knocked out. After that he recieved an offer to fight the thai champion Lakchart in Bangkok. Rob lost that fight but went on to fight many other thai champions like Payap and Champuek (4 times).

During his carreer he won several world titles like: WKA, ISKA, IKBF, IMF and also K2 in Paris.

1990 he fought the now 4-times K-1 champion Ernesto Hoost in Amsterdam. A fight wich is talked about until this day. It was a very tough fight wich went back and front until Rob Kaman finally won by KO. Rob says himself in our interview: "It was a hard fight. I was in trouble for a while, but that was what made me gear up and finally knock him out..."

1999 he fought his farewell fight in Haarlem, Holland against K-1 star Ignashov. Kaman won by point but in his own eyes he lost, so he gave the trophee over to Ignashov in the ring.

After his fantastic carreer he started doing movies with amoung othersd Jean Claude van Damme. Super Pro got an interview with legendary Rob Kaman who now lives in the US.

SP: How old were you when you started to train?
RK: I was 16 when I started to train pencak silat, then I started thai boxing when I was 18.

SP: Why did you start to train at Mejiro Gym?
RK: It was Lucien Carbin who took me there. At first I trained with him in Bijlmeer, a neighbourhood outside of Amsterdam.

SP: You fought your first fight after only four months. Why?
RK: I was hungry and I did good at training, so I didn´t want to wait.

SP: What does the rainbow you always wear on your fighting shorts mean?
RK: It´s the name of my son Sayroeng. It means rainbow in thai.

SP: How many fights have you fought in all?
RK: I´ve fought 99 fights. I lost 13 and won 78 by KO.

SP: What do you do now when you´ve quit fighting?
RK: I give thai boxing lessions and I´m a mental coach for several fighters like Paul Briggs, a light heavy weighter. Now I have my visa papers in order as well, so I´m thinking of acting again.

SP: What does it take to make a good thai boxer?
RK: You´ve got to be in balance with yourself and dare to confront the fear that can come in a fight.

SP: What are your tips to fighters coming up in their carreer?
RK: Not to stand to long at the same spot. If you notice that you´re not developing, look around nad see if you can learn more somewhere else.

SP: What´s different between thai boxing now and then?
RK: Fighters of today take after the thais too much. You can´t copy their style too much and I miss strategy in a lot of fights.

SP: You´ve trained a lot of time in Thailand. Wich is the biggest difference between thai and european training?
RK: The thais train a lot more monotonous than the europeans. I think you need to take the best from Thailand and the best from Europe and combine to achieve the best results.

SP: What has Jan Plas ment for you in your carreer?
RK: Extremely much. I have him to thank for a lot. His strength is that he goes in individually on a fighter and brings out whats best in that particular fighter. He doesn´t train everyone the same way.

SP: How was it that you started doing movies?
RK: It was Jean Claude van Damme whom came up to me after a fight and asked me if I wanted to take part in a movie he was making. ANd then it went on to other films.

SP: Are you still doing movies?
RK: That´s my ambition. Now I´ve got my papers in order, like I said, som now it´s easier to work. I also want to make my own movies.

SP: How many films have you taken part in?
RK: Four.

SP: Do you train boxing?
RK: Yeah, I train pretty often. Even when I train others I train myself.

SP: Why do so many great fighters com from Holland.
RK: They have good character and the thai boxing culture is very big in Holland.

SP: How did you prepare yoursel mentaly before your fights?
RK: I visualized the fights in my head before. I thaught trough the fight and my opponents. That way I was mentaly prepared when the fight came.

SP: You have won everything there is to win. Did any victory mean more than the others?
RK: Yeah, the fight against Hoost. I had just lost a fight in Japan against Peter Smit and people said that Kaman was finished. That´s why it felt so good....to show everyone Kaman wasn´t finished.

SP: Wich was your favourite technique?
RK: At first low kick, I think and that´s what I was most famous for, but I think my timing was my biggest strength.

SP: Thank you Rob, for taking the time (via telephone from USA) to do this interview! It will mean a lot to many people.
RK: Thank you

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