Kickboxing is an umbrella term for different styles of full-contact hybrid boxing type, combat sports, and martial arts based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in various times in history. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and bare feet to favor the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or for competition. Some styles of kickboxing include: full contact karate, Muay Thai, Japanese kickboxing, Lethwei, Sanda, and Savate.
Although since the dawn of humanity people have faced each other in hand-to-hand combat, the first documentation on the use of kicking and punching in sports combat is from ancient Greece and ancient India. But nevertheless, the term kickboxing originated in Japan, in the 1960s, and developed in the late 1950s from karate mixed with boxing, having some influence, with competitions held since then. American kickboxing originated in the 1970s and was brought to prominence in September 1974, when the Professional Karate Association (PKA) held the first World Championships. Historically, kickboxing can be considered a hybrid martial art formed from the combination of elements of various traditional styles. This approach became increasingly popular since the 1970s, and since the 1990s, kickboxing has contributed to the emergence of mixed martial arts via further hybridization with ground fighting techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and folk wrestling.
Although, there are many governing bodies such as the World Kickboxing Association, the Professional Kickboxing Association (PKA), International Sport Karate Association, International Kickboxing Federation, and WKN - World Kickboxing Network, among others, the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (also known as WAKO) is the recognized as the official kickboxing world governing body by the IOC.
At professional level, there is no single kickboxing world championship, and champion titles are issued by individual promotions, such as Glory, K-1 and ONE Championship among others. Bouts organized under different governing bodies apply different rules, such as allowing the use of knees or clinching etc.
Terminology
The term can be used in a narrow and in a broad sense. The narrow use is restricted to the styles that self-identify as kickboxing, i.e., Japanese kickboxing (with its spin-off styles or rules such as shootboxing and K-1), Dutch kickboxing, and American kickboxing. In the wider sense, it includes all modern stand-up combat sports that allow both punching and kicking, including those mentioned above, Sanda, Muay Thai, Lethwei, Savate, Adithada, Musti-yuddha, and certain styles of karate (especially full contact karate).
The term itself was introduced in the 1960s as a Japanese anglicism by Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi for a hybrid martial art combining Muay Thai and karate which he had introduced in 1958. The term was later also adopted by the American variant. Since there has been a lot of cross-fertilization between these styles, with many practitioners training or competing under the rules of more than one style, the history of the individual styles cannot be seen in isolation from one another.
The French term Boxe pieds-poings (literally "feet-fists-boxing") is also used in the sense of "kickboxing" in the general meaning, including French boxing (Savate) as well as American, Dutch and Japanese kickboxing, and Burmese and Thai boxing, any style of full contact karate, etc.
Styles and descendant arts Arts labelled as kickboxing in the general sense include: Japanese Kickboxing — combat style created in Japan, and origin of the term "kickboxing". Any style of Full contact karate Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) — The applicable component of wushu/kung fu of which takedowns and throws are legal in competition as well as all other sorts of striking (use of arms and legs). Shootboxing — A Japanese form of kickboxing, founded in 1985, which allows throwing and submission while standing, similar to Sanda. American Kickboxing — a style originating in the United States, created in 1970s. Dutch Kickboxing — incorporate from four combat arts — Japanese Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing, and Kyokushin style of Karate. French Savate — a historical sport which developed in the 19th century. It is mostly known for its foot-kicking techniques. Ukrainian Combat Hopak is mostly built around punching and kicking techniques. Indian Musti yuddha (also known as Muki boxing) and Adithada, a form of kickboxing that uses knee, elbow and forehead strikes in Southern kalaripayattu. Kunguk-Do — a Korean kickboxing style created in 1969 by Jung Do Mo, drawing influences from Traditional Karate, Muay Thai, American Kickboxing, Oriental Rules Kickboxing, and Kyeok Too Ki Kyeok Too Ki (also referred to as KTK, Kyuk Too Ki, or Gyeok Tu Gi) — a Korean form of kickboxing created by Kim Gwi Jin in 1964 with rules originally allowing not only strikes but also throws and submission holds from standing while banning ground fighting techniques. Over the time, rules changed to only allow strikes, more similar to K1 rules, most likely due to public criticism in Korea. The Southeast Asian family of kickboxing sports (also known as the ethnic neutral term of "muay" at the Southeast Asian Gamessaid to be from a Sanskrit word mavya) including: Thai Muay Boran (Ancient boxing) — Predecessor of Muay Thai, allows the use of headbutts. Thai kickboxing or Muay Thai — a modern Thai martial art that allows punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes. Burmese Lethwei — a traditional Burmese martial art of which has now grown into a popular kickboxing event that allows headbutts, knees and elbow strikes. It bears resemblance to neighboring Muay Thai, but Lethwei uses more punches and less kicks. Head butt, choking and throwing techniques are also used. The fighting intensity and momentum is also considered faster. No boxing gloves are used. There is also no scoring system and knockout is the only way to win a match. Laotian Muay Lao — Laotian boxing which is similar to Muay Thai Filipino Yaw-Yan — Sayaw ng Kamatayan (Dance of Death) is the proper name for Yaw-Yan, a Filipino martial art developed by Napoleon Fernandez. The art resembles Muay Thai in a sense, but differs in the hip torquing motion as well as downward-cutting nature of its kicks and with strong emphasis on delivering attacks from long range.
History Overview
Since kickboxing is a broad term, understanding the history can be somewhat difficult, since combat is an inherent part of being human. Kicking and punching as an act of human aggression have probably existed throughout the world since prehistory.
The earliest known depiction of any type of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Iraq from the 3rd millennium BC. Forms of kickboxing existed in ancient India. The earliest references to musti-yuddha come from classical Vedic epics such as the Ramayana and Rig Veda, compiled in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The Mahabharata describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts. Mushti Yuddha has travelled along the Indian cultural sphere and has connections to many famous martial arts of Southeast Asia such as Muay Thai and Muay Laos.
In the Pankration, a mixed martial art from ancient Greece, a form of kickboxing was used in its Anō Pankration modality, being able to use any extremity to hit. In addition, it is debated whether kicks were allowed in ancient Greek boxing, and while there is some evidence of kicks, this is the subject of debate among scholars.
The French were the first to include boxing gloves into a sport that included kicking and boxing techniques. In 1743, modern boxing gloves were invented by Englishman Jack Broughton. Frenchman Charles Lecour added English boxing gloves to la boxe française. Charles Lecour was a pioneer of modern savate or la boxe française. He created a form where both kicking and punching was used. Lecour was the first to view savate as a sport and self-defense system. The French colonists introduced European boxing gloves into the native Asian martial arts in French Indochina. The use of European boxing gloves spread to neighboring Siam.
In the 1950s, Japanese karateka Tatsuo Yamada laid the foundation for a new sport that blended elements of karate and Muay Thai. This concept was further developed in the early 1960s through interstyle competitions between practitioners of the two disciplines, which led to the evolution and adjustment of rules. By the mid-1960s, the first events officially referred to as "kickboxing" were held in Osaka.
By the 1970s and 1980s, kickboxing expanded beyond Japan and had reached North America and Europe. It was during this time that many of the most prominent governing bodies were formed.
In Japan the sport was widely popular and was regularly broadcast on television before going into a dark period during the 1980s. In North America the sport had unclear rules so kickboxing and full contact karate were essentially the same thing. In Europe the sport found marginal success but did not thrive until the 1990s.
Since the 1990s kickboxing has been mostly dominated by the Japanese K-1 promotion, with some competition coming from other promotions and mostly pre-existing governing bodies.
Along with the growing popularity in competition, there has been an increased amount of participation and exposure in the mass media, fitness, and self-defense.
Japan
On December 20, 1959, a Muay Thai match among Thai fighters was held at Asakusa town hall in Tokyo. Tatsuo Yamada, who established "Nihon Kempo Karate-do", was interested in Muay Thai because he wanted to perform karate matches with full-contact rules since practitioners are not allowed to hit each other directly in karate matches. He had already announced his plan which was named "The draft principles of project of establishment of a new martial art and its industrialization" in November 1959, and he proposed the tentative name of "karate-boxing" for this new art. It is still unknown whether Nak Muay was invited by Yamada, but it is clear that Yamada was the only karateka who was really interested in Muay Thai. Yamada invited a champion Nak Muay (and formerly his son Kan Yamada's sparring partner), and started studying Muay Thai. At this time, the Thai fighter was taken by Osamu Noguchi who was a promoter of boxing and was also interested in Muay Thai. The Thai fighter's photo was on the magazine "The Primer of Nihon Kempo Karate-do, the first number" which was published by Yamada.
There were "Karate vs. Muay Thai fights" on February 12, 1963. The three karate fighters from Oyama dojo (kyokushin later) went to the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand and fought against three Muay Thai fighters. The three kyokushin karate fighters' names are Tadashi Nakamura, Kenji Kurosaki and Akio Fujihira (also known as Noboru Osawa). The Muay Thai team were composed of only one Thai-born fighter. December 28, 2015 Japan won by 2–1: Tadashi Nakamura and Akio Fujihira both KOed opponents by punch while Kenji Kurosaki, who fought the Thai, was KOed by elbow. The only Japanese loser Kenji Kurosaki was then a kyokushin instructor rather than a contender and temporarily designated as a substitute for the absent chosen fighter. On June of the same year, karateka and future kickboxer Tadashi Sawamura faced against top Thai fighter Samarn Sor Adisorn, in which Sawamura was knocked down 16 times and defeated. Sawamura would use what he learned in that fight to incorporate in the evolving kickboxing tournaments.