All You Need to Know about KickBoxing - History, Rules & Techniques

KickBoxing, as the name suggests, is a combination of boxing along with martial arts like karate particularly kicking with a barefoot. Kick Boxing is a popular sport which is also famous for its self-defence nature and like any other sports, it adds to the general fitness.

History of KickBoxing

Kick Boxing is a hybrid martial art that was originated in Japan in the 1960s and comprised mainly of punches and kicks. Then by 1970s, it became so popular in the United States that it lead to the first World Championship being held by Profession Karate Association. By 1990s with the evolution of the sports by adding fighting techniques from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the concept of Mixed Martial Arts was developed. With the emergence of Kick Boxing in the U.S in the 1970s, the fighters had to learn the sports mainly through trial and error process. As they came from Karate background, soon they found out that this sports require much more energy and stamina which they could not cope up with easily and found themselves not fit for the sports. Hence they had to go through more rigorous practice, they increased the number of rounds for sparring before about and slowly they became fitter and energetic which lead to the popularity of the sports to an international level.

Types of Kickboxing

Chinese Kickboxing
Thai Boxing
American Kickboxing
Japanese Kickboxing
Korean Kickboxing
Burmese Kickboxing
French Kickboxing
Shoot Boxing
Indian Kickboxing
Thai Bo Kickboxing

Kickboxing Techniques

There are quite a few techniques which are used in modern day Kick Boxing to defeat the opponent. Let us first discuss some types of punches used in Kick Boxing.

Jab Punch– In this overhand punch at the moment of impact the fist is held horizontally where the palm faces the ground.
Uppercut Punch– It is a punch in which the fist goes along the vertical line of the opponent’s chin. It is also known as one of the power punches.
Hook Punch– This punch is performed by swinging the arm at an angle of 90 degrees as a horizontal arc towards the opponent. It is one of the most powerful punching techniques in boxing.

Now as the name of the sport is Kick Boxing, how can perfection be achieved without proper kick techniques. Some of the kicking techniques are listed below:

Front Kick– As the name suggests, this is done by lifting the knee straight while keeping the foot and shin in hanging or pulled to the hip position and then the leg is straightened to the front and the target area is hit.
Roundhouse Kick– This is also known as an angled power kick in which the attacker swings his or her front of the leg or foot in a semi-circular motion.
Spinning Back Kick– This kick is most effective for surprising the opponent. This is done by spinning and taking his heel backwards to his opponent.

Rules and Regulations

Many organisations around the world promote, organise and govern Kick Boxing matches. There are different rules for different organisations but usually, in each match there are 3 to 12 rounds which are usually 2 to 3 minutes long. The protection of each of the contestants is kept in mind by making them wear hand and feet protecting fight gears. Rules may vary a little bit, say some organisations allow kicks below the waist whereas the other only allows it above the waist. The opponents in a Kick Boxing match is decided if they are in same weight category and the outcome of the match can be either a draw or knock out.

Preparations:

Preparations of Kick Boxing Requires some rigorous exercise and diet which would not only give them the strength to perform but also will give them the required stamina and energy which is also equally important. A classic example of Kick Boxing Exercise has elevated push-ups where the player has to use a chair to elevate the legs while doing push-ups. Along with this tough exercise, a proper diet like is also needed to be maintained containing things like Banana, Apple and Cottage Cheese.

WAKO

World Associations of Kickboxing Organizations or commonly known as WAKO was formed in 1976 whose primary objective was Global Development and Governance of the sports of Kick Boxing. It was formed so as to formulate rules and regulations acting as Kick Boxing Federation of the World. It was founded by American Kick Boxing promoter like Mike Anderson and his friend German Kick Boxing promoter Georg Brueckner with its headquarters in Italy. WAKO offers 7 different styles like Points Fighting, light-contact, full-contact, kick-light, low-kick, K1-style and musical forms. WAKO counts on 126 nations in 5 continents, with 95 officially recognized by their respective Olympic council.

Advantages of KickBoxing

There are various factors due to which this sport is becoming popular and attracting more and more people day by day. Some of them are listed below:

This sport acts as a great stress reliever.
This is one of the best options for self-defence.
It helps in building coordination between hands and legs and different muscles of the body.

Disadvantages of KickBoxing

Along with all the benefits that this sports hold, there are some negatives as well that we should consider before drawing any conclusion about the same.

It has a high injury risk.
This sport is not for beginners that is a person who does not have any experience in any form of boxing or martial arts shall not indulge in this.
Kick Boxing requires a long term commitment and cannot be learnt easily.

Kick Boxing is a modern and great form of martial art, it is not only a sport which requires high energy and stamina but also it requires a great amount of practice to master the art. So before drawing any conclusions about this sport, people should take into consideration both of its negative and positive aspects and after that, they can decide accordingly whether they want to opt for it or not.

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