I don't quite know what the hell is going on, but wherever I read about kickboxing (in the boxing-muay thai comparison topic for instance) everyone says 'no elbows or knees used' Now to me, this is sacrilidge. Both myself and my tutors hold these body parts in high respect for reflex attacks, both head and body blows, groinal strikes and CCQ and so we practice elbow and knee attacks regularly. Maybe this is just my club but I actually thought it was universal of kickboxing So now you're meaning to tell me that my favourite martial art doesn't use my favourite fighting moves as a default? Crazy Then again two of the three instructors have studied various other martial arts, including thai boxing, tae kwon do and karate, so maybe we're being taught variations but I would be very surprised if I entered a tournament and got disqualified for using my knees. (and annoyed too)
There's many variations of kickboxing rules, depending on the federation or association that sancion the fights. AsI rule I think they dont use elbows. K-1/Low kick usually allow knees though some groups don't allow the clinch and knee. It's mainly an attempt to differentiate KB from MT in my opinion. Would help to have a look at the rules prior to entering the competition!!!!!
Kick boxing as a sport is the same as full contact karate but with low kicks allowed. A distinction needs to be made between the art and the sport. I take it you haven't entered many competitions before mate, you'd be outta there faster than I could say 'Im wearing my knackers as earings' if you started unleashing the lethal knee strikes mentioned above!!
There is no one set of kickboxing rules! low kicks or not knees or not clinch or not spinning backfist or not headguards or not all combinations of the above!!!!! Every federation has it's own rules
And lets be clear on this - no one set of rules is the 'true' form of the sport. Just because Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis didn't compete in knee and elbow allowed contests doesn't mean they weren't bad a55s! Same goes for Benny The Jet - though he fought under more 'relaxed' rules on a few occasions.
The limitations on elbows and knees were what prevented me from joining the local kickboxing gym, even though it was very nice. With a background in full contact karate, I felt that I had lost half my game and all of the fun with the bans on low kicks, knees and elbows. At the gym, they said that there was too much risk of damaging your knees with low kicks, which was why they didn't allow them. I didn't think that made much sense, lots of karateka and thai boxers do low kicks without breaking their knees or shins. What is the reason for disallowing such techniques in American kickboxing?
Because Karate, which American Full Contact 'Kickboxing' was based on has/had no Low kicks until they misappropriated them from various Continental Asian sources. Kyokushinkai nabbed theirs from Muay Thai. American Full Contact Karate which was made famous by Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace et al was a combination of Boxing with Karate. Hence all kicks above the waist to replicate the Boxing techniques with the patterns of kicking, apart from the Spinning floor sweeps. K-1 style 'Kickboxing' nabbed all their stuff from Muay Thai etc.
It would appear that a fair bit of nabbing goes on in modern martial arts... I think Full Contact Karate is fairly asthetically pleasing and 'fan friendly' compared to other, more complete sports fighting systems such as muay thai? What ya reckon?
I was talking more from a layman's perspective. All the inclose grappling, untidy throws and slower pace of muay thai might discourage joe blow, whereas the high kicking and boxing of full contact would be seen as a more appealing spectacle. Just a thought.
I don't mind watching Full Contact Karate, K-1 style kickboxing or Muay Thai, they are all good entertainment, but I know which one I'd rather practice....
Never entered a competition before, no. No point in my opinion. I do it purely for the self-improvement. Thank you for straightening that out (everyone)
I've helped setting up MT and KB tournaments in the UK. So this is primarily from experience from these. Effectively the two parties agree at the match making stage, which weapons (knees, low kicks, spinning back fists, takedowns, sweeps, etc) to use as part of their arsenal. The training commences. At the tournament itselt, a number of factors occasionally cause the initial match making agreement to fail. For instance, a new fighter needs to be chosen because one of the initial fighters pulled out due to injury, personal reasons, lack of training or lack of belief in their abilities. Or, sometimes the initial agreement was misunderstood and one of the fighters may not have realised he had agreed to use of a particular weapon. Consequently the fighter had not trained for it, which becomes a serious liability. Behind the scenes, the two parties with the matchmaker come to some sort of agreement. In your case, if you wish to fight using knees, elbows or spinning backfists the matchmaker will find you a suitable opponent and both will agree to fight under these rules. Knees and elbows are formiddable weapons. Just remember they may also be used against you
