As Kickboxing is expanding all over the words, the curiosity about this martial art starts to grow.
For this reason, in this article, I decided to speak about the origin and the growth of this beautiful martial art, called the art of four limbs.
As a Kickboxing practitioner, I think that sometimes over to think about learning new kicks and techniques, you thought about the origin, and from where come from the Kickboxing, this also happens to me, and I discover this.
Where did Kickboxing Originate? Kickboxing originated in Japan by a Japanese senior Martial artist. As it originated in the 50s, we can say that it is the latest addition to combat sports.
The Kickboxing as you read was born in Japan, but after a very short time, reach America, where a significant part of Citizen start to practice it. Due to this immigration The Kickboxing parted in two types; the Japanese and American Kickboxing.
What is the difference between Japanese and American Kickboxing?
The significant difference between both styles is that the Japanese style allows landing kicks on the opponents’ thighs and legs, while the American one does not allow to land kicks below the belt.
The American version rose to fame after the 70s when in 1974, World Karate Association – WKA – held an international competition for Kickboxing.
Later in the 90s, a few elements of Thai Boxing or Muay Thai were added into Kickboxing, and now we have the most refined form of it.
How is Kickboxing managed?
Kickboxing is being legislated and managed by IKF – International Kickboxing Federation -. Founded in 1992, IKF legislated American rules in Kickboxing, where hitting under the waist is not allowed, and introduced 19 weight classes for adult male fighters.
In the late 90s, Kickboxing reached Europe, where the Netherlands is said to have the best kickboxers in the world.
In 2017, Kickboxing managed to secure a place in World Game Wroclaw, Poland, and that too on an invitational basis. Let me tell you for the record and information that the sports participating in World Games are those, which are not part of the Olympic Games.
Who is the inventor of Kickboxing?
The inventors of Kickboxing are Osamu Noguchi Tatsuo Yamada, together with Tatsuo Yamada.
They invented Kickboxing in response to the national game of Thailand, Muay Thai, to compete against the Muay Thai fighters in 1963
The first two fighters in Kickboxing.
The first fighter that has to learn Kickboxing from Osamu Noguchi is the Former Jujutsu Japanese Tadashi Sawamura.
While the other fighter is one who knocked the future champion Sawamura out in their first meeting.
Record of Sawamura kickboxing
Sawamura has appeared in 240 bouts where he managed to win 232 fights, 4 of the fights were declared as a draw, and he lost in only five matches.
Sawamura finished 228 fights before the final bell. And by this, he earned the highest KO percentage in combat sports with 94.60%.
The role of Osamu on the Kickboxing
Oasamu was not an excellent kickboxing fighter as Sawamura, but he contributed to expanding the Kickboxing.
The two main fighters made Kickboxing famous in a short time in Japan and different nations like the United States of America.
Kickboxing reached America in 1970. A limelight era.
So Sawamura took Kickboxing to other countries outside Japan; he and Osamu are the names that spread this art to the world.
Osamu, the trainer, and the creator, while Sawamura, an unstoppable fighter, kept telling others how effective Kickboxing is, and the record of Sawarmura was endorsing their claims too.
So it did not take too long to reach the United States of America in the 1970s.
Kickboxing for the first time on TV
Americans took it to the limelight with their stronghold on combat sports. They carried Kickboxing to the next level with the help of TV and news and local marketing of this sport.
With a few little tweaks, Americans adopted this game, and now some private organizations are promoting it and organizing kickboxing contests.
Let’s see how popular Japanese boxing has become by visiting some kickboxers in the most famous Mixed Martial Arts Organization, the UFC.
After the Sawamura era, Kickboxing kept producing some great fighters in the different areas of the world.
Let us look at the UFC because it attracts the cream of fighters from different combat sports.
Famous Kick Boxers in Ultimate Fighting Championship – UFC
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Donald Anthony Cowboy Cerrone
Donald Cerrone is one of the most famous fighters in UFC. He has the most wins in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but he also has the Most KO finishes with 21 victories and 15 bouts ending before the final bell.
During his 29 professional kickboxing matches, Cerrone is unbeaten with 28 wins and one draw.
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Alistair Overeem
Alistair Cees Overeem has fought 66 times in different MMA bouts.
In UFC, he continues with a little success but could not manage to win a title here.
But in Strikeforce and DREAM promotions, he was a world heavyweight champion at the same time back in 2010.
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Cosmo Good Boy Alexandre
A Brazilian fighter, Cosmo Alexandre, chose to learn Kickboxing along with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he is doing well in the UFC with a record of 8-1 since turning professional in 2011.
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Israel “The Last Stylebander” Adesanya
The most successful Kickboxer of this era is Israel Adesanya, 20-0 in Mixed Martial Arts.
He won the UFC Middleweight title in 2019 and has defended it twice. Adesanya’s kickboxing record is 80-5 with 29 KOs. While in boxing, he is 6-1.
So that’s about a few successful ones in UFC and MMA to show Kickboxing’s effectiveness in the combat sports, now let’s compare it with some other combat sports.
Comparison of Kickboxing with other combat sports.
As the name shows, allow throwing kicks in boxing, and it becomes Kickboxing.
But some people confuse it with Muay Thai or Thai Boxing.
Main difference between Muay Thai and Kickboxing
Muay Thai is an art of 8 limbs where hands, feet, knees, and elbows are used during a fight.
On the other hand, elbows and knee landing is not allowed in Kickboxing, it describes Japanese boxing as an art of four limbs.
If you want to learn more about the difference between Muay Thai and Kickboxing, click here.
Main Difference between Karate and Kickboxing
It differs from Karate as clinching is not allowed in Kickboxing until an inside fight continues; the fighters are not separated, but once the action is ceased, the referee jumps in to separate them.
Conclusion
As we saw during the article, It is a proven fact that Kickboxing was invented in Japan in response to Muay Thai as a full-contact combat sport.
Osamu, the inventor, and Sawamura introduced it to the outside world.
Then we saw also that an important role that has guaranteed the expansion of Kickboxing has been by the side of American Promotion using Tv.
Nowadays the use of the internet and the possibility that we have on its use are extremely important, we can watch and analyze the current champion every time. Still, I think that a look to the past and culture to the origin of the Kickboxing can do good for a kick boxer.