Kickboxing

Kickboxing refers to the sport of using martial-arts-style kicks and western-boxing-style punches to defeat an opponent in a similar way to that of standard boxing. Kickboxing is often practised for general fitness, or as a full-contact sport. In the full-contact sport the male boxers are bare chested wearing kickboxing trousers and protective gear including: mouth-guard, hand-wraps, 10oz boxing gloves, groin-guard, shin-pads, and kick-boots. The female boxers will wear a tank top in addition to the male clothing/protective gear. Many people make the mistake of confusing kickboxing with thaiboxing, the two sports are similar however only thaiboxing bouts are fought barefoot wearing thaiboxing shorts. Furthermore, in thaiboxing kicks below the belt are legal, as well as knee and elbow attacks. Kickboxing is usually practiced as an independent style, but in some cases kickboxing is a set of rules by which martial artists of other styles may compete too, however as the sport continually evolves a pure kickboxing style is more frequently the norm as a more specific training is required at advanced levels. Kickboxing is a standing sport and does not allow continuation of the fight once a combatant has reached the ground, in addition all punches and kicks must land above the belt (groin-guards are purely precautionary). One can start at any age, but until 18 years old, a protective helmet is strongly recommended.